My first corporate web server, set up before the days of “the cloud” and AWS, cost my company nearly $10,000 and months of time. Not only did we have to order and pay for the entire machine, we had to wait for its delivery, configure it, run wires, and find a place on our rack for it. Then we had to pipe a dedicated T-1 link into our offices, a process that was unbearably frustrating and time consuming, not to mention costly.
And the beast in the closet spewed heat like a dragon, and it ate parts for snacks.
