So a 1gbit/s connection like google fiber provides is around the same bandwidth as a typical hdd. A typical hdd has around 13ms of latency, which is also easily in the realm of latency to a regional datacenter.

So any technical barriers to making all hdds obsolete are evaporating. I guess with the rise of ssds the only draw of hdds is now price, and I suppose that feature won't be supplanted by some service provider any time soon.