Google’s First Production Server

These must be the series of tubes that makes up the Internet :-)

Intel nics \o/

IBM drives...

To many cords!!!!!!!!!

They are just circuit boards put into a box

Google’s First Production Server by jurvetson.

...with the hair pulled back, revealing a rack of cheap networked PCs, circa 1999.

Each level has a couple of PC boards slammed in there, partially overlapping. This approach reflects a presumption of rapid obsolescence of cheap hardware, which would not need to be repaired. Several of the PCs never worked, and the system design optimized around multiple computer failures.

According to Larry and Sergey, the beta system used Duplo blocks for the chassis because generic brand plastic blocks were not rigid enough.

We held an event at the Computer History Museum yesterday, and I noticed this new item in the collection. It pre-dates the Google Master Plan.

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Comments

Trajan K says:

interesting enough that it didn't catch on fire.
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

Vanita says:

Gawd I love living in these times. If this is seven years ago, what do ten years ahead hold?!
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

BenODen says:

Sweet, a definite piece of history! Wonder how long 'googling it' is going to be the vernacular.

I'm gonna say that the cooling in that room must have been working hard to keep these guys cool. The first 'blade' servers, eh? Any guesses on many blades are in Googles machine room(s) as we speak... (I'm going to say 1000+, myself.)
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

Todd Huffman says:

I wonder if they wiped the drives before the put it into the museum... a little late-night ninja-work might be in order!

Or perhaps a good source for an archeological dig in a few thousand years.
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

JKaljundi says:

Google had around 4000 servers back in 2000, 100 thousand in 2004, and nowadays probably 200-300 thousand (although some people say 1 million). They buy them around 10000 units at a time.

I wonder when they break the 10 million servers (or processors) mark.
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

biotron says:

splendid centre-parting!
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

drona says:

Loved it!

Such is the rate of change of technology...6yr old boxes are showing up in History Museums. Maybe today's Google servers will find themselves in the Museum in 2008!? By then one of jurvetson's Nano-servers will have taken over!...:)
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

Kevan Emmott says:

I like how they had the front panel switches all wired up and attached to that piece of Plexi or MDF or whatever is being a platform for the Hard Drives...
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

Trajan K says:

@ drona: LOL ! It's possible !
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

BenODen says:

Oi! 200 thousand servers! that's a lot of power usage!! If it's a million, that's 100-150 or more Megawatts of power! And that doesn't even count the power neccessary for cooling, which, what, doubles that? Can one point twenty one giga watts be far behind? (I think I'd cause some heart attacks if I wished a bolt of lightning on them...)
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

JKaljundi says:

When Google at last started using AMD processors a few months ago, power consumption was one of important reasons. Already back in december Google engineers said, that power is starting to cost them more than hardware.

An AMD processor takes less than 100W of power, Intel Xeons could take more than 150W, but that's just processors.
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

BenODen says:

Hmm, and there are multiple disks on some of the servers, probably, so wow.. maybe more like 400 Watts average per server? 800 Watts with cooling then... Even closer to that magic GigaWatt...
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

madrigar says:

I saw one of their server farms in an Equinix hosting facility in VA not too long ago. Nothing too impressive just walking by the cage. Keep in mind they are most likely spread through several hosting facilities in different geographical areas for redundancy...
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

pfflyerpf says:

(())
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

m3mn0n says:

cool
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

it's Benjamin Osborne says:

Cool I faved it.:
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

bpinard says:

The "cousin it" of the internet.
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

gags_d_rebel says:

think big start small.. isnt lyk that..
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

Brajeshwar says:

This inspures one hell of an ultimate geeky feeling.
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

jurvetson says:

From 3K views to 20K in an hour and climbing fast., now 180K... A blog cascade... It's all part of their plan...

Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

eugenef says:

um that is the future of Google? time to get rid of the stocks.... sell!

Free Nature Photography Wallpaper
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

studentvalue says:

okay what the hell am I supposed to be looking at
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

ehuq says:

awesome
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

philcampbell says:

Gotta love server stacks. At least when they are working and not going wrong. :)
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

dirson says:

It was donated to the Computer History Museum by Google in 2004:
googleblog.blogspot.com/2004/07/racking-up-ho nor.html
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

Mr DoDo says:

OMG
really its sooo cool
i'd like 2 have one server like this in ma room lool
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

OndraSoukup says:

Wow...cluttered one :)
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

xouroborus says:

this was dugg Steve :)
www.digg.com/hardware/Picture_of_Google_s_fir st_server_Aw...
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

Yusuf Motiwala says:

Wow...and how it looks like now?
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

usrid0 says:

HP Procurve switch, old school!
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

Jakob Montrasio says:

Cool.
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

P. Emerson says:

Looks like HR Giger art, lovely machine that.
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

bullseyephoto says:

utterly disappointing!
Posted 31 months ago. ( permalink )

Sharelor says:

Google’s datacenters are just so amazing. Read: dn.vc/datacenterknowledge
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

GroupFounder says:

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Posted 24 months ago. ( permalink )

amitp says:

If you look closely, the labels on the computers start with “jj”. Their first machines started with “a”. These weren't really the first “production servers”; it's described as the first “rack” though (meaning the first model, not the first one built).
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

bhupesh.music says:

hi its really gr8, they brought a new things with new invention, thats what they are the youngest billianares, superb.
www.hindisongschords.blogspot.com
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

rosefirerising says:

To my health-oriented eye, it looks like an exposed belly beneath a rib cage.
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

skytsui says:

WOW........................!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted 14 months ago. ( permalink )

biotron says:

a most interesting contribution. well said.
Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

rosefirerising says:

;) Great picture tho, even if it does look a bit disemboweled. :)
Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

Liberoliber says:

fantastic!
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

Liberoliber says:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called The MVP on Flickr, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

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Taken on May 30, 2006
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