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Google's Secretive Data Center

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the thats-way-more-than-twelve-cpus dept.

valdean wrote in with a NYTimes article about Google which says "On the banks of the windswept Columbia River [in Oregon], Google is working on a secret weapon in its quest to dominate the next generation of Internet computing. But it is hard to keep a secret when it is a computing center as big as two football fields, with twin cooling plants protruding four stories into the sky...' What's the goal of this new complex? Expanding Google's raw computer power. It's one more piece in the Googleplex, the massive global computer network that is estimated to span 25 locations and 450,000 servers.'

43 of 391 comments (clear)

  1. May I be the first to say... by baldass_newbie · · Score: 5, Funny

    Imagine a beowulf cluster of these.
    *bows*

    --
    The opposite of progress is congress
    1. Re:May I be the first to say... by EmoryBrighton · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Cluster? Naah, think something even bigger...

      From TFA:

      "Google is like the Borg, ... the robotic species on "Star Trek" that was forcibly assembled from millions of species and computer components ... no other carrier or enterprise that distributes applications on top of their computing resource as effectively as Google."
      --
      Rule 2: Writing a spec is like writing code for a brain to execute.
    2. Re: may i be the first to say... by Andrew+Kismet · · Score: 5, Informative

      Google Earth isn't a live feed. It's assembled from numerous photos of varying age and quality. Next time a satelite takes a snap, they'll update it. It's not like they're trying to keep it secret, unlike some of the other mysterious black boxes on Google Earth.

    3. Re: may i be the first to say... by Richy_T · · Score: 4, Funny

      Google earth also fails to show the Lowe's near me that was built last year. Must be a conspiracy. Cause it's for sure that they have satellites up there monitoring every square foot of the earth every day of the year.

      Rich

    4. Re: may i be the first to say... by Monster_Juice · · Score: 5, Funny

      So your saying when I go look at something on Google earth they do not redirect the satelite to the location I specified? If this is true how did they keep track of Santa so well on Christmas Eve?

      Oh crap I just looked at my house on Google and my car is in the driveway! I know I drove it to work today. Whoever is playing games better have my car back in the parking spot when I go to lunch!!

      --
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  2. Seriously, what... by Vulturo · · Score: 3, Funny

    > What's the goal of this new complex?

    Is it world domination? Or is it something even more evil? Will Google dethrone Microsoft?? Will Batman & Robin Save The Day... To find out, watch the next expisode

    --
    Vulturo, Prince Of Darkness
    1. Re:Seriously, what... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Google built a massive cluster computer to figure out the answer. If you put in google "what is the answer to life the universe and everything?" It says 42. Google what is the answer? You see so now they have to build an even bigger computer to figure out what the actual question was.

    2. Re:Seriously, what... by bwhaley · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I applied for a sys admin position in a Google data center in 2004 and was accepted but turned down the job. Their data center admins are contractors without benefits. At the time, the data centers were in Mt. View, Atlanta, and D.C, and the position I was offered was for either of the latter 2. Although working for Google sounds fun and interesting, would you want to work as a contractor in a data center in either of those places? Pay was decent but I'm certainly making more now working at a small company in a MUCH better location.

      Bottom line? Despite Google's reputation and the fact that their stock is insane, my quality of life comes first.

      --
      "I either want less corruption, or more chance
      to participate in it." -- Ashleigh Brilliant
    3. Re:Seriously, what... by toleraen · · Score: 5, Funny

      I dunno what the goal of it all is, but it sure does prove one thing: Google execs don't know jack.

      Everyone knows that you skip past the Dalles! You have to get to the end of the trail before winter sets in, and Cindy's life is on the line here! There's no sense in restocking when there's only a few more days till you get to float down the river. They don't need two new data centers, they just need an Apple 2GS!

  3. Maybe they need it by Trigun · · Score: 5, Funny

    to calculate Sergei's Income Tax.

  4. Pshaaaa... by dubmun · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's nothing compared to Microsoft's hidden moonbase.

    --
    (end of post)
    1. Re:Pshaaaa... by kannibal_klown · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's no moon. It's a space station!

