Earlier quoted context omitted.
I guess they'd better make the first one not too ambitious and ramp up later.
It's still in beta.
I see. we're slashdot now.
Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
181–190 of 250 posts
Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also "by and large" is a nautical term meaning (roughly) "whether sailing against the wind or sailing with the wind".
While we're speculating on the meaning behind the name(s) RE:wind, remember that Google acquired Makani Power a while back. They build wind generated power systems using large kites. What better place to put them into production than at sea where there isn't much worry about crashing to the ground. http://www.makanipower.com/home/
unlikely that the Makani planes would be run from a ship. They each have a huge arc, much larger than the diameter of a traditional turbine.
Furthermore, what's the concern with them crashing in to the ground? It's not like they plan to install them directly over populated areas.
Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
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)?
Your algorithm is making decisions on data that's 50ms older than the data the other guy in the ocean used, I suppose. I'm not into low-latency trading enough to know whether or not that 50ms-ahead data alone could make you money, but based on how much the trading guys go nuts over it I assume it could.
Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
#184It's likely that this is a way to get around the visa limits the US is having. If you build a giant cruise ship and park it on the bay next to google then you can have engineers working near HQ without legally requiring them to have visas!
The idea of a bunch of non-citizen engineers working (and living?) in a windowless floating cargo container doesn't seem to me to be something that would be a great idea, PR-wise.
Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
#185Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
#186I was Googling to find what a boat-based wave-powered generator would look like, and I found this interesting diagram: http://www.greenpatentblog.com/2011/12/08/fraunhofers-mobile...
Goodness, that actually looks like something from Road Runner cartoon.
Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
#187Earlier quoted context omitted.
And interestingly, Patri Friedman used to work at Google...
Patri only worked on prediction markets at google, so far as I know, and left to spend more time on Seasteading and related projects. Source: he's a friend of a family member.
Everyone's work on prediction markets at Google was a 20% project, so Patri would have had his main job doing something else.
Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
#188Something 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.
http://www.pressherald.com/news/Myserty_Portland_barge_and_S... is a more detailed Press Herald article, it says it's BAL 0011.
Re: Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay?
#189Could this be an attempt to skirt the rules and laws imposed by the US on our (Google's) data? Would Google have to provide data under a warrant if said data is physically located in international waters?
if the ship is under US flag, yes