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Google’s Custom Web Server, Revealed

Google’s Custom Web Server, Revealed
- By: Rich Miller
  April 1st, 2009
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It’s long been known that Google builds its own web servers, enabling it to design the servers for peak performance and energy efficiency. At today’s Google Data Center Energy Summit, the company put one of its custom servers on display. Here’s a brief video of the server, which features a power supply that integrates a battery, allowing it to function as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). The design shifts the UPS and battery backup functions from the data center into the server cabinet. This video runs about 1 minute, 30 seconds.

Don’t miss out other coverage of Google’s Data center Efficiency Summit:
- Google Unveils its Data Center Container
- Efficient UPS Aids Google’s Extreme PUE
For more news from Google, visit our Google Channel. For additional video, check out our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.
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About Rich Miller

Rich Miller is the founder and editor-in-chief of Data Center Knowledge, and has been reporting on the data center sector since 2000. He has tracked the growing impact of high-density computing on the power and cooling of data centers, and the resulting push for improved energy efficiency in these facilities.

Chuck Goolsbee

Posted April 1st, 2009

So refreshing to see:
1. not slavishly following the “must be 1U” fashion.
2. stripped of a case for ease of service & light weight.

I’d love to see the racking system for it.

–chuck

Johnny Mnemonic

Posted April 1st, 2009

Well if that isn’t the jankiest looking piece of cr*p that I have ever seen.

I wonder how many of these Google uses?

Oh, hai chuck!

Andrew Matthews

Posted April 2nd, 2009

Ummm…..check the date guys of the post.

Steve

Posted April 2nd, 2009

Hmm… Another Google April Fool?

Judging from some other blog entries and forum posts, it appears this system is dated from about 2006. Chances are Google has newer systems in place nowadays. In their disk failures paper, they indicate that they’ve used numerous brands of disks over the years, so it’s likely they are using something other than Death^H^H^Hskstars now.

Rich Miller

Posted April 2nd, 2009

For those who are wondering, this is not an April Fool’s joke. But given Google’s reputation for April Fool’s pranks, it’s a curious date for releasing real news.

Isaack

Posted April 2nd, 2009

Is it just me or do those RAM blocks look like two are glued together vertically? They are twice the height of all the modules I’ve seen in the past year or two.

After that I started playing it back and forth to find other clues of a possible Aprils Fool… like those AVC fans, I guess I just wish it said “AFD”