In his article, David Heinemeier Hansson reflects on the longevity and cost-effectiveness of owning servers, highlighting Basecamp's experience with a fleet of 61 Dell servers purchased in 2015. Despite the initial investment of around half a million dollars, the servers have provided over 3,500 days of service for a mere $142 per day in amortized costs. This long lifespan has resulted in significant savings compared to renting cloud services. He advocates for the benefits of server ownership, emphasizing that many servers can last well beyond the typical five-year lifecycle often accounted for in financial planning, making a strong case for reevaluating the assumptions around cloud service costs.

Key Points:

• Basecamp launched with 61 servers, costing approximately $500,000.
• The servers provided over 3,500 days of service at $142/day.
• Owning servers resulted in millions saved compared to renting cloud services.
• Servers are still functional and being repurposed for other applications.
• Advocates for considering longer hardware lifecycles in financial planning.
• Highlights the cost advantages of owning versus renting in the cloud.
  Link to Article