Why Some AWS Workloads Are Moving Back On-Prem & to VPS—And How to Do It Without Regrets
Cloud is brilliant for speed, experimentation, and elastic demand. But for steady, predictable workloads, many organisations are bringing selected services back to data-centre managed hardware or high-performance VPS for cost predictability, performance stability, sovereignty, and simpler ops. This guide explains when repatriation makes sense, the pitfalls to avoid, and how MyHostingSpace can help you land smoothly—whether that’s on managed dedicated servers, modern VPS, or green UK colocation.
Overview
Over the last few years, a pattern has emerged: businesses that “lifted-and-shifted” everything into hyperscale clouds are now right-sizing. They’re keeping genuinely elastic, global, or experimental workloads in AWS, while repatriating steady, latency-sensitive, or data-sovereign services to a managed data centre or VPS platform where costs are simpler and predictable—often with better performance-per-pound.
Top reasons we hear from customers:
- Predictable billing: Say goodbye to surprise line items (egress, NAT, IOPS, API calls).
- Lower TCO for steady workloads: Fixed capacity is usually cheaper than renting it forever.
- Performance stability: Dedicated CPU, RAM, and local NVMe often beat virtualised, noisy-neighbour scenarios.
- Data sovereignty & governance: Keep data in known UK facilities with clear chain of custody.
- Simpler operations: Fewer moving parts, clearer boundaries, easier incident response.
- Sustainability: Tangible energy efficiency (eg. water-cooled racks, onsite renewables) and measured PUE.
- Avoiding lock-in: Standard stacks on VMs or bare metal reduce proprietary dependencies.
What’s pushing AWS costs up?
Cloud invoices grow in three common, under-appreciated ways:
- Egress & inter-AZ data transfer: Moving data out (especially to the internet or between regions/AZs) adds up quickly.
- IOPS & ephemeral services: High-IO databases, message queues, and serverless patterns can incur per-request fees that scale non-linearly.
- Always-on footprint: If a service is 24×7×365 and rarely scales down, renting the same capacity indefinitely is often pricier than owning or leasing it as a fixed resource.
Rule of thumb: If your workload’s demand curve is flat or gently rolling, a fixed-price VPS or managed bare-metal usually wins on cost and performance predictability.
When repatriation makes sense (and when it doesn’t)
Good candidates to move:
- Steady-state apps (ERP, line-of-business services, CMS, core APIs).
- Latency-sensitive services (trading, manufacturing control, media encoding with local ingest).
- Data-sovereign or regulated data that must remain in the UK under strict controls.
- High-IO databases (Postgres, MySQL, MSSQL) that benefit from local NVMe and predictable IOPS.
Keep in cloud for now:
- Burst-heavy or seasonal workloads (Black Friday spikes, ticket drops).
- Global edge delivery & CDNs where routing & points-of-presence matter.
- Rapid prototyping & ephemeral dev/test (spinning up and tearing down frequently).
- Managed analytics/AI services you can’t readily replicate economically on-prem today.
The middle ground: A hybrid model—steady core services hosted in a UK data centre or VPS, with elastic front-ends, global CDN, or specialised analytics remaining in AWS.
A simple way to model TCO (without spreadsheets taking over your life)
When you compare options, line up apples-to-apples over a 36-month horizon:
- Compute:
- Cloud: instance cost × hours + autoscaling baseline + reserved/savings plans.
- Data centre/VPS: plan price or lease + amortised hardware (if owned) + support.
- Storage & I/O:
- Cloud: GB-months + IOPS requests + snapshot & backup + inter-service transfers.
- Data centre/VPS: NVMe/SAS bundles, backup storage, snapshot schedule (usually fixed price).
- Network:
- Cloud: egress to internet + inter-AZ/region data transfer + NAT gateway.
- Data centre/VPS: bandwidth commit (eg. 1–10 Gbit/s), usually with generous or unmetered transfer.
- Operational overhead:
- Cloud: per-service ops, IaC complexity, multi-account governance.
- Data centre/VPS: managed SLA, on-site hands, simpler estate.
- Risk & resilience:
- Consider RPO/RTO, DR targets, and the cost of each hour of downtime.
The goal isn’t to “beat cloud” universally—it’s to optimise placement per workload.
Common migration patterns that work
- Lift-improve-shift (LIS):
- Snapshot the current AWS VM, restore to a managed VPS with local NVMe, then modernise (patching, observability, backup policies) in place.
- Blue/green cutover for databases:
- Stand up a managed dedicated server or VPS cluster, enable logical replication from AWS RDS/EC2 DB, perform checks, then flip DNS during a low-traffic window.
- Edge in cloud, core on-prem:
- Keep CDN, WAF, and burst capacity in AWS; place origin APIs or DBs in UK colocation or VPS for sovereignty and cost control.
- Container re-home:
- Move from EKS to managed Kubernetes on dedicated nodes in a UK data centre, or to a simpler VM-based orchestrator if your team prefers fewer moving parts.
