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Microsoft Mulling Portable Data Centers

Posted by Zonk on from the call-me-when-they-make-them-luggable dept.

1sockchuck writes "An architect of the Windows Live team has published a presentation advocating portable container-based data centers as the future of data center infrastructure. James Hamilton, who previously was GM of Microsoft Exchange Hosted Services, contends that a distributed network of unmanned modular units 'transforms data centers from static and costly behemoths into inexpensive and portable lightweights. ... Multiple smaller data centers, regionally located, could prove to be a competitive advantage.' Both Sun and Rackable have rolled out prototypes of container-based 'data center in a box' products, and Hamilton notes that large generators are also available in trailers."

1 of 137 comments (clear)

  1. Re:What about maintenance and fixes? by fm6 · · Score: 4, Informative

    If you have the right hardware, you don't need to be on-site. Serious servers come with something called lights out management. This utilizes a self-contained ROM-based system that's always running, even when the main system is shut down (or displaying a BSOD). As long as the system is getting power and there's an Ethernet cable connected to its management port, a remote user can do anything that an onsite user can do, provided it doesn't require opening the cover of the system. You can even re-install the operating system, used remote ISO and floppy images.

    I'm the documentation lead for a server with a LOM that's very fancy indeed. There's a graphic terminal service that supports things like interacting with the BIOS, or logging into the server's GUI. There's a LOM command line you can access using a serial connection or over SSH. The LOM also supports IPMI, which is kind of a basic necessity when you have a lot of servers, even if they're all down the hall.

    This server is certified for Windows 2003 (and I understand a lot of our customers buy it for that fell purpose), so it would be ideal for Microsoft's container. However, we have a our own competing container product.

    And yes, the company I work for is Sun, and yes, we're selling Windows-based systems now. Shocking, isn't it?