

Google uncloaks once-secret server - ars
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10209580-92.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

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ieatpaste
While searching for the actual battery patent, I ran across the modular data
center patent:
[http://www.google.com/patents?id=7TypAAAAEBAJ&printsec=a...](http://www.google.com/patents?id=7TypAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract)
and also this power supply research paper abstract:
<http://research.google.com/pubs/pub32467.html>

I was also surprised at some of the patents awarded. While the claims were
very specific, the ideas were very generic, such as mobile payments via cell
phone. Take a look for yourself:
[http://www.google.com/patents?zoom=4&q=inassignee%3Agoog...](http://www.google.com/patents?zoom=4&q=inassignee%3Agoogle&btnG=Search+Patents)

If anyone finds the battery/server patent, I would be extremely interested.

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wallflower
Not filed under Google but under Exaflop LLC (one _quintillion_ floating point
operations per second) [hat tip to:
[http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/02/15/googl...](http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/02/15/google-
files-patent-on-ups-architecture/)]

Patent application: 20080030078

"Each UPS includes a battery selectively connectable across a DC bus, and a
AC-to-DC rectifier that converts an AC input voltage to a single output
voltage on the DC bus. The regulated DC bus voltage may be close to the
battery's fully charged voltage..."

[http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-
Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Se...](http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-
Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220080030078%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20080030078&RS=DN/20080030078)

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wmf
This server appears to be from 2005; it looks like Google is still keeping
some secrets.

~~~
ars
The hard disks are dated Nov 2007. The motherboard is from 2005, but it's got
decent specs
[http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Networking/Products_Spec...](http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Networking/Products_Spec.aspx?ProductID=1075)
so they may still be using them.

Although I'm surprised they went with Xeon CPU's, and I don't see anything on
gigabytes page about 12V only for the board.

~~~
jonah
I really appreciate the minimal "case" these are in. Saves material and makes
the containers lighter.

~~~
stcredzero
The "case" is the shipping container. Again, economies of scale.

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vicaya
I don't see how they can patent battery per motherboard design. Isn't that how
laptops work?

OTOH, this design makes a lot of sense. One of the biggest failure mode for
rack-wise failure I've seen is human error from maintenance crews: trip over
or unplug the wrong a power cord (I've seen this happen twice already from
different companies.) This design completely shields this type of errors.

But, it should not be patentable!

~~~
stcredzero
The battery-per motherboard makes eminent sense. Between economies of scale
driving down the price of small AGM and gel-cell lead-acid batteries (1) and
the increased efficiency of having the battery on board, it's an obvious win!

(1) - ironically, this is probably because of retail and commercial sales of
Uninterruptible Power Supplies!

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cool-RR
I don't understand: How can one battery per server be more efficient than a
big, shared battery for all of them?

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enneff
To hazard a guess I'd say it's to do with voltage step up/down efficiency.

~~~
pert
I agree. Standard UPSes convert AC to DC and back, in order to power the
server PSUs and these conversions are inefficient. If the battery is in the
server (after the PSU), you can miss out these conversions and save a lot of
power.

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gstar
See how the hard drives are mounted back-to-back? I'm guessing that is
designed to cancel the mechanical noise by putting the drives 180deg out of
phase from each other, extending the life of the drives.

I believe that is patented (by Avid?) and that might be why Google was cagey
about releasing specs.

~~~
eli
I don't follow, if it's patented then didn't they already release the
important details in the patent application?

~~~
e1ven
I believe the implication is that "If it's patented by someone else, Google
may have to pay if it comes out that they are using this technique"

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amitt
Had the read the article carefully to see if i wasn't "getting" the joke. It's
legit, and very cool that they were so innovative with their data centers.

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ars
The article _says_ the battery backup was a secret but:
[http://www.webhostingtalk.com/archive/index.php/t-492779.htm...](http://www.webhostingtalk.com/archive/index.php/t-492779.html)
and at the time at least, he had linked to a picture of the board (but it's
down now).

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oomkiller
The battery integration is quite interesting, although I'd bet they are using
it for purposes other than "having to buy one big UPS." One benefit I see to
it is high availability, since the site UPS going out won't take down the
servers, since they all have their own. Plus, I'd bet it makes the guys that
work on the power buss sleep sounder at night, since its easier to work on
without worrying about taking out the whole datacenter.

~~~
jonah
Since they're running the PSUs near capacity. the batteries probably provide
some additional headroom under heavy load spikes.

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intregus
This seems real despite the post date.

~~~
durana
I've been in data centers hosting Google systems. This picture looks very
similar if not identical to what I've seen, so I'd say it is most definitely
real.

~~~
stanley
Could you verify if Google still uses Hitachi Deskstar drives?

I recall reading an article about the testing Google conducted to find the
most reliable drives, but they refused to publish the findings.

~~~
pert
They did actually publish their results. It's an interesting read:

<http://research.google.com/archive/disk_failures.pdf>

~~~
ciupicri
That paper does not mention any specific brands or models.

------
pert
Anyone got a link to the "video tour Google presented of its data center
containers"?

~~~
wallflower
It's a video of the official video but passable (until Google releases the
official video shortly):

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs3Et540-_s>

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pmjordan
Article seems to no longer be available from the original link, but it's still
up here: [http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10209580-92.html?part=rss&#...</a>

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yardie
Battery pack is a good idea. I have a UPS that is just about dead (~1 minute
of backup, but I keep it for spikes and drops). I thought it would be great if
the PSU had a built-in UPS. The space between the PSU and drive bay would be a
perfect spot, no need for the heavy switching hardware since the PSU can
deliver the 12 or 13.6 volts needed for the battery to charge.

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nradov
What battery chemistry are they using? It looks like a lead-acid package.
Those are cheap, safe, and reliable. But they have very low energy density and
there are disposal issues.

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tutwabee
Was it really necessary to patent the built-in battery design? That doesn't
really seem original enough to warrant a patent.

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andr
I for one am surprised that those are 2U servers and they haven't gone to 1U
to double their space efficiency.

~~~
jacquesm
it looks like two of them may fit side-by-side, like this they get to use the
big ram sticks and a cheap psu, as well as fans that will last a lot longer
than those pesky 1u fans.

They may also use 'deep' racks to the machines have the PSU's in the middle
and the fronts on the facing sides of the cabinets, one front, one back. That
would make it twice as efficient as 1U, it would also explain why the cables
go out the front.

~~~
durana
I've seen them two deep side by side. They had custom racks that reminded me
of those racks of trays of food you'd see in large production kitchens. There
were four systems per level/tray.

~~~
iamelgringo
The server rack that they have at the Computer History Museum has them stacked
4 systems per tray as well.

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leej
I dont think these are current.

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catz
No liquid cooling? How efficient is the power supplies?

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hs
One Server to rule them all

