Cloud or own server – what's right for us?

Cloud

For: Ready in hours, no purchase, scalable as needed, high availability and backups included in the price, security updates of the base systems are handled by the provider.

Against: Ongoing costs permanently, dependency on the provider, data is with a third party – which requires a data processing agreement.

Own Server

For: Full control, data on-site, cheaper at very high uniform load.

Against: Purchase, space, power, cooling, someone must maintain it, high availability must be built yourself.

What is often overlooked

An own server is only really safer if someone maintains it. A server in the basement whose updates haven't been applied for two years is less secure than any cloud.

The Middle Ground

A rented server from a provider in Germany or Switzerland. The data is in the desired legal jurisdiction, no one needs to buy hardware. Data protection-wise almost as good as own hardware, operationally much simpler.

Where we host

With Infomaniak in Switzerland. On request, other locations are possible – this question should be clarified before project start, as it affects the architecture.