Risks to plan for (and how to mitigate them)
- Under-sizing capacity: Profile real utilisation before ordering hardware/VPS; leave 20–30% headroom.
- Unseen dependencies: Map all AWS services you use (S3 events, IAM roles, Secrets Manager, CloudWatch alerts) and plan equivalents.
- DNS/TTL surprises: Pre-warm DNS changes and reduce TTLs ahead of cutover.
- Backup & DR gaps: Decide your RPO/RTO and test restores before the switchover.
- People & process: Update runbooks, monitoring, and on-call; keep observability first-class.
Managed hardware vs VPS vs Colocation: how to choose
| Requirement | Managed Dedicated | VPS | Colocation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost predictability | High (fixed) | High (fixed) | High (fixed) |
| Performance | Highest (bare metal) | High (shared host, dedicated vCPU options) | Highest (your design) |
| Control/Customisation | High | Medium–High | Very High |
| Time-to-value | Fast | Fastest | Medium (procure/install) |
| Compliance/Sovereignty | Excellent (UK DC) | Excellent (UK DC) | Excellent (UK DC) |
| Scale pattern | Big steady workloads | Small/medium steady workloads | Enterprise/large steady workloads |
Sustainability & governance matter too
If you’re moving for cost and control, use the opportunity to lower carbon and improve reporting:
- MyHostingSpace advantages: water-cooled racks, onsite cooling lake, and a 200 kW solar farm supporting operations—plus a developing nature reserve on campus.
- Certifications: We’re recommended for ISO 27001:2022 recertification, with rigorous controls around access, change, and continuity.
- Operational resilience: UK facility access by rail and major trunk roads; optional workplace recovery seating and conference spaces to keep teams productive during incidents.
(Ask us about PUE, energy mix, and metered reporting for your ESG disclosures.)
Mini case examples (anonymised)
- SaaS vendor: Repatriated multi-tenant Postgres from AWS to managed NVMe-backed servers; saved 38% TCO and cut p95 latency by ~22%.
- E-commerce: Kept CDN and WAF in cloud, moved origin to VPS with generous egress; eliminated unpredictable transfer fees, improved cache-fill times.
- Professional services: Consolidated dev/test to cloud spot instances, moved production ERP and files to UK colocation for sovereignty and predictable monthly billing.
Practical checklist
- Identify steady-state workloads with >60–70% average utilisation
- Quantify data egress and inter-service transfer
- Catalogue AWS dependencies (secrets, monitoring, eventing)
- Decide target platform: VPS, managed dedicated, or colocation
- Define backups (daily + weekly), off-site copies, and DR targets
- Warm-up environment, rehearse cutover, and reduce DNS TTLs
- Monitor closely for 7–14 days post-migration
How MyHostingSpace helps (UK-based, ESG-focused)
Platforms:
- High-performance VPS: Dedicated vCPU/RAM options, fast local NVMe, generous bandwidth, simple pricing.
- Managed Dedicated Servers: We design, deploy, and operate the hardware; you enjoy bare-metal performance with an SLA.
- Green UK Colocation: Place your own kit in our water-cooled, solar-assisted facility with on-site hands as needed.
Services:
- DRaaS (Veeam-based) with ~15-minute RPO options.
- Workplace Recovery: Up to 400 seats across 4 suites, plus an 18-seat boardroom and 50-seat conferencing suite.
- Connectivity: Multiple carriers and resilient upstreams; straightforward bandwidth commits.
- Security & Compliance: ISO 27001:2022 controls, audited processes, escorted access.
Location benefits:
- Under 50 minutes by train from London to Peterborough; 15–20 minute taxi to our facility.
- Road access via A1M, A605, A47.
Free sizing review: Share your current AWS bill (with usage details), and we’ll propose a placement plan (VPS vs dedicated vs colo), estimated monthly cost, and a phased migration approach.
FAQs
Is this “cloud exit”?
No. It’s right-sizing. Most customers keep some cloud services for elasticity and edge.
Will performance dip?
For steady workloads, dedicated resources often improve latency and throughput. We benchmark before and after.
What about security?
You get physical security layers, ISO 27001:2022 controls, network segmentation, and managed patching if you want it.
How long does a migration take?
Depends on complexity, but typical small–medium services can be moved in phases with blue/green cutovers to minimise downtime.
Can you handle compliance and audits?
Yes—data residency in the UK, access logs, and evidence packs aligned to ISO and typical audit needs.
Key Takeaways
Cloud remains an incredible tool. But it isn’t the only tool. For predictable, always-on workloads, a return to managed hardware or VPS can deliver lower, steadier costs, consistent performance, and stronger sovereignty—especially when paired with a sustainable UK data centre and clear SLAs.
If you’re curious where your break-even sits, send us an anonymised AWS bill and we’ll map out an options plan—no obligation.
