Comments on: Microsoft's data centers growing by the truckload

Redmond is going beyond the traditional racks, instead having its servers delivered and run from a sealed container, a move that should cut costs and power demands.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Treating shipping containers as rackable hot pluggable server systems? That's a rather interesting approach. Very modular and if the units are sent back to the OEM for rebuilding, that does eliminate a lot of individual system work. I don't think I've heard of this being done before.

Containers are possibly a very good way of doing this. Modular, sealed, refridgerated designs can be used to keep them cool inside. They become a very large Black Box Computing Solution.

Does that make a trucker now a service technician? I happen to still have my CDL so I could do both. :)

[Penguinisto]

Sounds like something you'd have to do with Windows machines... I mean, if the MTBF of Windows is that short (to justify yoinking a large pile of servers in a single go once x% of them fail)? That, or MSFT is buying cheap grey-market parts en masse for their server gear... which is it?

[lmasanti]

Sun has advertised and shown long ago its Black Box container data centers...

[kojacked]

Sounds like something you'd have to do with Linux/Apple machines... I mean, if the MTBF of Linux/Apple is that short (to justify yoinking a large pile of servers in a single go once x% of them fail)? That, or MSFT is buying cheap grey-market parts en masse for their server gear... which is it?

[Penguinisto]

Actually kojacked, the answer is no (just ask Google, who has much larger datacenters than Microsoft, yet they're not reduced to such simplistic "solutions" to breaking servers).

[Vegaman_Dan]

ARTICLE CORRECTION: Microsoft's Quincy data center is in Quincy, Washington (Not Massachusetts), a small town on the outskirts of Yakima in the very dry and arid desert lands in eastern Washington. This location is east of the Cascade mountains and chosen for the geologic stability, consistent weather, and inexpensive land (agricultural and open desert-like land) along with direct access to freeways and rail networks.

[Jon Skillings]

Thanks for the catch. We've corrected the error.

[AppleSuxLeo]

I have had no problems with Windows Live Mail all year. I have had problems with Yahoo and Gmail.
Just a thought , but couldn`t the ********** screw us over by attacking our data centers ? I mean its not like they are being guarded by the military.

[v4nilla]

sounds like Microsoft needs VMware for server consolidation.... :-P

[daves_done]

Wow! MSFT's 'new idea' sounds pretty cool. Too bad it isn't all that new. Sun did this at least 2 years ago...

http://www.sun.com/products/sunmd/s20/index.jsp

[DrtyDogg]

re-read the article. They never said they came up with it, "Starting with a Chicago-area facility due to open later this year, Microsoft will use an approach in which servers arrive at the data center in a sealed container." Notice the "use an approach." But feel free to continue nit-picking moot points in an otherwise interesting article.

[daves_done]

I don't need to re-read to it. The presentation and quotations in the article seem intended to give the reader the idea that this is new.

[tcampb01]

So basically they're "borrowing" the idea from Sun's "Project Blackbox":

See: http://www.sun.com/products/sunmd/s20/index.jsp

[svasconcelos]

That is the most stupid thing that I have ever read in computing.
They just have to buy one or two IBM Mainframes and their problems
will be solved in a much more intelligent way and also much cheaper

[Penguinisto]

They probably would have by now... if only they could make a version of Windows that would run on a zSeries mainframe :)

[smilin:)]

Here come all the smart replies!!

"Wow! MSFT's 'new idea' sounds pretty cool. Too bad it isn't all that new. Sun did this at least 2 years ago..."

Suns efforts don't count for much since nobody wants to buy a shipping crate full of their servers.

"That is the most stupid thing that I have ever read in computing.
They just have to buy one or two IBM Mainframes and their problems
will be solved in a much more intelligent way and also much cheaper "

So some IT guy putting in 10,000 servers a month has no clue huh? If only he had listed to a random uniformed guy in a comment thread! You overestimate the flexibility of mainframes. They don't run .net very well you old fart.

"sounds like Microsoft needs VMware for server consolidation.... :-P"

Many of these are already VM hosts. So you want to take VM server farms and put them inside of VMs? Shutup.

If you want a clue what they are doing with this stuff go visit live.com (not just the search engine) or mesh.com.

[Penguinisto]

Well, considering Google seems to have no problems with servers in their DC's, and I'm willing to wager that they have a whole lot more of them, it seems that Microsoft is (and consequently, you) are on the wrong end of this particular stick.

Personally, it's novel and all, but really - it seems too wasteful in the end.

[Seaspray0]

That is the most stupid thing I have ever read in computing. They will just have to buy one or two Radio Shack TRS 80's and their problems will be solved...

[tech_crazy]

tcampb01 nailed it right. Sun had this at least 4 years ago even before they were selling the concept of computing as a utility.

svasconcelos , there is a key difference between mainframes and data-centers. Mainframes are more on the reliability side while "data centers" like these are more on the cost and scalability (parallelism with multiple simple units) sides

[svasconcelos]

Are you saying that these data centers are more cost effective than Mainframes???
Are you saying that you cannot have scalability with Mainframes?
Think about the cost of the buildings, energy, systems administrators, truck driver, truck rental, container
etc...... Currently a Mainframe is a little bigger than a refrigerator, is energy efficient, etc...
Is faster, reliable, can handle tons of data, etc... There is no way you can compare these mess (data centers) with Mainframes. I am sorry to inform you but the days where Microsoft/Wintel/Compaq/HP, etc... used to BS CEOs
are gone. By now everybody knows what a load of bad software MS is and how nonsensical these data centers
are.

[paulej]

This is interesting. I had not heard of Sun's project, but I was curious whether the company Rackable Systems has such an option and, indeed they do: http://www.rackable.com/products/icecube.aspx?nid=datacenter_0

So, who is building Microsoft's modular data centers? Is it Rackable?

[JunkSiu]

I know/heard/read of the sun project. They are similar but also very different.

Sun black box project is more geared towards a mobile computer room, human can still work inside. It is target as emergency data room or mobile server room on the road, with its own generator and packed with ups.

Microsoft 'truck', base on this article, is packed solid with no intension for anyone to work inside for extended period of time. It is a true black box. It is design to be stationary (need lots of power and very high bandwidth) and become data center building block.

[JunkSiu]

I know/heard/read of the sun project. They are similar but also very different.

Sun black box project is more geared towards a mobile computer room, human can still work inside. It is target as emergency data room or mobile server room on the road, with its own generator and packed with ups.

Microsoft 'truck', base on this article, is packed solid with no intension (basically no room) for anyone to work inside for extended period of time. It is a true black box. It is design to be stationary (need lots of power and very high bandwidth, otherwise will be pointless to pack so many computer into it) and become data center building block.

[TechHermit]

What you guys arent getting here is that this isnt JUST containerized servers. Sun, IBM, Dell, and others all have this. It isnt new. Whats new is the fact that the modularization is also being attributed to the back of the building infrastructure as well. This has huge cost implications and will allow them to rapidly and cheaply build out infrastructure. Its far more efficient and cost effective than building hulking buildings. You Google fan-boys might not like it, but Microsoft just amp'd up the game significantly with this move.

TH