# Oxide Computer rack 92 Hacker News commenters recommended Oxide Computer rack and 20 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Recommended for programmatically managed, owned on-prem racks with storage, network and compute in one package. Critics cite high cost and dated hardware. ## Why people recommend it - Storage, network and compute together (3 comments): "Having storage, network and compute all in a single managed rack package brings a lot of value and brings down TCO" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49176536)) "Oxide sells a complete hardware + software solution, including virtualization and SDN" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46968696)) "slick hyperconverged infrastructure that you can buy a rack at a time without a subscription license" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46960981)) - Full stack hardware and software control (3 comments): "Much of the benefit is only available if one provider designs the hardware and software as one." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50028755)) "What's unique about Oxide is that they went all the way down to the firmware and then back up" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48677800)) "Oxide sells a complete hardware + software solution, including virtualization and SDN" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46968696)) - Owned and operable airgapped (2 comments): "Oxide goes to great lengths to allow you to own your servers and operate them in an airgapped environment" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48393475)) "Oxide are the first to say "it should just feel like cloud, except you own it" and building for that." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46967644)) - Rack-level API management (2 comments): "If you need a rack full of computers that are managed programmatically via an API then this is the machine for you." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46960837)) "If you're at a scale where compute density, power efficiency, security, and rack-level API management matters" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49289524)) ## What people warn about - High cost and pricey certified parts (3 comments): "too expensive for our internal server needs; not the right fit for our datacenter partners/customers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46966241)) "I would love to be able buy something like this, but the cost economy is pretty steep" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49203608)) "you have to buy certified compatible hardware from the manufacturer at 3x pricing instead of commodity items" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48688071)) - Dated CPU and hardware (2 comments): "Normally if you’re buying server hardware you don’t start with a CPU that’s already 5 years old and last-generation RAM" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46962712)) "Their software stack is great, but their hardware is quite dated in a fast moving industry." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46960840)) - Narrow feature set, no GPU support (2 comments): "it's not clear that the extremely narrow feature set of Oxide justifies the engineering effort required" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48679892)) "Oxide doesn't support GPU deployments, or any other accelerators, like SmartNIC or DPU for that matter." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46921875)) - Only suits very large buyers (2 comments): "I don't expect anyone less than 5M spends and high base loads is a good fit for their offering." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49177807)) "Oxide builds machines for the few companies that won't go with Azure or AWS, or that got so big Azure and AWS are no longer competitive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49792876)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [IBM Z mainframe](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ibm-mainframe.md): 23 recommend - [IBM POWER](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ibm-power.md): 13 recommend - [Nvidia GH200 server](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nvidia-gh200-server.md): 12 recommend - [IBM AS/400](https://hackerapproved.com/p/as-400.md): 11 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://oxide.computer/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Oxide Computer rack", https://hackerapproved.com/p/oxide-computer/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).