The blog post explores the challenges and considerations involved in deciding whether to build or buy a real-time data stream network infrastructure. It highlights that while building a network using open-source protocols like Socket.IO or SignalR can be initially rewarding, it often leads to significant orchestration challenges as scale increases, including time-intensive setup, maintenance, security, and technical expertise requirements. On the other hand, opting for a global data stream network service provider can alleviate these burdens, as these providers handle complex scaling, server maintenance, and software updates, offering reliability and scalability with globally redundant data centers. The post emphasizes the importance of weighing the total cost of ownership and suggests that upfront costs should not deter the choice to buy, as many providers offer free developer tiers for initial testing and development. Ultimately, the decision between building and buying should consider both immediate and long-term costs, the technical expertise required, and the application's specific needs for scalability and reliability.