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Where Does Google's Hardware Go to Die?
An anonymous reader asks: "I was talking with a co-worker today about how Google is so big, and how they make such great use of commodity hardware to do their business, and one of the topics that came up is what Google does with its old hardware. Google has been around for many years now, they have more machines than any sane person would own, and they are continually expanding. At some stage they have to push out old equipment, either when it starts entering into its MTBF limits or it's been depreciated down. Searching (using Google of course) wasn't particularly fruitful. Has anyone seen where Google's hardware goes when it dies?"
Actually, they leave it in the rack and mark it offline. Only when a large number of servers are history do they bother taking out the trash. That's the glory of well-managed commodity hardware!
In the words of a googler: We buy crap.
I'm willing to bet that once the hardware is too crappy for Google, that it's completely useless for anyone remotely sane.
Look for completely broken hardware at recycling places.
-- To dream a dream is grand, but to live it is divine. -- Leto ][
Google's servers aren't actually servers. They use "Desktop" parts,. strapped to a rack shelf with cable ties.
Actually, donations of depreciated property are not really deductible, because your deduction is limited to your basis. If the equipment is old, it's already depreciated and has no basis. See http://www.msk.com/csl_files/325861.pdf.
You have to watch what you donate and give away to employees. You want to give away equipment that can still be maintained in a usable state. Once, I had to get rid of a bunch of obsolete monitors, and a group of employees were actively requesting them. Instead, I donated them to an Electrical Engineering professor at a local college. He tested each of them before doing anything with them. One caught on fire and caused a serious mess. Big problem! The Electrical Engineering professor was skilled (and ready) for this sort of thing, so it was okay in the end. If I gave these monitors to employees, their houses could have burned down!!!
Lesson: If you give untrained employees or volunteer organizations equipment, make sure it works! Sure you can give the stuff away with a "no guarantees" label. However, your employees are still expecting "safe" equipment that reasonably works. Unless you are confident that you are giving away "good" kit, only send the equipment to trained professionals.
Like this early rackmounted array of Google servers which was displayed at the Vintage Computer Festival in 2005 and now is (I believe) on display at the Computer History Museum (which is worth the effort to tour if you are near the Palo Alto/Mountain View California Area.
From my write-up about the rack: The rack in the picture holds 4 standard Pentium II Motherboards per level and has a total of 80 Linux (2.0) servers per rack. Since they were standard MBs they had to get creative with things such as wiring and insulation (which was, in this case, cork-board.) The panel shows the server room as well as talks about the fire dangers of doing such a design. (Google is a neighbor to the Computer History Museum BTW). (closeup)
"Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
I was fortunate enough to get a tour of the google campus once and i asked them about thier server and what they run, etc. One of the most surpising things i found out is that most of thier servers dont have cases. They do this so its super easy to swap out hardware if something dies and to perform any upgrade that may be needed. If a part dies, they can yank it out and replace it without even having to take the server out of the rack. The dead part simply get tossed in the trash and the server continues serving its merry a** off. To me that means thier servers never 'die', they just constanly get new parts and the parts that do die are so dead you wouldnt want them.
> Good news -- my accountant recently told me that some computer equipment
> is now three years. Check with yours to make sure I wasn't imagining things.
That would be good news. As I am my own accountant (private, not public), I'll have to check the newer rules with the IRS. As of the latest version of the IRS publication 946 ("How to Depreciate":
2. 5-year property.
a. Automobiles, taxis, buses, and trucks.
b. Computers and peripheral equipment.
-- Dan Jenkins, Rastech Inc.
Having once worked for an electronics recycling firm (which shall remain nameless), I can say at least SOME of the equipment is salvaged and resold overseas, what can't be sold, is processed for precious metals recovery. Very little of what gets to the recycler is donated, any donations would have to be made by the client (Google in this case) prior to shipment. On a side note, a little off-topic, refuse disposal in the US is largely left up to the states to administer, many of which tend to follow federal guidelines (refuse being defined by its contents). HOWEVER, there are states that define refuse on the basis of its point of origin, which creates a potential loophole for the unscrupulous to dispose of things that would otherwise be flagged as hazardous waste. E-waste tends to be the primary component of this "lost in limbo" material.
I just disposed of the first computer I ever bought. It was an HP Pavilion 7955 with a 1.5G Pentium 4, 768 meg memory, and a 40GB hard drive. I bought it at the end of 2001 I think when Windows XP first came out. A Google search helped me find a good home for it. I gave it to a project called HandyCable Networks located in Greensboro, North Carolina (US). This group utilizes disabled people who refurbish the computers and give them to needy people. What they can't fix they strip of usable parts and recycle the rest. They have a special license from Microsoft that lets them install Windows on the refurbished computers. It seemed to me to be a "Win-Win" situation. I got rid of a computer I didn't want anymore. The people in the program gain skills by working on the computers. Somebody will get a decent computer. And the environment will benefit by keeping some more waste materials out of the landfill for at least a while longer. If you're in driving distance of Greensboro, NC (US) here is their site where you can find contact information if you have a donation: http://www.handycapable.org/ If you aren't close enough, a web search will probably find some other organizations who could use some of your old stuff.