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Rock Band Live's Second Act: Networks and Data Centers

Posted by timothy on from the obvious-next-step dept.

Nerval's Lobster writes "Of late, there's been a number of crossovers between technology and entertainment, including the rash of creative directors at brands like Polaroid (Lady Gaga), Intel (Will.i.am) and BlackBerry (Alicia Keys). It's a much rarer thing, though, for rock stars to invest in infrastructure, rather than serve as the 'face' of a brand. But that's exactly what three members of the rock band Live, which sold 20 million albums in its '90s heyday, are doing as their second act: investing in a company that plans on building a 100-Gbit fiber link across Pennsylvania to four data centers. That company, United Fiber and Data (originally known as United Federal Data), will build out a network between New York City and Ashburn, Virginia — providing a low-latency data pipeline that connects offices in Virginia to data centers owned by Wall Street. Supposedly in the name of security, the network will avoid the traditional I-95 corridor, a more direct route used by many other networks."

39 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. 100 Gbit? by hawguy · · Score: 1

    100Gbit doesn't sound that fast for a datacenter interconnect.

    1. Re:100 Gbit? by godrik · · Score: 2

      100Gbit is super expensive as soon as you are not "local". If you need higher bandwidth, you might consider building you data center accross the street of the other one.

    2. Re:100 Gbit? by hawguy · · Score: 2

      100Gbit is super expensive as soon as you are not "local". If you need higher bandwidth, you might consider building you data center accross the street of the other one.

      I didn't say it's cheap, but when 10Gbit interfaces are common in the datacenter, 100Gbit doesn't sound like much of an interconnect between datacenters. A mid-scale datacenter probably hosts thousands servers (25 racks is around 1000U of space) and petabytes of data, so it wouldn't take many customers replicating data to the other datacenter to saturate the 100Gbit link.

      Even Google Fiber offers 1Gbit links to the home.

    3. Re:100 Gbit? by godrik · · Score: 1

      But you move much more data internally than externally. All computing systems are built like that. You have much more bandwidth from memory to CPU than to disk.

      If you are replicating data, then you do not have more data flowing out of your data center than you have data flowing in you data center. Assuming symmetric links you can always replicate all your data.

      If you are periodically replicating ALL your data instead of sending diff, then you will hit a bottleneck whatever your out bandwidth is.

    4. Re:100 Gbit? by jeffmeden · · Score: 1

      100Gbit doesn't sound that fast for a datacenter interconnect.

      Not everyone can afford those super fancy Chinese 2 Tbit fiber links. These (obviously) aren't tier 1 markets either, so they should be fine with petty 100 Gig links. If you can find other data centers across central PA that are better connected, do share.

    5. Re:100 Gbit? by Bengie · · Score: 1

      When you hear stories about someone transferring a sustained 800Gb/s over a single fiber over 2k miles, eventually, hearing about 100Gb links becomes dull.

    6. Re:100 Gbit? by jjeffries · · Score: 1

      The current speed of the equipment at each end is fairly meaningless; the big expense is actually laying the fiber in the first place. Optical equpiment keeps getting more speed out of the same ol' single mode fiber. It won't be just one fiber either, it will be a whole bunch, so really it can be "100GBit * some # of fibers" from the get-go.

      Live's first album "Mental Jewelry" is worth listening to if you've never heard it. Much less meaningless-pseudo-hard-rock than you might expect if you've just heard them on the radio or whatnot.

  2. Two words... by MickyTheIdiot · · Score: 1

    Datacenter groupies.

  3. Misleading title by neminem · · Score: 4, Funny

    I was wondering what sort of crazy plan would lead to the use of Rock Band in a data center. Like, were they using those plastic drums to store hard drives in or something?

    1. Re:Misleading title by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      I thought Rock Band Live was a game.
      they certainly capitalized it as if it were.

      and in other news, guys with money are investing money.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    2. Re:Misleading title by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      and will is a douche, giving cheap advertisement value in exchange of a "real job" title(it's not a real job - if it were, he would have been doing a terrible, terrible job at it too!).

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    3. Re:Misleading title by jxander · · Score: 1

      Glad I wasn't the only one.

      Can't really blame slashdot on this one, though... the band has a hard name to parse. "Live building a datacenter," sounds like a video where we watch construction crews, live!

      --
      This signature is false.
    4. Re:Misleading title by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

      Given that most slashdotters are probably more interested in videogames than 90's angsty bands, I expect most people clicked on the comments trying to figure out what this has to do with harmonix.

    5. Re:Misleading title by Sarten-X · · Score: 1

      Cedar Fair, once had a stage show called "Rock Band, Live", which was a spectacular failure now regarded as a bit of a joke within the company. The audience basically got to watch one lucky person play Rock Band on stage, with some dancers dressed as characters. I'm not sure who thought that "watching other people play video games" would be entertaining enough for a show, but apparently it passed through several layers of management.

      It was produced by an outside company, so I find it hilarious to think that the show has now gotten a "second act" by moving to some abandoned dot-com-era data center as a well-powered venue, where participants can play via videoconference, so they don't have to bore a real audience.

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    6. Re:Misleading title by LordNimon · · Score: 2

      The only way the title would be clear is if they had written, "The Second Act of Live (the musicians)" And even then, it can still be confusing. Ideally, "Live" should be italicized.

      Unfortunately, when you choose a stupid name for your band, you're just going to cause problems. If I see them in concert, do I tell people, "I'm going to see Live live!"

      --
      And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
      To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
    7. Re:Misleading title by b1t+r0t · · Score: 1

      Can you live with Live playing live on Live?

      --

      --
      "Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
      "Open source is evil." - Microsoft
    8. Re:Misleading title by gman003 · · Score: 2

      Could be worse. There's a band named "The The", and another one named "The Band".

