Should read: Facebook CTO says purchasing servers for a separate startup prior to Facebook might have been unnecessary
The idea that Facebook wouldn't need its own data centers is pretty ridiculous, and that's what the title implies
EDIT: looks like "while at FriendFeed" was added for clarity ... Further edit: The title is changed now, but the original said "Facebook CTO says purchasing servers was his biggest mistake" or something of the like
But Bret (CTO of facebook, co-founder of Friendfeed) talks about Friendfeed here. Considering friendfeed growing and struggling stage to make it's presence. There is lot of other thing to worry than maintaining own data center.
I think Bret's really wishing what almost everyone is, that these problems would just go away and you could pay a reasonable premium for that, but we're not there yet and certainly weren't in 2008. I don't think he really checked his numbers on this one.
edit: however there is a happy medium. managed service providers will gladly charge you ec2 prices (250/month for a low end server, 500/month for a beefy one) while handling all midnight colo trips for you.
Less facetiously, this "regret" surprises me. I'd have though that of anyone, Facebook would want to have full control and security over their own servers. Agreeing to a contract where Amazon can pull the plug over "objectionable" content or even adverse effects on their network poses a significant risk for any large business to accept.
PS: To very smart people: Please get together and start Tandem: the sequel. Pretty, pretty please. With sugar on top.
If we had to guess, it's probably going to be orientated around media or news, because they are so social. When you watch a television show with your friend, it's such an engaging social activity.
We think that there's a next generation of startups that are developing social versions of these applications, where what Zynga is to gaming, they will be to media and news, and we're really excited about that.
