// Topic
Cloud
Definition
Cloud coverage in this archive spans 22 posts from Mar 2016 to Dec 2022 and focuses on reliability, delivery speed, and cost discipline as one system, not three separate concerns. The strongest adjacent threads are infrastructure, aws, and architecture. Recurring title motifs include cloud, bill, serverless, and patterns.
Key claims
- Most posts prioritize predictable operations over feature breadth or stack novelty.
- Early posts lean on serverless and doesn, while newer posts lean on cloud and bill as constraints shifted.
- This topic repeatedly intersects with infrastructure, aws, and architecture, so design choices here rarely stand alone.
Practical checklist
- Set SLOs first, then choose tooling that keeps deploy, observability, and rollback simple.
- Start with the newest post to calibrate current constraints, then backtrack to older entries for first principles.
- When boundary questions appear, cross-read infrastructure and aws before committing implementation details.
Failure modes
- Adding platform layers faster than the team can operate and debug them.
- Chasing throughput gains without proving they improve end-user reliability.
- Applying guidance from 2016 to 2022 without revisiting assumptions as context changed.
Suggested reading path
- Start here (current state): Your Cloud Bill Is Not a Mystery
- Then read (operating middle): Your Terraform Monolith Will Break. Here’s How to Fix It Before It Does.
- Finish with (foundational context): AWS Lambda: When Serverless Makes Sense (And When It Doesn’t)
Related posts
- Your Cloud Bill Is Not a Mystery
- Infrastructure as Code Patterns That Actually Scale
- You Do Not Need a FinOps Team
- The AWS us-east-1 Outage Was Predictable. Your Architecture Was Not Ready.
- Terraform at Scale: What Changed Since 2019
- Your Kubernetes Bill Is Lying to You
- Multi-Cloud Is Mostly a Marketing Strategy
- Rust for Cloud Services: A Go Developer’s Honest Take
References
22 posts
- Your Cloud Bill Is Not a Mystery
Most cloud cost problems are visibility problems. Fix tagging, kill idle resources, right-size what remains, and make cost a regular engineering conversation.
Infrastructure as Code Patterns That Actually Scale
Practical Terraform patterns for teams that have outgrown the tutorial stage: module design, state management, environment promotion, and policy enforcement.
You Do Not Need a FinOps Team
Cloud cost management is not a discipline. It is basic engineering hygiene dressed up with a consulting-friendly name.
The AWS us-east-1 Outage Was Predictable. Your Architecture Was Not Ready.
December 7 reminded everyone that us-east-1 is a single point of failure for half the internet. Again. I am annoyed.
Terraform at Scale: What Changed Since 2019
Two years ago I wrote about Terraform patterns for growing teams. Here's what held up, what broke, and what I do differently now.
Your Kubernetes Bill Is Lying to You
Most Kubernetes clusters are 40-60% over-provisioned. Here's how I help teams cut their bills without sacrificing reliability.
Multi-Cloud Is Mostly a Marketing Strategy
Multi-cloud sounds great in vendor pitches. In practice, it doubles your operational burden for benefits most teams will never need.
Rust for Cloud Services: A Go Developer's Honest Take
I write Go for a living. Rust is not replacing it. But I have to be honest about where Rust wins.
Serverless vs Containers: Where the Math Stops Working
Serverless is great until it isn't. A comparison of serverless and containers at different traffic scales, with actual numbers on where the economics flip.
Your Cloud Security Is Falling Apart Right Now
Everyone's scrambling to scale cloud infrastructure overnight. I've seen what happens when security gets deprioritized under pressure — at NATO exercises, at Decloud, at the fintech startup. Here's how to not become a headline.
Your Cloud Bill Is a Design Document
Cloud cost management isn't a finance problem. It's an architecture problem disguised as a spreadsheet. Here's how to treat your AWS bill like the engineering signal it actually is.
Your Terraform Monolith Will Break. Here's How to Fix It Before It Does.
Lessons from splitting a 4000-resource Terraform state into something teams can actually work with -- state layout, module boundaries, and the workflow discipline nobody wants to do until they have to.
You Probably Don't Need Multi-Region
Multi-region architecture is a strategic decision most teams make too early. Here's when it actually pays off, the patterns that work, and why data is the part that will ruin your week.
Your Cloud Bill Is Lying to You: A Cost Optimization Comparison
A direct comparison of cloud cost optimization strategies -- what actually moves the needle vs. what just makes finance feel better.
IaC Patterns That Actually Work
Opinionated Infrastructure as Code patterns from running Terraform at the fintech startup. Repo layout, modules, state management, and the stuff that burns you if you ignore it.
Serverless: What Works, What Doesn't, and What Will Bite You
Real patterns and antipatterns from running serverless at the fintech startup. Where Lambda shines, where it hurts, and how to tell the difference before it's too late.
Multi-Region Architecture: What I Wish Someone Had Told Me
We serve financial data to users across Europe at the fintech startup. Here's what I've learned about going multi-region -- the patterns that work, the ones that burn you, and when you should even bother.
Your Cloud Bill Is Lying to You
That clean AWS pricing page has almost nothing to do with your actual invoice. I learned this the hard way at the fintech startup.
Serverless Patterns That Actually Work in Production
Most serverless tutorials teach you the wrong thing. Here's what matters when you're running it for real.
The Real Cost of Running Your Own Servers in 2016
Most startups have no business running their own servers. The math is not close.
Why I Moved Our Infrastructure to Terraform
We moved from console-driven, script-heavy infrastructure to Terraform so changes are reviewed, reproducible, and recoverable from code.
AWS Lambda: When Serverless Makes Sense (And When It Doesn't)
Lambda is a sharp tool for specific jobs. The problem is everyone wants to use it for everything.