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Video Demo of Microsoft's "Containerized" Data Storage

Posted by timothy on from the trailer-parks-have-always-been-ahead-of-their-time dept.

BDPrime writes "Michael Manos, Microsoft's director of data center services, shows a 3-D rendering of the company's upcoming containerized data center, which is like a facility full of shipping containers. He also demos Scry, Microsoft's internal data center analytics tool that lets the company monitor the data center's energy use, carbon footprint and power bill. There are a few companies out there that are now touting the data center in a shipping container. Sun was one of the first with its Blackbox, now called the Sun MD, while others include Rackable Systems' ICE Cube and Verari's FOREST."

56 of 82 comments (clear)

  1. heh by stoolpigeon · · Score: 1

    I heard they are hermetically sealed to keep all the viruses inside.

    --
    It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
    1. Re:heh by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 1

      But they still need the back door for the BSA and the NSA.

    2. Re:heh by mrbluze · · Score: 1

      I heard they are hermetically sealed to keep all the viruses inside.

      .. right..

      But they still need the back door for the BSA and the NSA.

      .. this is all starting to sound disturbingly like the trench-coat brigade at the wharf public toilets.

      --
      Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]
  2. Shortly thereafter by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 1

    Microsoft's new storage solution was put to good use.

  3. Brewster Kahle thought of it first by brak · · Score: 1

    Too bad all these companies are making millions off the forethought of Brewster. They should each donate 1 shipping container to the Internet Archive.

  4. Michael Manos by Megaweapon · · Score: 1

    So he runs around Redmond wearing a black cape with red hands on them?

    --
    I'm sure "SlashdotMedia" will improve on all the wonders that Dice Holdings blessed us all with
    1. Re:Michael Manos by Dripdry · · Score: 1

      Keep those manos at 10 and 2, Mister!

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      -
    2. Re:Michael Manos by Chlorus · · Score: 1

      Manos: Hands of Monopolization.

  5. Real iPODS by davidwr · · Score: 1

    Drop a data center in one of these babies and you have yourself a real iPOD!

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  6. Manos? The Hands of Fate? by eno2001 · · Score: 1

    When is Ortega gonna show up?

    --
    -"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
  7. Re:first by sm62704 · · Score: 1

    There are a few companies out there that are now touting the data center in a shipping container. Sun was one of the first with its Blackbox, now called the Sun MD, while others include Rackable Systems' ICE Cube and Verari's FOREST

    No, they weren't the first.

    Oh you meant you. Ok then. I guess you innovated that comment!

    --
    mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
  8. As always with Microsoft... by jalet · · Score: 1

    The Key word is : "upcoming" :-)

    --
    Votez ecolo : Chiez dans l'urne !
  9. Still asking, who's gonna use that? by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If data storage is about anything, it's trust. Now, who trusts MS? A company that has shown time and again that their primary concern is their shareholders, not their customers. A company that has shown time and again that their software cannot be trusted, neither on the technical nor on the personal level. And this company should handle my important data?

    Care to tell me why?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Still asking, who's gonna use that? by zappepcs · · Score: 1

      This is a very important question. With the Whitehouse blaming MS Exchange for the loss of emails (at least in part so no need for flames as that is how joe sixpack will hear the news), the NSA backdoor through security, the high number of vulnerabilities, refusal to use ODF, closed source code, and any number of questionable business practices, it is quite likely that governments as well as big business will begin to question the wisdom of choosing MS to handle their data. This is doubly true if any F/OSS software pops up in competition.

      Sure, there are those companies that will simply stay with MS because they are already invested heavily but their numbers will decline with time. This leaves only one other reason: user's are not aware of any other way and just assume that a megabehemoth software giant would never screw them over because of fears of being caught by the law - without ever thinking it is the government that will request that they do so. In short, idiocy and ignorance.

      Before the MS fanbois start flaming, think about it. What is YOUR reason for trusting MS?

      --
      Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
    2. Re:Still asking, who's gonna use that? by ProfessionalCookie · · Score: 1

      Shareholders?

      ok ok, just kidding

    3. Re:Still asking, who's gonna use that? by ChatHuant · · Score: 1

      With the Whitehouse blaming MS Exchange for the loss of emails (at least in part so no need for flames as that is how joe sixpack will hear the news),

      I will note though that joe sixpack doesn't even know what a data center is, much less needs one, designs one or does comparisons of various vendor solutions. So your argument doesn't really apply. If the designer of a data center is ignorant enough to miss the technical issues with the above-mentioned White House press release, and incompetent enough to use that as a factor in his decision, any kind of data center he puts together will probably be a major failure. And then he'll blame the vendor, of course :)

    4. Re:Still asking, who's gonna use that? by 1sockchuck · · Score: 1

      The containers in the Chicago data center will be used to support Office Live. Since they're buying 220 of them, they must figure Office Live is gonna get some use.

