> It's pretty crazy how cheap hardware is compared to the cloud these days
By “the cloud” I’m assuming you mean aws/gcp/azure, and comparing them simply with on-prem is a false dichotomy. There are plenty of other cloud and bare metal hosting providers who actually pass on the savings as hardware value improves.
Not GP, but OVH Cloud is really cheap. Some people have had issues with OVH reliability, but I've only had success. I use AWS for prod, and a mix of Digital Ocean and OVH for non-prod.
OVH bare metal is what we use when we need cheap raw horsepower. Mentioning them is usually controversial, which is why I refrained in my parent comment, but we’ve had nothing but success.
By “the cloud” I’m assuming you mean aws/gcp/azure, and comparing them simply with on-prem is a false dichotomy. There are plenty of other cloud and bare metal hosting providers who actually pass on the savings as hardware value improves.