      Still doesn't hold up to "!!!", which is the only band I know of to require the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet (the ! is an alveolar click, used in some African and Australian languages).

    9. Re:Misleading title by neminem · · Score: 1

      Yep. Even better, "I'm listening to the recorded version of a Live album".

      To be honest, those are some of my favorite band names. The The, The Who, The Band, etc. Someone on a forum once quipped that they'd love to start two bands who'd go on tours together, so they could announce, We're "Still Here"! Now stick around, for "More Crap"! I'd totally do that. (Barring having a second band, I suppose you could just name your band "Still Here", and have a song called "More Crap" instead.)

    10. Re:Misleading title by weilawei · · Score: 1

      Try Googling for "M". (They're the one-hit wonder responsible for Pop Muzik.) A few years ago, this was nearly impossible, although it seems Google now links to Wikipedia if you search for "m band".

    11. Re:Misleading title by Pubstar · · Score: 1

      !!! is a pretty good band though. The others not so much.

    12. Re:Misleading title by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      Yes, it can be read multiple ways. No, it was not capitalized improperly.

      It's (Rock Band) (Live), not (Rock Band Live).

    13. Re:Misleading title by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure who thought that "watching other people play video games" would be entertaining enough for a show

      I presume you're joking (due to the 2nd paragraph), but at least from what I've seen in media coverage, in other countries, people *do* do this. For example, professional gamers in IIRC Japan and/or South Korea, and others pay to watch them play.

    14. Re:Misleading title by filthpickle · · Score: 1

      Why would rock band be capitalized for the generic meaning?

    15. Re:Misleading title by Sarten-X · · Score: 1

      Not joking at all, sadly.

      Professional gamers are interesting to watch, because they're on a different level than the spectators. Their tactics and speed are impressive, pushing the limits of human ability, making a competitive video game into a sporting event.

      Random passers-by at an amusement park aren't quite so interesting. As I understand it, the first few weeks of shows had a pre-show try-out to assert that guests had some modicum of skill, but by the end of the season anyone who could bash on an instrument was considered qualified to go on stage. In the interest of keeping guests happy, the actors had to treat the guests like they were great musicians, no matter how badly they actually played.

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    16. Re:Misleading title by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      You're totally right, but looking at slashdot's main page right now, most of the articles have each word capitalized except for articles, prepositions, and conjunctions. (I see one "For" capitalization.)

    17. Re:Misleading title by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      This is the part that I thought was a joke:

      It was produced by an outside company, so I find it hilarious to think that the show has now gotten a "second act" by moving to some abandoned dot-com-era data center as a well-powered venue, where participants can play via videoconference, so they don't have to bore a real audience.

      This slashdot thread has NOTHING to do with the stage show to which you're referring.

    18. Re:Misleading title by Sarten-X · · Score: 1

      Ah. I thought the "misleading title" thread would be about a misleading title... and that's what the title led me to think about.

      The summary eased my fears a bit.

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    19. Re:Misleading title by neminem · · Score: 1

      Indeed it does. (Then underneath it links to the totally unrelated M band :D - I'm gonna go ahead and add a "if you were looking for" link there...)

      Does remind me of a quote from a friend back in college, when he was working on some paper for a class:
      "How to stump Google:
      Try to find a painting called "Orchestra" by an artist who is much less famous than the orchestra conductor he shares a name with."

  4. Confusing Title by Brucelet · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I thought we were talking about a new video game.

    1. Re:Confusing Title by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

      You mean we're not?

    2. Re:Confusing Title by davidbrit2 · · Score: 1

      Same. And now I am disappointed.

  5. Server Crashes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    oh now feel it comin' back again
    like a rollin' system admin
    forces pullin' from the data center again
    I can feel it.

    system crashes, a new server dies
    a motherboard falls to the floor
    the admin opens her drives
    the confusion sets in
    before they can run a system restore

    1. Re:Server Crashes by jacknifetoaswan · · Score: 1

      You have no idea how badly I wish I had mod points right now!

      Someone please mod this up!!!

  6. Before Lady Gaga by syntheticmemory · · Score: 1

    Henry Shawah worked with Polaroid as a design consultant and teacher from 1967-1969. Henry was a goldsmith working in Cambridge, Ma., and one of a small number of American associates of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.

  7. won't be by cifey · · Score: 1

    Wall Street The religion that doesn't r*** you?

    --
    Hello Cruel World
  8. New lyrics by wbr1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    lightning crashes, a new server dies
    it's VMs respond no more
    the admin opens his eyes
    the confusion sets in
    as the NOC makes call after call

    lightning crashes, and old server dies
    its RAID array spinning no more
    the admin closes his eyes
    he needs more caffeine
    to bring up a new server, in under an hour

    Cooling fans spinning up again
    If he fixes it, it'll feel like a win
    RAID 5 stripe parity error again
    He can feel it.

    lightning crashes, the whole racks dies
    blades are smoking in rack four
    the admin opens his eyes
    red bloodshot eyes
    He's tired of putting out all these fires

    Cooling fans spinning up again
    If he fixes it, it'll feel like a win
    RAID 5 stripe parity error again
    He can feel it.

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
    1. Re:New lyrics by wbr1 · · Score: 1

      My apologies to the AC before me. I started my post before his posted (or it was under my threshold). I still say mine is better and more complete :)
      And I am not AC in fear of a take down notice!

      --
      Silence is a state of mime.
  9. No longer Throwing Copper... by Anthracene · · Score: 2

    ...next album: Throwing Fiber?

  10. What a letdown. by ajegwu · · Score: 1

    I loved playing drums on Rock Band, and I'm currently in love with Rocksmith. Based on the title, I thought this was some sequel to Rock Band that was going to allow multiplayer with real instruments.