Is the RAM shortage killing small VPS hosts?

Summary

It is no longer news that RAM prices are high. The AI surge has DRAM producers like Micron focus on HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) to serve AI hyperscalers over the DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) used by ordinary consumers and small businesses. Consequently, for instance, servers which used to cost $2500 on Newegg now cost $5000. RAM alone is $2500 now. While most headlines focus on the DIY PC building community, less is said about small VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosts like mine. If we continue to focus on AI at all costs, small VPS Hosting businesses like mine might die out the way small ISPs died in the 2000s because of Big Telecom lobbying. So why should we care? What the 2000s taught us During the 90s internet boom, many dial-up ISPs (Internet Service Provider) popped up. These ISPs used voice lines from the local phone company, which, in the US, were mostly “Baby Bell” firms such as SBC (now AT&T) or Bell Atlantic (now Verizon). When the shift from dial-up to broadband started to be incorporated by the Baby Bells, Bill Clinton’s FCC mandated in 2000 that the Bell firms had to lease out their copper DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) wires to other ISPs for a nominal fee, also known as “unbundling.” This made sense in the US since taxpayer dollars were used to build those very Bell networks. Regulators in other countries also did the same. This prevented a phone or cable company from being a monopoly. While unbundling survived in Europe, the subsequent FCC took a different path: one which ultimately killed 7000 rival ISPs, raised prices, and hurt Net Neutrality a decade later. Line sharing between Bells and ISPs was never fair to the latter. Small ISPs were forced to charge higher prices than cable and phone companies due to high line fees. But instead of leveling the playing field, thanks to heavy lobbying from Bell firms, the Bush FCC reversed Clinton’s decision and allowed Bell companies to not share their DSL or fiber networks. However, cable companies like ...