[pics] Google’s First Production Server

[mattx]

Not sure if this is genuine but still, quite interesting.....

 

Google

[CyberNerd]

I understood this is how Google still do things; massive amounts of cheap desktop hardware instead of expensive servers.

I've mused about doing something similar for a farm of Citrix servers, just got to get around to it.

[R0M]

I've also 'heard' that Google just use 'bazillions' cheep/almost free desktops instead of real servers but I think that its just an urban myth... There is a good video here of a Google data center, one of many apparently... I don't see any cheep old PC's there though

[mattx]

I've also 'heard' that Google just use 'bazillions' cheep/almost free desktops instead of real servers but I think that its just an urban myth... There is a good video here of a Google data center, one of many apparently... I don't see any cheep old PC's there though

 

I rather enjoyed watching that video over my cornflakes this morning. Reminded me of the data centre I used to work in many years ago.....

[Arthur]

I've also 'heard' that Google just use 'bazillions' cheep/almost free desktops instead of real servers but I think that its just an urban myth...

It's definitely not an urban myth. The servers that MattX mentioned above are on display at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley. When Larry and Sergey were at Standford they also used Duplo bricks in their server room.

 

If Google's first production server resembles a hastily cobbled together amalgam of off-the-shelf computer parts circa 1999, well, that's because it is. Just like Google's original servers at Stanford. If you think this rack is scary, you should see what it replaced.

 

Instead of buying whatever pre-built rack-mount servers Dell, Compaq, and IBM were selling at the time, Google opted to hand-build their server infrastructure themselves. The sagging motherboards and hard drives are literally propped in place on handmade plywood platforms. The power switches are crudely mounted in front, the network cables draped along each side. The poorly routed power connectors snake their way back to generic PC power supplies in the rear.

 

Some people might look at these early Google servers and see an amateurish fire hazard. Not me. I see a prescient understanding of how inexpensive commodity hardware would shape today's internet. I felt right at home when I saw this server; it's exactly what I would have done in the same circumstances. This rack is a perfect example of the commodity x86 market D.I.Y. ethic at work: if you want it done right, and done inexpensively, you build it yourself.

 

Even today, Google is serious about exerting total control over the servers in their now-massive server farms. They build their own high-efficiency power supplies, and conduct fascinating, public research on disk failure (PDF). Current estimates put Google's server farm at around 450,000 machines-- and they're still custom built, commodity-class x86 PCs, just like they were in 1999. (Source)

[Arthur]

According to this article, Google has two different types of data centres: one for content delivery (their search engine, YouTube, GMail etc.) and another for business critical services (the servers running their internal systems, AdSense etc.). The former is the one which uses DIY parts where failure doesn't matter. e.g.

 

Google's server design for their content delivery data centers includes a full 12V system (no 3V or 5V components) with lead-acid battery backup (instead of a central UPS). The battery is said to power the system "for a few minutes" during an outage, after which the backup generators should be running and supplying power. Google said at their Data Center Efficiency Summit, "if the generators don't kick in within a few minutes, you have bigger problems and better have a fail over strategy."

 

Generally this is true; if your generators don't kick in within a few minutes, you are going to have bigger problems. That's why it is important to test them regularly, and familiarize yourself with their operation. Continually evaluate whether the generators are appropriately sized for today's IT load.

 

This gets back to availability versus efficiency; Google again chooses cost efficiency over availability, and the system-wide design of their homogeneous software architecture enables this battery design decision. Conventional UPS systems can power a data center for an hour or more, and battery systems can be extended centrally to provide more runtime. The battery-on-server system cannot be extended without replacing batteries on every piece of equipment or waiting for a refresh cycle. It does, however, provide a distributed battery backup that eliminates the single point of failure (central UPS) in conventional designs.