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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?

#161

Post by jacques_chester »

harshreality wrote: post #156
kordless wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I think it's possible to build a platform, like an oil drilling platform, survivable in the middle of the ocean (against storms and rogue waves) and hook fiber into it by dropping fiber in extremely high-strength conduit (like oil drilling pipe) to the ocean floor and then across the ocean to continents. I don't think the cost/benefit is acceptable considering more serviceable locations that already have fiber, like…

It's hard to DDOS private networks that aren't accessible from the internet.

Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?

#162

Post by stevenrace »

wikwocket wrote: post #65

> putting data centers inside shipping containers is already a well-established practice. Is this true? Does anyone know why? The article seems to assume it without saying why.

In addition to the links below, Raytheon has deployed many 'Electronic Modular Enclosures' which house power/cooling/servers enclosed in a TEU'ish container. They've been in use since 2005'ish in the DoD and brought up in the recent 'Navy ship uses Linux' story from last week.

A previous employer used a TEU contained power/cooling/servers for mobile disaster recovery circa 2003. More recently some have used fuel cells in place of diesel generators.

Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?

#163

Post by seanv »

VikingCoder wrote: post #36
seanv wrote: post #16

another cool thing about floating data centers in california is they're pretty much earthquake proof... built in shock absorbers (aka water). You can probably charge a premium for easily accessible highly secure data I would imagine. ... assuming megalodon isn't still around

An earthquake can cause a tsunami. Depending on conditions, the tsunami wave could be hundreds of feet high. So, not earthquake "proof."

just to slightly build on the other comments, I believe this barge is designed to be out from shore quite a way, if it was right up against the shore I could see this being an issue.

Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?

#164

Post by hristov »

musashibaka wrote: post #35

So it appears as though Google is looking towards a future where they are an independent country, or at the very least free from regulation, visa-a-vis Seasteading. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasteading

No, this does not appear at all. It appears they want to save on real estate and cooling costs by having floating data centers.

Google has owns so much real estate and immovable property in the US it is silly to suppose they are thinking of leaving the country just because they built a couple of barges.

Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?

#165

Post by hristov »

peterwwillis wrote: post #47

Can somebody explain the point behind the secrecy? What does Google have to gain by taking all these steps to hide they're the ones building it?

I think these will probably get floated somewhere within the bay, and they will probably ruin the bay views of some people. They have probably found a way to build them without going to public hearings and want to finish the job before the locals get wind of this and try to pass new laws to prevent their installation.

Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?

#166

Post by namecast »

deeths wrote: post #90

The 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…

Mentioning the speed-of-light delays sort of implies that you'd have a straight shot fiber run to both exchanges (no circuitous routes, at least no more circuitous than other exchange participants - can't be behind the rest of the market, right?).

I'm not sure that this is possible without working directly with someone like Hibernia Atlantic or FLAG to get a fiber splice in the middle of the ocean.... which puts this beyond the reach of the average startup and into Goldman-or-JP-morgan territory, pricewise.

For those who want to play at home - where would you drop your offshore arbitrage platform, given the cable spread on this map: http://submarine-cable-map-2013.telegeography.com/ ?

Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?

#167

Post by raldi »

Udo wrote: post #121

Google was granted a patent in 2009 for a floating data center Sigh, there is a patent on floating data centers? For fuck's sake...

There's a patent for one specific, detailed design for a floating datacenter. Not for the mere idea of a floating datacenter.

Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?

#169

Post by ramchip »

jasonwatkinspdx wrote: post #144
kordless wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

From talking with a friend who's a retired stat arb quant, the fundamental idea is sound. My guess for why people aren't doing it yet is that first, there are still untapped locations on land that are easier to get running (example: the Chicago to NY fiber run), and second getting the data to the ocean point isn't trivial. I think if you want to look for early signaling of someone doing this, look for where telco fol…

I don't understand why it's sound. The order still has to go all the way to the exchange. Why is it better to spend 50 ms to get the market data, 1 ms to do the decision, then 50 ms to send the order (middle of ocean to exchange), when you could spend 100 ms to get the market data, 1 ms to do the decision, then 0 ms to send the order (colocated hosting at exchange)?

Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?

#170

Post by monkeyspaw »

dragonwriter wrote: post #153
MBlume wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't know how this'd work in actual international waters, but no, this is in a bay , nothing international about it.

Its being built at an island in SF Bay. That doesn't mean its going to be operated there.

Would servers be affected by the instability of the ocean? That is, if they use spinning drives, would the heave and ho of the ocean affect it? Would that affect other electronics and components?
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