    5. Re:Still asking, who's gonna use that? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      It's a matter of trust. There are companies I do trust (to some extent), and others I don't. Mostly because of former experience.

      Now, what do people think of when they think of MS? Rock-solid systems? Perfect support? Reliable announcements? Neither of the three, quite far from it. We're used to MS crashing (even people who are anything but geeks can identify a BSOD, it's not just something you may sometimes get to see when you are a driver developer), support personnell that can't even tell me the difference between VS 2008 Standard and Professional (just to name a recent example of a problem I had where MS support couldn't help me at first, took a week/ to find out and finally direct me to a page that is appearantly not accessable through any "normal" means, like going to microsoft.com and searching there), and even execs start to realize that 99% of MS announcements is vaporware.

      With a history like that, I doubt MS has in anyone's heart (or even brain) the position to be a reliable, trustworthy business partner. For most companies, MS is a necessary evil, nothing else.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    6. Re:Still asking, who's gonna use that? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      No, a valid point. Shareholders do put trust in MS, for the same reason they put a lot of trust into IBM in the 60s to 80s: It is a rock solid investment. Like it or hate it, but you simply cannot escape it if you need computers.

      But here's the problem in this case: Shareholders don't buy MS products, they pump money into MS because they know MS products sell. And thus they won't use that storage system, or at least if they do, they do it as customers, not shareholders.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    7. Re:Still asking, who's gonna use that? by smallfries · · Score: 1

      Not that I disagree with your point - but can you name a single company that puts their customers interests over those of its shareholders?

      --
      Slashdot: where don knuth is an idiot because he cant grasp the awesome power of php
    8. Re:Still asking, who's gonna use that? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Neither buys that storage. So they don't count. They won't generate profit (at least not as customers).

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    9. Re:Still asking, who's gonna use that? by line-bundle · · Score: 1

      You answered your own question: the shareholders trust Microsoft. Fix that and MS will improve.

    10. Re:Still asking, who's gonna use that? by gatesvp · · Score: 1

      A company that has shown time and again that their primary concern is their shareholders, not their customers.

      As a publicly-held company this is pretty much a legal requirement. Companies are allowed to ignore their customers, even for extended periods of time; they're not allowed to ignore their shareholders for any significant measure of time.

      Now, generally, shareholders want happy customers or they don't achieve growth. No growth means loss of revenue, so to say that shareholder's interests are opposed to customer interests is a very short-term view of a company that has a few decades behind it.

      So if you're going to complain, you should have at least brought your own solution to the problem. Sun is publicly-held (and therefore, so is MySQL), Oracle is publicly held, Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, most chipmakers, etc. From software to hardware many of the components are built by publicly held companies.

      Based on the logic espoused in the above quote, basically nobody is eligible to host your precious data.

  10. great by nguy · · Score: 1

    hardware: $1m

    Microsoft software licenses: $10m

    the feeling you get living inside the container to keep rebooting machines after BSsOD: priceless

  11. Re:Manos? The Hands of Fate? by LMacG · · Score: 1

    You mean Torgo? He watches the place while the master is away.

    --
    Slightly disreputable, albeit gregarious
  12. Bad name by mcsqueak · · Score: 1

    "Scry"? How are you supposed to read that? It almost looks like 'scary' to me. That is not a good name to have when it comes to MS and data storage... I do not want my data storage to be 'scary'!

    1. Re:Bad name by Ephemeriis · · Score: 1

      I believe it is supposed to be read as scry.

      --
      "Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
    2. Re:Bad name by mrsteveman1 · · Score: 1

      Sounds like someone needs to buy a vowel

  13. Saw These by WED+Fan · · Score: 1

    Saw these at a recent military based symposium in Redmond. It is an incredible idea. Picture a scenario where you need a self powered IT infrastructure immediately. Bring these in and you have everything a disaster area/forward operating base/remote research facility would need for connectivity and information.

    Governments, universities, militaries, NGO's could all use them.

    Can be shipped by air, over the road, rail road, and sea.

    You want your Marines/rescuers/construction team on-site now with a full compliment of IT. POOF. You got it.

    --
    Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong fix.
    1. Re:Saw These by berashith · · Score: 1

      This may qualify as an incredible idea, but it definitely does not qualify as MicroSoft's incredible idea.

      More of a "we can do that too" type of thing.

    2. Re:Saw These by Chris+Burke · · Score: 1

      Bring these in and you have everything a disaster area/forward operating base/remote research facility would need for connectivity and information.

      Yeah, except for the massive power demands of an entire data center. You can't just plug the thing into a wall socket. Requires external cooling, too.

