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Microsoft Mulling Portable Data Centers
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."
How do they plan on making that easy on an OS that needs regular attention? This isnt a Linux, OS/2, Sparc, AIX, BSD machine that you can dump in a closet (or container) for months at a time...
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Hasn't Google already been doing this for a couple years now?
Sun had a shipping container that was painted black, i work for a construction company that has dozens of those shipping containers and they get hot as hell inside during the summer, who ever implements these things in a shipping container (especially black ones) better get a badass air-conditioner to keep those things cool...
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A Novel Datacenter Concept
Project Blackbox packages compute, storage, and network infrastructure capabilities into scalable, modular units outfitted with state-of-the-art cooling, monitoring, and power distribution systems. Customers will be able to order a variety of standard and custom configurations of systems, storage, networking, and software. Housed in a standard 20-foot shipping container for maximum flexibility, Project Blackbox will be easily transported using common shipping methods. Simple hookups for water, AC power, and networking will enable customers to quickly deploy Project Blackbox upon delivery.
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."
This strikes me an awful lot like a white elephant- it's not terribly hard to stuff a bunch of computers and an air conditioner/heating system into a shipping container with (physical) shock isolation. For Sun, it sounds like they didn't do much more than install water blocks in their servers ("cyclonic cooling", my ass.)
More laughs:
It's not completely plug-n-play, however. The "data center in a box" requires chilled water to support the cooling system, in addition to Internet connectivity and appropriate power infrastructure. Markoff's story notes that the prototype "sits in a container case adjacent to a Sun office building here (Menlo, Park, Calif.), connected to two large fire hoses for water cooling and 500 kilowatts of redundant power."
500kW (which at 220V is over 2,000 amps- which is a HUGE hookup) of power is probably just for the computers. Figure at least some sizable chunk of that for cooling...
Power, cooling, security...this seems rife with problems...
Please help metamoderate.
I don't know where you get that, but RDP DOES NOT work acceptably over 56k. I've done it in the past (cell phone in laptop made a dial-up connection) and it is laggy and crappy. Right now I work from home, remote into my machine at work using WiFi and I have to use a VPN solution, I can't imagine doing that over anything slower than 128k.
/var/log/messages for example). SSH can stand quite some seconds of packetloss unless the whole connection breaks down, but if you got that much packetloss, then RDP is not going to help either. That is why we have utilities like screen. Still, either on Windows or Unix, SSH or something comparable (Terminal) works always better on low-bandwidth than anything VNC-like.
X is neither a good solution for that, there is something out there that is comparable to X and lightweight, but I forgot the exact name. SSH works great over 28k... if you don't have too much of stuff scrolling through the windows (cat
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I hate to break it to ya but stealing one of those things will be very difficult. Once the container is in place you really think its just going to sit there? It will be placed on a concrete surface with anchors for each corner and for real security the anchors welded and covered with cement to prevent them from being cut. To remove it will require a jack hammer and torch, not so covert. Even if its left on a trailer the tires or the axles can be removed and left on a stand. They aren't going to leave a container full of millions of dollars of equipment in a parking lot with an extension cord running to it.
The 20' container alone has a tare weight of about 4500 pounds. A 1U server can weigh as much as 40 pounds. lets say we have 8 48U racks inside the container thats 48*8*40 which gives us 15,360 pounds. Add to that the weight of a cooling system, power equipment including a UPS, rack enclosures and cable management and you have quite a bit of weight. I am going to conclude that your looking at least 30,000-40,000 pounds for a loaded 20 footer. A forklift to move 30-40,000 pounds is very large and weighs so much that you need a tag trailer or slide axle semi trailer to move the damn thing. Its going to be allot easier to just open the container and rob the equipment. Or possibly use a roll back equipment truck and drag the thing on with a winch assuming it isn't anchored to the ground.