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Google's Early Hardware

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the back-in-the-day dept.

revjonnylove writes "Ever wonder what Google's early hardware looked like? Well, wonder no more. Thanks to Archive.org's Way Back Machine, we can all bask in the glory of Google's home made HDD cases, constructed partially of Lego, as well as other neat-o toys. Is that a PowerPC logo I see on one of their servers?"

11 of 223 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Not bad! by BJH · · Score: 5, Informative

    Looking at the Wayback Machine link, it appears to be a snapshot from 1999. Of course, Google could have obtained this hardware well before then.

  2. PPC by boarder8925 · · Score: 3, Informative
    Is that a PowerPC logo I see on one of their servers?
    Looks that way.
    --
    Keep your eyes to the sky.
    1. Re:PPC by Spacelord · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yes it is an IBM RS/6000 F50 which does indeed have a powerpc processor, and usually runs IBM's own version of Unix, namely AIX. I've configured plenty of those back in 98/99.

      I do wonder what OS runs (or used to run) on that machine though, AIX or (Yellowdog?) Linux?

  3. Re:Not bad! by CptChipJew · · Score: 5, Informative

    It seems it was started as a project at Stanford, and took off from there, here's a link to an archive of the old site.

    --
    Vonal Declosion
  4. Orignal "About Google" Page by hot_Karls_bad_cavern · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here.

  5. The first two are Dell Poweredge 4200's by Mercury2k · · Score: 5, Informative

    For those who are wondering, I happen to own two of the very same machines in the top two pictures lol! They are Dell Poweredge 4200 machines with the logo plates removed! The specs are roughly this:

    Dual CPU capable (max 333mhz)
    Max RAM 512MB Bios Limit (66mhz EDO SDRAM)
    6x80pin SCA drive bays
    Dual 700 watt hot swap power supplies
    Built in VGA (ATI Mach64 VT 1MB)

    For the record, they typically ship with AMI Megaraid 428 (or higher) hardware raid cards. But the onboard SCSI2 is Adaptec AIC-7860 & 7880. Also worth mentioning, they are clusterable using Windows NT. I grabbed these machines off machine and local computer store and have been very stable work horses running Debian! (www.emaildesktop.com).
    Just glad to see that these machines were useful in their days!

  6. More pictures... by midimonkey · · Score: 5, Informative

    In case you're having a hard time loading the images from the story, you can find some other images here.

  7. Re:Its amazing... by iwein · · Score: 5, Informative

    here, i googled for you

    --
    Show a man some news, distract him for an hour. Show a man some mod points, distract him for the rest of his life.
  8. Re:Gmail by NeoThermic · · Score: 4, Informative

    Repeat after me: Its Lego, not Legos. Lego is shortend from Leg Godt, which is Danish, and means Play Good. The amazing thing is, its plural and singular at the same time, so you don't need the S.

    NeoThermic

    --
    Use my link above, or to view my server, NeoThermic.com
  9. Legos? Duplos! by stick_figure_of_doom · · Score: 5, Informative

    Those are not legos! I remember those things from way back when, they're Duplos. They're way bigger than Legos, and they don't cut your foot when you step on them. They're designed so that little kids can't hurt themselves. I never thought I'd see those again.

    --
    If someone drops a fort on Will, he makes a reflex save.
  10. What Really Happened to Craig Silverstein by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Read on slashdot about what really happened to Craig Silverstein.