      They're cool and all if you need to rapidly increase your capacity, especially if on a temporary basis, but when starting from zero, once you've built the infrastructure necessary to power/cool one of these, you may as well move all the computers inside too.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    3. Re:Saw These by aaarrrgggh · · Score: 1

      Power is generally not a huge issue, as containerized generators are fairly standardized and rapidly deployable. Cooling on the other hand is where most of these solutions fail. A large air cooled generator can be shipped in on skids, but will usually require an external pump skid to get things operational.

      The problem with integrating cooling solutions is that it is too climate dependent to standardize. Tightly managed direct evaporative coolers can make a solid solution until you get to very hot, humid climates (over 75F wet bulb). At that point, you are going to have to have separate pre-cooling equipment to keep things working.

      The only alternative is high-temperature heat rejection systems where you integrate a heat pipe into the chip and can work with 120F return water temperatures. Seems like fantasy at this point though...

    4. Re:Saw These by BlackSnake112 · · Score: 1

      Hasn't Sun had this for a few years now? http://www.sun.com/products/sunmd/s20/index.jsp

    5. Re:Saw These by jbengt · · Score: 1

      Portable Chillers, including pumps, on a tractor-trailer are fairly easy to obtain (but expensive). I've seen plenty of these running in downtown Chicago during the big basement flood (when a contractor punched a hole in a tunnel running under the Chicago river, and flooded out hundreds of high-rise basements, shorting out lots of electrical services and submerging many cooling plants)
      75 F wet bulb is fairly common in Chicago, (designing for 78 F wet bulb is not unusual here for sizing evaporative cooling equipment) You would typically end up with temperatures over 85 F using direct evaporative cooling at 75 F wet bulb. Most data center equipment doesn't like temperatures over 75 F to 78 F, though it's possible that the containerized equipment is made to be more rugged.

  14. ICE Cube? by Dripdry · · Score: 1

    I see that Rackable Systems has finally developed a product that acts in a major television show, produces hip hop albums, and saves the world by talking to a high tech dolphin in one fell swoop. Brilliant!

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    -
  15. Re:Trolls and OTs by berashith · · Score: 1

    wow, and your's qualifies as all three... troll, off-topic, and flame, with the added benefit of juvenile name calling.

    Bravo!

  16. Don't worry about hackers... by Thelasko · · Score: 1

    worry about someone with one of these.

    --
    One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
  17. Yikes by hey · · Score: 1

    A shipping container of Microsoft stuff. That's quite a bit more than I want!

  18. Re:Another unoriginal idea...... by blhack · · Score: 1

    Data center in a shipping container is hardly an original idea. Its one of those things that everybody thinks of on their own at some point. Not to mention the fact that just about every single spy movie ever made has got some scaled down version of one lodged into the back of a van at some point.

    But thanks for the well thought out comment!

    --
    NewslilySocial News. No lolcats allowed.
  19. A Look Inside Microsoft's Containers by 1sockchuck · · Score: 1

    The Virtual Earth team is an early adopter of the Microsoft containers, and has posted pictures of what they look like on the inside. Note that they're using customized Forest containers from Verari Systems rather than Rackable or Sun (at least at this point).

  20. Videos of Rackable, Sun Containers by miller60 · · Score: 1

    There are also videos available showing tours of the Rackable ICE Cube 40-foot container and Sun's Project Blackbox (now renamed to the immensely more boring Sun MD) in a 20-foot container.

    --
    RichM
    Data Center Knowledge
  21. Finally by tmk · · Score: 1

    ...a hardware solution even Windows Vista can't slow down.

  22. Security by the+99th+penguin · · Score: 1

    Well, security of the containers is taken care of. The container will be surrounded by these signs

  23. The raft by IKILLEDTROTSKY · · Score: 1

    This sounds like somthing from Snow Crash

  24. An old idea... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    If you offshore your workers, putting your data into shipping containers is the next logical step.

  25. Re:first by OMNIpotusCOM · · Score: 1

    Why is it that the only thing I can think of when I read about this story is Ballmer doing his version of Dick in a Box?

  26. The Great Global warming Swindle by gd23ka · · Score: 1

    So they're shoving their "carbon footprint" at us wherever and whenever they can,
    and man-made global warming is A LIE! Okay so here's something I want you to see...

    but just going to youtube I find something hilarious...

    "This video is to express my beliefs on Global Warming. If any individual should post a ridiculous comment, I will block that individual and remove that individual's comment This video is to express my beliefs on Global Warming.
    If any individual should post a ridiculous comment, I will block that individual and remove that individual's comment.
    Your opinions are allowed, but please refrain yourself from unecessary misbehaviour. (more)"

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov6GPTB4Tio

    ROFL. Right this is my Slashdot discussion, if you post something ridiculous I will block you and remove the comment, watch me do it.

