A lot of datacenter networks are run by absolute clowns. Not Amazon's
- ID
- 19874
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 29 Aug 2026, 9:30 PM
- Fetched
- 01 Sep 2026, 12:33 AM
- Provider
- The Register
- Category
- technology
- Original URL
- https://www.theregister.com/networks/2026/08/29/a-lot-of-datacenter-networks-are-run-by-absolute-clowns-not-amazons/5293379
- Source URL
- https://www.theregister.com/headlines.atom
Summary
- Score
- 5.5
- Created
- 01 Sep 2026, 12:35 AM
- Tags
- Audience
- developerssaas_founders
What happened
Corey Quinn toured an AWS networking lab with VP of Global Network Engineering Matt Rehder and reports that AWS's flat, single-tier, near-random wiring pattern is up to 40% more energy efficient than traditional datacenter networking and is now the default for most new AWS datacenter builds. AWS rebuilt its entire networking stack on commodity hardware starting from James Hamilton's observation 17 years ago that network vendor margins resembled mainframe pricing. Quinn notes these cost efficiencies are real but largely invisible to customers, raising the question of where the savings actually go.
Why it matters
If you're paying AWS networking egress or data transfer fees, this article gives you concrete ammunition to question whether those prices reflect actual cost — AWS has commoditized its own networking stack and claims 40% energy savings, yet customer-facing network pricing hasn't visibly dropped. Founders doing heavy inter-AZ or cross-region traffic should factor this into cloud cost negotiations and architecture decisions.
Discussion angle
AWS commoditized its networking stack and saves 40% on energy — so why are egress and cross-AZ data transfer charges still a top complaint for Malaysian startups routing traffic to Singapore or Jakarta regions? Use this to talk about whether multi-region or hybrid cloud setups are worth it given the pricing gap.