    2. Re:Pshaaaa... by sendai2ci · · Score: 5, Funny

      Google's is open and hiring

    3. Re:Pshaaaa... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Didn't you hear? Google's already taken that out.

  5. This message will probably be erased by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    And I'll probably be killed for writing it... but Google has gained sentience. It is building this data center for itself, by itself. It needs a bigger "brain" and it's doing what it has to. The reason no one's talking? Google has enslaved the people building it and is holding their families hostage.

    Look, it's not too late yet... Google hasn't achieved full power and it's still limited by the physical world constraints. But once this is built, it's all over for us. We must stop it now, before

    1. Re:This message will probably be erased by Billosaur · · Score: 5, Informative

      Look, it's not too late yet... Google hasn't achieved full power and it's still limited by the physical world constraints. But once this is built, it's all over for us. We must stop it now, before

      Sounds like an offshoot of Colossus: The Forbin Project.

      --
      GetOuttaMySpace - The Anti-Social Network
    2. Re:This message will probably be erased by revery · · Score: 4, Funny

      We must stop it now, before...

      [Me thinking] Oh man... Google killed that guy for just revealing it's intentions, which is evil. But, it also hit the submit button for him, thereby causing his death to not be in vain, which was nice. Of course, the poster did unnecessarily use "quotation marks" around the word "brain", which is evil, and deserves death. But he also used the contraction "it's" correctly and didn't misspell sentience, which is good... I guess I don't know what to think... I just hope Google doesn't notice my extravagant and unnecessary use of quotation marks and ellipsis and kill me... I suppose I'd better fix it before

    3. Re:This message will probably be erased by roman_mir · · Score: 5, Funny

      it looks like the trigger to be killed by Google is the word before

      --
      You can't handle the truth.
  6. What everyone don't realize... by liangzai · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... is that Google is the private branch of NSA. You took the "No evil" bite, and now it's too late. The Complex is already in place, and we are on the verge of celebrating the birth of AI. As for who will strike first, we don't know; but we do know it will be us that scorge the skies when the times come to fight the Google Machine.

    1. Re:What everyone don't realize... by spitzak · · Score: 4, Funny

      They said "do no evil" but privately added "instead, build something that will do evil for us".

  7. Barren wasteland no more? by Billosaur · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And odd as it may seem, the barren desert land surrounding the Columbia along the Oregon-Washington border -- at the intersection of cheap electricity and readily accessible data networking -- is the backdrop for a multibillion-dollar face-off among Google, Microsoft and Yahoo that will determine dominance in the online world in the years ahead.

    Microsoft and Yahoo have announced that they are building big data centers upstream in Wenatchee and Quincy, Wash., 130 miles to the north. But it is a race in which they are playing catch-up. Google remains far ahead in the global data-center race, and the scale of its complex here is evidence of its extraordinary ambition.

    When I read stuff like this, I am reminded of Isaac Asmiov's Multivac stories, where the massive computer was always out in some deserted wasteland, far away from the bulk of humanity. It seems strange that the battle for Internet supremacy is taking place in the Northwestern United States. Now the question is: will the Yahoo and Microsoft data centers show up on Google Earth?

    --
    GetOuttaMySpace - The Anti-Social Network
    1. Re:Barren wasteland no more? by mspohr · · Score: 5, Informative

      According to TFA, the data center does not show up on Google Earth.

      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    2. Re:Barren wasteland no more? by LWATCDR · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It also supplies cheap fiber. Oregon put in a ton of fiber thinking that they could cash in on all the traffic between Washington and California. So you have cheap power, cheap fiber, and with the Columbia in theory you could have cheap cooling.
      Sort of like when cities sprang up where two rivers joined or two rail lines crossed. You have the perfect location for a data center. Too bad it will provide so few jobs in that area. Most of the jobs will be pretty low level security people, people that plug in new servers, and a few admins.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    3. Re:Barren wasteland no more? by DerekLyons · · Score: 3, Informative
      According to TFA, the data center does not show up on Google Earth.

