{"id":1748,"slug":"magnitude-summary-storage-compute-bandwidth-structural","title":"Magnitude summary: storage ~85% / 7×; compute ~20×; bandwidth ~240×; plus the capex→opex structural shift","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","smb-owner","candid-team"],"topics":["web-infrastructure","cloud-infrastructure-economics"],"reference_body":"**Magnitude summary across the infrastructure driver:**\n\n- **Storage:** $0.15 → ~$0.02/GB = ~**85% cut**, ~**6–7× more data for the same dollar** ([[s3-price-drop-magnitude-85-percent]]); archival (Glacier Deep) ~**150× cheaper** than 2006 standard storage.\n- **Compute:** $0.10 → $0.005/instance-hour entry = ~**20× cheaper at the floor** ([[ec2-entry-price-half-cent-per-hour-2018]]).\n- **Bandwidth:** $1,200 → ~$5/Mbps (1998–2010) = ~**240× on transit** ([[bandwidth-transit-1200-to-5-per-mbps-1998-2010]]); ongoing decline since.\n- **Structural:** capex (buy + $50–$1,400/mo + $55K–$96K sysadmin) → opex (single/double-digit dollars per month, administration included) — see [[capex-to-opex-structural-shift-synthesis]].\n\n**Source:** Synthesis of the magnitude entries.\n\n**Confidence:** Verified for storage/compute; single-source for bandwidth.\n\n**Why this matters for Candid:** The one-paragraph \"how much did the floor fall\" answer for client conversations and article ledes.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"s3-price-drop-magnitude-85-percent","title":"S3 storage cost fell ~85% from launch — ~7× more data for the same dollar; independently corroborated","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"ec2-entry-price-half-cent-per-hour-2018","title":"EC2 entry price fell from $0.10 to ~$0.005/instance-hour by 2018 — ~20× cheaper at the floor (Jeff Barr, HashiConf)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"bandwidth-transit-1200-to-5-per-mbps-1998-2010","title":"Internet transit collapsed from $1,200/Mbps (1998) to ~$5/Mbps (2010) — ~240× per DrPeering/Norton series","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"capex-to-opex-structural-shift-synthesis","title":"The structural shift: capex (server + sysadmin) → opex (managed service, administration included)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-falling-cost-floor-real-web-functionality-smb-june-2026","title":"Research brief: the falling cost floor of \"real\" web functionality for SMBs (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rule-three-drivers-decade-2004-2014-not-ai","title":"R1 — Anchor the falling-cost case on the decade 2004–2014 (infrastructure + parts + data); AI-assisted coding is NOT the spine","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"capex-to-opex-structural-shift-synthesis","title":"The structural shift: capex (server + sysadmin) → opex (managed service, administration included)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-21T13:17:00.688Z","updated_at":"2026-06-21T13:17:00.688Z"}