KK points me to this post from Tristan Louis which reverse engineers how many machines Google has based on reported IT costs. Answer: roughly 50-80K machines, each with two CPUs. Honestly, I think it’s more. In any case, Tristan makes the case that taken together, it’s the most powerful computer in the world. Anyone care to disagree? I’d be interested to hear if IBM agrees.
Tidbits from the S1, continued
KK points me to this post from Tristan Louis which reverse engineers how many machines Google has based on reported IT costs. Answer: roughly 50-80K machines, each with two CPUs. Honestly, I think it's more. In any case, Tristan makes the case that taken together, it's the most powerful computer…
I agree.
While the cost mentioned in the IEEE article uses Dual Xeons as an example, the rest of the article talks about Dual PIIIs systems, which are considerably cheaper. Also, Moore’s Law and its relatives were at work since late 2002, too. So actually, yes, they probably have much more than 80’000 servers.
I’m pretty sure they have more. Remember, the S1 uses old data.
What about the many systems and parts they have had to replace over time?