Have you tried the latest fad? Serverless functions, so you take maybe a 128 to 512 MB of memory virtual machine and have it run a function that is maybe a few hundred lines of code? I double dare you to find something less efficient. Even better is the speed between machines isn't going to get that much faster as some jerk has declared the speed of light to be a constant so say hello to some fun latency issues. To top it off after you invest massive amounts in serverless functions, with all there lockin, you have no control over what Amazon, Microsoft or xxx are going to be charging you in 5 or 10 years. Particularly if the fad falls out of favor and these companies decide to wind the operations down.

I agree with everything but your tone.

I'm sure it solves problems they just aren't my problems.

Which frankly applies to nearly everything AWS offers.

I've seen people design for massive scaleout before they even have a final idea of the product.

Frankly for the kind of systems I work on I have collosal vertical headroom before I even need to think about going lateral with scaling.

I mean the largest database I deal with would fit into the RAM of a single mid-range 2018 server (192GB would do it).

The most important database on our main work system will fit into the RAM on my Thinkpad with enough space to run an IDE and Vagrant (32GB of RAM in the laptop so high but insane).

Have you seen the previous fad? Data centers full of idle servers.

Websites for sure. Load up HN compared to most shop or news sites, enormous difference.