# The complete Cloud Build vs Buy Calculator

Expedient is the local cloud, colocation, IaaS and DRaaS provider in Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Memphis and Pittsburgh.

Source: https://expedient.com/knowledgebase/tools-and-calculators/cloud-build-vs-buy-calculator/

# The complete Cloud Build vs Buy Calculator

Subscribe to receive the latest articles related to DRaaS[Subscribe Now](#newsletter)

Are you considering moving to the cloud but you are unsure of the value? Or perhaps you are trying to decide whether you should build your own solution or move to a hosted cloud platform? Use this calculator to determine the total cost of ownership between building your own vs. moving into a hosted solution from a cloud provider.

## Options

Required redundancy level?High - N+2Low - N+1

Where is your hardware located?Colocation FacilityInternal Data Center

Storage space size increaseGBTB

How many GB of memory would be consumed?

How many GB of storage space would be consumed?

What is your hardware refresh cycle?

[?

### Hardware Refresh Cycle:

Average Hardware Refresh is 3 years.

](#)

How many cabinets are needed for your Cloud hardware?

[?

### Number of Cabinets:

For every TB of memory, you should allocate a cabinet or every 60 TB of disk, you should allocate a cabinet.

](#)

If colocating; what is your monthly cost per cabinet?

[?

### Monthly Cabinet Cost:

Average cost of cabinet with redundant 30A- 280V circuit, would be $1600/month.

](#)

[Email My Configuration & Results](#calc-optin-form)

## The Total Cost of Ownership of Your Private Cloud Over a Year Period
[Hide Details ∧](#mobile-wrap1)[Show Details ∨](#mobile-wrap1)

| DESCRIPTION | QUANTITY | AMOUNT |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Physical Servers & VMware Licensing | | |
| Storage Area Networks (SAN) | | |
| Network Switches | | |
| Server Cabinet & PDUs | | |
| Power and Cooling Costs | | |
| Number of Systems FTEs to manage the environment | | |

Total cost of ownership of your Private Cloud over a year period

 &nbsp; 
## The Total Cost Of Ownership Using A Hosted Cloud Over a Year Period
[Hide Details ∧](#mobile-wrap2)[Show Details ∨](#mobile-wrap2)

| DESCRIPTION | QUANTITY | AMOUNT |
| --- | --- | --- |
| GB of Memory (N+2 Redundant) | | |
| GB of SAN Storage Space | | |
| Network Switching | | |
| SSAE-18 SOC II Computing Environment Audits | | |
| Tier III+ Data Center | | |
| 24x7x365 Onsite Support | | |

 &nbsp; 

\* This tool uses a minimum internal data center space for 10 cabinets.

 The equipment needed to build a data center do not scale below this capacity. \*\* The breakdown of the total construction costs are broken down using a percentage allocation based off a facility designed for 100 cabinets. Expedient and Intel provide the Complete Cloud Build vs. Buy Calculator (the “Cloud Cost Calculator”) as a tool to help customers analyze potential cost‑savings associated with purchasing and using hosted services as compared to “build‑your‑own” alternatives, and the Cloud Cost Calculator is provided solely for your convenience in that regard. Please carefully read all of the terms of this Disclaimer. By viewing and utilizing the Cloud Cost Calculator, you acknowledge that you have read, understand and agree to this [Disclaimer](#full-disclaimer). 
 Expedient and Intel provide the Complete Cloud Build vs. Buy Calculator (the “Cloud Cost Calculator”) as a tool to help customers analyze potential cost‑savings associated with purchasing and using hosted services as compared to “build‑your‑own” alternatives, and the Cloud Cost Calculator is provided solely for your convenience in that regard. MORE SPECIFICALLY, ALL COST AND QUANTITY FIGURES INCLUDED IN THE CLOUD COST CALCULATOR, INCLUDING BOTH THE “BUILD YOUR OWN” COST COMPONENTS AND ASSOCIATED QUANTITIES AND THE COMPARABLE EXPEDIENT COST OF SERVICE AND ASSOCIATED QUANTITIES, ARE ESTIMATES BASED ON EXPEDIENT’S EXPERIENCE AND, WHERE APPLICABLE, INDUSTRY BENCHMARKS. HOWEVER, YOUR ACTUAL “BUILD YOUR OWN” COSTS AND QUANTITIES AND/OR THE ACTUAL COSTS AND QUANTITIES OF EXPEDIENT’S SERVICES WILL VARY BASED ON MANY FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR ORGANIZATION’S SPECIFIC NEEDS. ACCORDINGLY, THE FIGURES REFLECTED IN THE CLOUD COST CALCULATOR ARE ESTIMATES PROVIDED FOR EVALUATION PURPOSES ONLY, AND THESE COST AND QUANTITY ESTIMATES ARE NOT A GUARANTEE OF ANY ACTUAL COSTS OR QUANTITIES OR OF ANY SAVINGS THAT MAY RESULT FROM USING EXPEDIENT SERVICES. Please carefully read all of the terms of this Disclaimer. By viewing and utilizing the Cloud Cost Calculator, you acknowledge that you have read, understand and agree to this Disclaimer. EXPEDIENT AND INTEL PROVIDE THE CLOUD COST CALCULATOR AND ALL INFORMATION INCLUDED THEREIN “AS IS” AND WITH ALL FAULTS AND HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, WITH RESPECT TO THE USE OF THE CLOUD COST CALCULATOR OR ANY INFORMATION INCLUDED THEREIN. IN NO EVENT SHALL EXPEDIENT OR INTEL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, WHETHER DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY OR OTHERWISE, ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE, OR ANY RELIANCE ON, THE CLOUD COST CALCULATOR OR ANY INFORMATION INCLUDED THEREIN. The Cloud Cost Calculator is provided to you at no charge. Expedient and Intel have included in this Disclaimer terms that disclaim all warranties and liability for use of the Cloud Cost Calculator and the information included therein. To the full extent allowed by law, YOU HEREBY RELEASE EXPEDIENT AND INTEL FROM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE CLOUD COST CALCULATOR OR ITS USE. The laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will apply to this Disclaimer. 

### Related Posts
[ 

#### The VMware Wait Tax: Why Every Quarter of Delay...

Inaction on a VMware migration is widely treated as a neutral position, a de...

Learn More
 ](/knowledgebase/blog/2026-08-04-the-vmware-wait-tax-why-every-quarter-of-delay-has-a-price-tag/)[ 

#### The Great Inversion

What was easy is now hard. What was hard is now easy. Key Takeaways ...

Learn More
 ](/knowledgebase/blog/2026-07-29-the-great-inversion/)[ 

#### Your New Cloud Strategy: Rebalancing for Cost a...

Key Takeaways Workloads placed in hyperscale cloud fi...

Learn More
 ](/knowledgebase/blog/2026-07-15-your-new-cloud-strategy-rebalancing-for-cost-and-performance/)

## The best of Expedient delivered to your inbox.

Sign up for more technical briefs, stories, and special offers from Expedient.

Submit →

VMware

September 29th, 2026 at 1:00 PM ET
## It’s Time to Decide Your VMware Path

[Join us →](https://go.expedient.com/VMWarePath)

### VMware

September 29th, 2026 at 1:00 PM ET
## It’s Time to Decide Your VMware Path

[Join us →](https://go.expedient.com/VMWarePath)