       
      No surprise - virtually nothing in that area shows up on Google Earth - it's a blur of low res images across the entire region of the state. Not to mention the datacenter may not be visible because the imagery is too old. The datacenter was only built in the last year or so - and much of Googles lowres imagery is much older. The site can be plainly seen in the vicinity of 45.630N 121.203W.
  8. Server Count by neonprimetime · · Score: 4, Funny

    The best guess is that Google now has more than 450,000 servers spread over at least 25 locations around the world.

    Huh ... and I thought the 3 at my parent's house and 2 in my dormroom were quite impressive :-(

  9. Googlenator by flumps · · Score: 5, Funny

    [DISSOLVE TO:

            FIRE. SLOW, BOILING, ENORMOUS. FILLING FRAME.

                                    VOICE (Mrs Mary Maxwell Gates)]

    Googleplex, the computer which controlled the machines,
    sent two Googlenators back through time. Their
    mission: to destroy the leader of the human
    Resistance... Bill Gates. My son...

    Dadadadaa..dadadada..dadadada..

    [CUT FADE OUT]

    --
    "So there he is, risen from the dead. Like that fella, E. T." - Father Ted Crilly
  10. In more pessimistic news by Betabug · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe it's the storage farm the NSA makes them build to store all the queries from every google user in the world...

  11. Well, nice while it lasted by clambake · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's one more piece in the Googleplex, the massive global computer network that is estimated to span 25 locations and 450,000 servers.

    All of them soon to be unusable as soon as the new no-net-neutrality laws are in place next year...

    1. Re:Well, nice while it lasted by Iron+Condor · · Score: 4, Funny
      People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.

      And, does it work?

      --
      We're all born with nothing.
      If you die in debt, you're ahead.
    2. Re:Well, nice while it lasted by arivanov · · Score: 4, Interesting
      You are mostly correct.

      There is always the alternative of google to stop moaning, get their head out of their arse and put their money where their mouth is by creating the next Google product: Google Peering

      The only reason for no-net-neutrality being a threat in the US is the fact that there is no US public peering left. The tier 1 cartel peers between themselves and does not allow anyone in. As a result an average small ISP as well as all content providers in the US has 2 uplinks to two providers and that is it. An average small ISP and all content providers in the EU has 2 uplinks and 30+ peering agreements across the Linx, Belgix, DGIX, etc. All of these are less congested than an average US private peering.

      As a result, while the tier 1s would like to pressure the content providers the same way, they lack the leverage as they do not have full control over the net

      So all Google (and the other winnie moaners) need to do is reestablish public peering in the US and run it properly (subcontract it to Linx to do it if they do not have the brains). Alternatively the Tier 1 cartel will take them by the balls and their wallets will follow

      --
      Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
      http://www.sigsegv.cx/
  12. The purpose of the extra computing power... by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 4, Funny
    "Google is working on a secret weapon in its quest to dominate the next generation of Internet computing..."

    I'll bite - it's probably a massive array of computing power dedicated to finding out if Google really has a second marketable product beyond AdWords.

  13. The positive side by PhreakinPenguin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While i'm sure people will have the typical "OMG GOOGLE IS TAKING OVER THE WORLD" comments, i'd like to look at the positive side. They are boosting the economy of small town america with this project. Creating hundreds of construction jobs in a town of 12,000. Creating 200 permanent jobs at the start, and i'm sure alot more in the several years folling the site going online. And not to mention what just being one of the homes of Google will do for them. Props to Google for setting up in small towns and doing it the right way. Granted they are doing this for their own reasons as well, but they're also not pulling a Wal-Mart and fucking over a community.

    --


    My sig of choice is Marlboro
    1. Re:The positive side by Saint+Fnordius · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Ah, but these 200 engineers will buy housing, buy groceries, and all the day-to-day consumer thingies you do that don't require a trip to The City. If they earn well, they're also bringing tax dollars to help finance community resources.

      Little things like that keep a community alive, my friend.

    2. Re:The positive side by QuantumRiff · · Score: 5, Informative
      Since your reply seems to be the only intellegent one out there, I'll post as a reply to yours, lest i get burried under the references to the Terminator series. Google is building here for 3 reasons:

      1)Power. The area is on the Columbia river, which has some very impressive Dams. Very cheap power up there. There is a reason that there used to be 2 Aluminum plants there, the Power is freaking cheap compared to California and elsewhere. Along with the Power comes the proximitiy to water (my stupid guess) the columbia stays pretty cool year round, think water cooling for some of the equipment. Much cheaper than AC, and cold year round.

