Why does StackExchange store images in imgur rather than its own servers? [migrated]

Posted by martin's on Server Fault See other posts from Server Fault or by martin's
Published on 2012-10-30T00:15:08Z Indexed on 2012/10/30 5:05 UTC
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webserver

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Performance

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storage

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images

I am trying to understand the technical (and business) logic behind taking such an approach. Certainly SE isn't short of server or bandwidth resources. I don't think imgur is a CDN, so that can't be the reason.

On the one hand one is giving up local control (meaning your files, your hardware) of the content. On the other, you don't have to use your own bandwidth, storage and resources. Then again, you depend on someone else for the reliability and up-time of your service.

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