Re: What if your requirement is for a Cat not a Cow
The thing is that you're not comparing it at the right point.
With a "pet", you have the matter of constant upkeep. You have to keep it in tune yourself since it's your hardware. If something goes wrong, it falls to you to find a way to fix the problem, even if it means being forced to put your "pet" down and get another one.
Whereas with "cattle", your job isn't the cow itself but rather the things you put on the cow. If the cow falls over, the hands pick up your things and put them on the next cow. Even if it's a problem unique to your organization, unless it's extremely custom (like requiring specialist hardware), what more does your job need except a CPU, some RAM, and some storage, which any VM can provide? Put another way, why go out of your way for a draft horse when you can rent the mule team nearby?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