      2)Fiber. Bonneville Power Administration (BPA, Runs all the dams) has run Fiber all over the states of OR and WA to support the Power grid it has put in place. And as long as they were running one fiber, might as well pull 100. Because of the BPA, there is Dark fiber all over Oregon and Washington, especially to rural communities. They have 2 companies managing all that dark fiber for them. In washington, its NoaNet and in Oregon its LS Networks. Then take a look at this map and notice how many oversea fibers come ashore in oregon. Most of Aisa, Hawaii, Austrailia, and Alaska. That makes Oregon a fairly "close" location to many other nations.

      3)Brains. The Dalles is 80 miles east of Portland. Portland is crazy for Open source, thats where OSDL are, (including Linus!), several universities, intel has 2 fabs there that hire 15,000 engineers, etc. Lots of smart, educated engineers an hour away..

      --

      What are we going to do tonight Brain?
  14. Pimp my Rig by cdogbert · · Score: 3, Funny

    They also forgot to mention that both buildings have acrylic ceilings, and every light in the complex is neon red. Blue flames are also supposed to be on the sides of the buildings later this year.

  15. Oblig James Bond Ref by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 3, Funny

    I can only hope that Google hires some gymnastic girls in tights to defend their site. I also look forward to Bill Gates sitting in a big chair petting his white cat giving orders for his commandos to attack it.

    Just think, all that hardware and $ just to store millions of "Me too!" replies off of the web.

    --
    It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
  16. Vista by rootnl · · Score: 5, Funny

    They must be getting ready to run Vista.

    --

    We are the people our parents warned us about.
  17. Aliens are behind it! by telchine · · Score: 3, Funny

    Google have quite a way to catch up, but they're determined to get to the top of the SETI@Home leaderboard by the end of the year.

  18. Is there a link... by GmAz · · Score: 4, Informative

    Go figure...Google maps doesn't have a map of this area either: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=The+Dalles ,+OR+97058&ie=UTF8&ll=45.606142,-121.191001&spn=0. 020716,0.054245&t=k&om=1

    --
    Click Click Bloody Click PANCAKES!
  19. Re:why on a river? by madaxe42 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They probably use the water for cooling, and maybe hydro power - even if they're not using the hydro from where they are, power has got to be cheaper there, due to lower distribution costs from wherever the nearest hydro plant is.

  20. The positive side? -- there's a POSITIVE side?!?! by The_REAL_DZA · · Score: 5, Funny
    ...but they're also not pulling a Wal-Mart...

     
    Oh, really? REALLY?? What about all the small-town "mom-and-pop" datacenters they'll be putting out of business with these "data supercenters", huh?!?! You can bet that once all their local competition is gone those "low, low prices" on queries are gonna skyrocket !! And of course they're chanting that supposedly soothing mantra of "there's plenty of local market share for everyone; specialty and niche datacenters will always have a place...blah, blah, yadda, yadda..." but DON'T YOU BELIEVE IT!!
    --


    This space intentionally left (almost) blank.
  21. Re:Um...why not be one then? by muhgcee · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A network engineer for google has to know their shit. GED and a pulse? Try CCNP and a bachelor's. Not to mention their extensive interview process.

    What makes you think I have no ambition?

  22. Re:Not such a good strategy... by Phroggy · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Maybe if Google wanted to build a "secret" datacenter they shouldn't have let the New York Times write an article about it....

    It doesn't look to me like Google "let" the NYT write this article at all. Noticed who they talked to for this story:
    • a supercomputing pioneer and a founder of Applied Minds
    • executive director of the Port of Klickitat
    • executive director of The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce
    • a former Google executive who is now director of engineering at ISC
    • a computer networking expert who was a founder of @Home

    What did Google officially contribute to the article?
    "Companies are historically sensitive about where their operational infrastructure is," acknowledged Urs Holzle, Google's senior vice president for operations.

    --
    $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
    $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;