Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Sun Puts Data Center Through 6.7 Earthquake

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the shake-your-money-maker dept.

An anonymous reader sent in a video clip showing Sun experimenting with shoving a data center through a simulated 6.7 Earthquake. Everything stays running, but some power cords came out and some screws worked loose. It's still kind of neat to see a bunch of racks shake like a polaroid.

9 of 195 comments (clear)

  1. Hard drives?? by Mhtsos · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What hard drive survived that, that's what I'd like to know.

    1. Re:Hard drives?? by Hijacked+Public · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The room probably sat on rubber air springs, which is common for modern buildings in earthquake prone area.

      An earlier reply to you mentions rolling data centers used by militaries. The ones I've seen mount containers on smaller air springs...you'll see Airride on a lot of semi trucks on the highway.

      --
      "Sacrifice for the good of The State" - The State
    2. Re:Hard drives?? by metaforest · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm not surprised....

      Earthquakes don't have a lot of energy in the range that HDs are tested...

      Most CONSUMER grade drives are tested with a half-sine shock in the 5ms range; thats like a smack with a hammer for 50G to 100G.. or a drop to a concrete floor from three to six feet. That dents cans, bearings and deforms aluminum drive frames.

      Earthquake energy is a slow gentle push, by comparison, even taking into account distortion of larger structures in the rack. If you use your laptop while riding on a bus, car, or sometimes a plane, your exposing it to more acceleration than an earthquake can usually dish out.

      summary: expecting a consumer grade drive to survive a 6.7 or even a 10 point earthquake is not really much of a stretch unless the rest of the building around the drives is collapsing....

      An installer can do far more damage to a drive just by over tightening the mounting screws.

  2. Re:slashdvertisements by dotancohen · · Score: 5, Insightful

    thats what sun is spending money on before its taken over?

    Do you expect all development and innovation to stop the moment one mentions the word IBM? I'm glad to see Sun innovating and proving that their technology is reliable.

    --
    It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
  3. Re:"shake like a polaroid" ? by commodore64_love · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Dry??? That's a myth equivalent to those who think snakes are slimy. Neither snakes nor polaroids are wet. Both are dry to the touch.

    --
    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
  4. Re:Slashdot meets 21st century!? by 0racle · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Actually, that pissed me off.

    --
    "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
  5. Re:Fixy Linky Please? :) by gbrandt · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Most nerds would call it recursive, not circular reference.

    Besides, I prefer techno-weenie.

  6. Re:Old. by j-pimp · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Everything stayed running... the failures consisted or power cords coming out

    So by "running" I think they mean "didn't break"

    Redundant power cables? Although to be fair, in a real data center, KVM pushcarts and jewel cases left in partially filled racks would be a big factor in causing wire damage. Not to mention server mounting arms extending.

    --
    --- Justin Dearing http://www.justaprogrammer.net/ We're just programmers.
  7. Re:Old. by seenu_2408 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Please Earth Quake !! What will happen to the Junks surrounding this black Box.... Its seems look a like 10ft container .... What happen if another black box by side of this black box hit one to one...... The impact logically will be more higher than 6.7 magnitude earth quake impact.