> The computer that runs the cloud should be able to be purchased and not merely rented.
How is this different than colo space that has been predominant for years? Perhaps simply that it can be purchased more easily and standardized like a typical cloud VM?
I believe-as a few other commenters have pointed out and you allude to, the advantage is that it can be configured and operated like a massive set of cloud VM’s. There’s monitoring, provisioning, network, etc etc all setup and fully integrated.
I imagine colo’s have something like this, but I _suspect_ operationally it’s a lot more powerful, easy to use and functionally closer to the API’s and behaviour users are used to on current cloud providers.
Now, if someone who actually knows for sure feels like chiming in, I’m happy to be corrected.
That it's a turnkey, vertically integrated and open platform with everything included. Seems big enough differentiator for me. It's like going to going to a restaurant with table service vs a BYOB pizza shop.
It is the combination of things. Full FOSS stack, only cables being power and networking, and it being AIO package instead of conventional server rack.
How is this different than colo space that has been predominant for years? Perhaps simply that it can be purchased more easily and standardized like a typical cloud VM?