I'm honestly confused why local nvme disks haven't become the standard for cloud offerings a long time ago.

Aiven (not working for them, just a happy client) started offering local nvme disks for their postgres service in 2017. (https://aiven.io/blog/larger-and-faster-aiven-postgresql-pla...)

Back then I was sure it was only a matter of time for other hosted database providers to move on from EBS. But until Planetscale made a lot of noise about Metal no one seemed to bother.

It still matters who holds your data. Yes they can't read it, but they can hold it ransom. What if the US decides it wants to leverage the backups in tariff negotiations or similar? Not saying this would happen, but as a state level actor, you have to prepare for these eventualities.

That's why you backup to numerous places and in numerous geopolitical blocs. Single points of failure are always a bad idea. You have to create increasingly absurd scenarios for there to be a problem.

or… hear me out…

you obviate the need for complex solutions like that by simply having a second site.

Final assembly in the US would probably be more expensive due to the following reasons:

1. Parts would still have to be imported. So each part will have tariffs added.

2. Some parts are sourced from China and would therefore face even higher tariffs.

3. Spinning up a final assembly in the US is expensive.

Given the current instability and chaos, starting a multi year project of spinning up a final assembly in the US is a risky move.

What if the tariffs are gone in 4 years? Now you have an expensive final assembly in the US that can't compete with the one in Taiwan anymore.