A massive floating data-centre out in international waters would be a pretty powerful protection against governmental interference in your business. Well, except for the military kind.
Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
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Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
#102Maybe this is just so their data centers can be movable between cities so they can negotiate better tax agreements and power contracts.
Or to cover peaks like say the Olympics just anchor it near to where it is needed.
Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
#103Actually it just struck me this might be part of Googles DR plan for California getting hit by the big one
Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
#104Actually it just struck me this might be part of Googles DR plan for California getting hit by the big one
Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
#105A place for those with no visa to the USA to work!
Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
#106Something similar is being outfitted in Portland, ME. http://www.pressherald.com/news/Clues_emerging_about_mystery... The OP is a much better article (The Press Herald is garbage). My original guess for the barge-building in Portland was a ocean-based prison facility for the government to use for interrogations. But it's seeming like the floating data center idea is much more likely.
Can someone in Portland check the ship #? The article photo shows that BAL0001 and BAL0010 are in SF. I'm guessing the Portland one is either BAL0011 or BAL0100.
Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
#107The middle of the ocean could be a a very high margin location for IaaS hosting. Due to speed-of-light delays, some of the ideal locations for hosting high-speed trading arbitrages are in the middle of the ocean. Being half way between two exchanges would allow you to notice a small difference in price of some commodity in two different exchanges and buy and sell microseconds before your competitors on the mainland k…
If this actually worked, there would be boats sitting in the middle of the Atlantic and Pacific with computers on them. I have no idea if they are sitting there, but I'm pretty sure if it was an idea that worked, it would be done by now.
Just guessing here, but the geographical advantage probably requires a fiber link, which seems prohibitive in open ocean. Putting your ship in the right place probably doesn't improve your latency if you have to bounce signals off of satellites.
Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
#108A massive floating data-centre out in international waters would be a pretty powerful protection against governmental interference in your business. Well, except for the military kind.
It's been tried: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/03/sealand-and-haven...
Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
#109Something similar is being outfitted in Portland, ME. http://www.pressherald.com/news/Clues_emerging_about_mystery... The OP is a much better article (The Press Herald is garbage). My original guess for the barge-building in Portland was a ocean-based prison facility for the government to use for interrogations. But it's seeming like the floating data center idea is much more likely.
This is somewhat of a tangent, but how is the tech scene in Portland, ME? It's my hometown and I've had thoughts at various times about returning and setting up shop.
The "scene" is cool. There are local meetups, some small, some mid sized. Monktoberfest just drew quite the crowd. As the other commenter said, there ain't much for investment though, and the companies are a mix of web boutiques, large companies (Unum, Idexx, etc), and a startup here or there. I work remotely, which gives me the benefits of being in Portland while making a NYC salary, but even when I was working for a Portland firm I was still making a good wage.
Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
#110Something similar is being outfitted in Portland, ME. http://www.pressherald.com/news/Clues_emerging_about_mystery... The OP is a much better article (The Press Herald is garbage). My original guess for the barge-building in Portland was a ocean-based prison facility for the government to use for interrogations. But it's seeming like the floating data center idea is much more likely.
Can someone in Portland check the ship #? The article photo shows that BAL0001 and BAL0010 are in SF. I'm guessing the Portland one is either BAL0011 or BAL0100.
I live in Portland, I'll see if I can spot it tonight...