[Beowulf] Efficient UPS Aids Google?s Extreme PUE

[Nifty Tom Mitchell]

On Fri, Apr 03, 2009 at 02:10:28PM -0300, ariel sabiguero yawelak wrote:
> 
>    I was wondering if the battery supplies energy for the whole system or
>    just the mainboard. If you check the cables, the hard-drives are still
>    12V+5V powered. Do you think that they just run without swap and if
>    power fails they just announce that nodes is going down and dies? Do
>    you prefer thinking that the power source has even more modifications
>    and it continues supplying 12+5V to the drives and keeps the whole
>    system running for a few minutes?
>    I don't where to put my money......
>    regards
>    ariel
>    David Mathog escribió:
> 
> Nifty Tom Mitchell [1]<niftyompi at niftyegg.com> wrote
> 
> I suspect that the UPS component is very short.  i.e. finish the current
.......

Another poster noted that the MB had local regulators built on it.
Local regulation is already common for processors and RAM and would be easy for
a specified disk drive set.   What I took from this is that the
power supply feeds the battery charging circuit and that in turn 
acts like a bulk capacitor and UPS.   If the operating voltage of
the battery was kept below maximum the life of the battery could 
be quite long.   A single voltage PS is inexpensive.

The rumor within walking distance of Google HQ was that Google's first 
pass was a motherboard + drive + PS ziptied to a cookie sheet with holes
punched in it and the whole thing stacked vertically like plates in a 
bakers rack.   The recent disclosure sounds like a natural optimization
for their specific purposes.

Further bolting it all inside a shipping container provides fire safety/
containment, security and EMI shielding.  A number of companies in the
area have fitted shipping containers to house site emergency equipment
(SGI earthquake kit) or construction site offices and store rooms.
The fasteners for the ship/ truck make bolting to foundation footers
quite easy.  Since California is earthquake country the foundation part might
be important.  I might speculate that a modular Google resource could be deployed
to the parking lot of any network provider at the drop of a check, power and 
fiber optics.

Sun may still be marketing a data center in a box along
the same lines but with much more expensive nU equipment
inside.   Some speculated that it was designed for Mars.



-- 
	T o m  M i t c h e l l 
	Found me a new hat, now what?