Slashdot Mirror
Will Robots Take Over the Data Center?
1sockchuck writes "Robotics are beginning to be integrated into data center management, creating the potential for a fully automated, robot-driven data center. What might a robot-controlled 'lights-out' data center look like? The racks will be taller, as robotics systems can reach higher to manage servers. Robotic equipment would be mounted on rails that allow them to find and move hardware. Early examples of this are seen in tape libraries, but the concepts could be applied to other data center equipment. Amazon and Google are said to be among those looking at ways to create a fully automated data center. AOL says it has already built an unmanned data center. Data Center Knowledge looks at the challenges and opportunities in robot-controlled data centers, including how staff roles would evolve."
typing this from the datacenter I work in, i can assure you robots will never replace 8rSta$O7qNO CARRIER
Good people go to bed earlier.
A data center with no operators for a service with no users.
I would say you'd be able to manage them even better. It would be great to be able to swap out a dead drive without have to wait for a person to be available to do the same job. You could probably even set it up to have the robot do it automatically. With some more complex robotics, you could probably have the robot replace broken network cables, plug in peripherals, and do many other tasks. If designed right, you could probably swap out an entire server with a robot. With blade-like servers this would be as simple as swapping a hard disk. You could also do a lot of things that are problematic with humans such as stacking servers 20 ft. high. I've heard that they could even run data centers a lot hotter, but part of the reason they don't is because it makes it uncomfortable for the people working there.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
From: The Developers Subject: Sorry Body: We can replace you with a well-written shell script. Goodbye!
From:The Sysadmin
To: The Developers
Subject: Re: Sorry
Your request for root access to run the shell script has been denied per our security policy.
Battlemaster--Game with friends in medival realms
The datacentre of the future will be run by just one man, and a dog.
The man is there to feed the dog.
The dog is there to bite the man if he touches anything.