Inside a Microsoft data center
link: original article - section: microsoft
It takes mucho computes and terabytes to create the 3D models used in Microsoft’s Virtual Earth online mapping service. So how do they cram 5,000 cores and 10,000 terabytes - 10 petabytes - of storage into 3 40 ft. shipping containers?
Sun pioneered containerized data centers with their 2006 water-cooled Project Blackbox. But the Microsoft model is air-cooled and in production today in Boulder, CO.
Putting ~3400 disk drives and 1700 cores into 320 sq. ft. isn’t easy, which is what makes this picture so interesting:
Unlike Google’s barebones racks, these racks are labeled Verari. Turns out that Verari Systems builds containerized data centers that look familiar.