    Anyhow... this is what I really want you to take a look at: Matt Durkin's Global Warming Swindle documentary.
    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5549114236765477681&q=global+warming+swindle&ei=wWkaSKiMIovSrgP_m_HGAQ

    Watch that and _then_ post and tell me what you think of it!

    1. Re:The Great Global warming Swindle by gbobeck · · Score: 1

      Watch that and _then_ post and tell me what you think of it!

      Sure... -1 Offtopic

      Now, I am willing to change my opinion, provided you completely answer my following two questions.

      1. What are your educational qualifications. Please list all relevant college degrees as well as the name of the institution which granted them to you. Feel free to list any papers you published on this topic.

      2. Please tell me what this has to do with MS demoing a datacenter in a shipping container, and why I should give a shit or a rats ass.

      Extra credit will be granted if you answer either question with interpretive dance. A video of you doing said interpretive dance on youtube will meat this requirement.
      --
      Navicula hydraulica plena anguilarum est. Omnes castelli tuus nostri sunt. Ed elli avea del cul fatto trombetta.
    2. Re:The Great Global warming Swindle by gd23ka · · Score: 1

      "1. What are your educational qualifications. Please list all relevant college degrees as well as the name of the institution which granted them to you. Feel free to list any papers you published on this topic."

      So you're asking if I have a degree in politics, journalism or sociology then, because that's obviously
      what qualifies people to hold an opinion on climate change :-) That and toeing to the line with IPCC.

      "2. Please tell me what this has to do with MS demoing a datacenter in a shipping container, and why I should give a shit or a rats ass."

      The article mentions the so-called 'carbon footprint'. Reason enough right then and there to speak out against it.

      "Extra credit will be granted if you answer either question with interpretive dance. A video of you doing said interpretive dance on youtube will meat this requirement"

      Sorry "Songs and Dances" are entirely the domain and hallmark of accomplished and professional liars. Al Gore would be
      the guy who "meats" your requirement there.

  27. Re:Another unoriginal idea...... by blhack · · Score: 1

    I know that sun was the first to bring it to market (I remember drooling over the pictures of it when it came out). My point was that to say that Microsoft somehow "stole" this idea is a little ignorant considering how obvious it is.
    The demand has been there for a long time (mostly from the military), the fact that Sun was the first company to ship one is irrelevant.

    --
    NewslilySocial News. No lolcats allowed.
  28. Re:Another unoriginal idea...... by RightSaidFred99 · · Score: 1

    Sun didn't invent anything either, there were all kinds of people who came up with the "gee, let's containerize computing components", including the military. Your irrational, asshaterific hatred for Microsoft is boring me. Most of the shit you dweebs hold dear, like Linux, isn't original by any stretch of the imagination. The business world isn't about ideas, it's about execution.

  29. Re:Another unoriginal idea...... by blhack · · Score: 1

    So you're a Mac user, huh? You might want to look into a Windowing System known as "KDE", and then possibly something called "BSD", maybe even "RSYNC", or "THE NOKIA 770" before you start pointing fingers at anyone for buying/stealing ideas.

    --
    NewslilySocial News. No lolcats allowed.
  30. Look out, Indy! by Burb · · Score: 1

    Second container on the left contains the Ark of the Covenant!

    --

  31. Let just ignore... by BiloxiGeek · · Score: 1
    The fact that the military has had containers hosting communications, power production and AC equipment for decades. All of them transportable by air, land or sea. I worked in just such a box in Saudi Arabia in 1986, and that thing was probably 20 years old then.

    But of course all these companies are the great innovators. Didn't MS invent them internets for us?

    --
    Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, For you are crunchy and go well with ketchup.
  32. Re:Manos? The Hands of Fate? by eno2001 · · Score: 1

    Doh! Mixed up my freaks.

    --
    -"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
  33. Re:Another unoriginal idea...... by blhack · · Score: 1

    The point is that in any industry (and in the technology especially) ideas get passed around, bought, stolen, exchanged, traded, collaborated on etc. all the time. You point the finger at Microsoft for shipping a Data center in a Shipping Container because sun brought it to market first. Well, incremental backups have been around for YEARS before mac came along and started shipping software that does it and claiming it as their own, same thing with the "Dock" it existed in KDE wayyy before they did it in mac, the BSD kernel as well...none of these things were invented by apple, they're all just obvious evolutions in the technology industry. Nobody should fault apple for using these concepts, and similarly nobody should fault Microsoft for putting some servers in a shipping container.

    --
    NewslilySocial News. No lolcats allowed.