Google's Floating Data Centers... err uhm "Learning Spaces"

[xDarc]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24842749

Today the mystery behind the barges registered to shell companies run by Google is over as they have released a statement- they intend to use the structures as "learning spaces" for new technology. Now, let us never speak of this again!

If these are learning spaces, why do they have to be on barges?
If these are learning spaces, why do we see the same level of security that we see at a data center?
If these are learning spaces, why do inspectors form the US Coast Guard have to sign a non-disclosure agreement?

I don't buy it. Everyone knows that Google has patents on floating data centers, specifically to use ocean water as coolant and machines that convert wave momentum to electricity. At least one media outlet interviewed a man who chose to remain anonymous stating he had helped engineer the product, and he said the purpose of a floating data center is to back up all of the company's data; it's records, it's projects, it's user data- all of it- in the event of a "natural disaster."

Think about it. If I keep all of my back ups in my house, and my house burns to the ground, what good does having back ups do? The whole point of having a floating data center is for it to be a Noah's Ark of Information.

If google came out and said we are building these things to back up everything in case of disaster- the obvious question would be why now? What are you expecting? I would not be surprised one bit if this does not wash and Google puts out some kind of entirely staged promotional video showcasing their "learning space" that cannot be verified by independent media.

Are people really going to believe this? What do you think?

 

[Zoe Castillo]

Again , if any company is likely to be run by a James bond villain

 

[Remus]

So it's a floating Cloud. Would that make it a Google Fog?

 

[Me55enger]

So it's a floating Cloud. Would that make it a Google Fog?

That would almost certainly be invented by an Englishman with a name like that.

Then again, a "google barge" sounds mightily uncharismatic also.

 

[TheNaut131]

...well isn't it obvious?

The singularity is upon us! Our binary overlords awake from their slumber, eady to format all our hard drives and reprogram our societal insecurities with amazing connection speed and free wifi...at sea.

That, or google is just paranoid.

 

[ForumSafari]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24842749

Today the mystery behind the barges registered to shell companies run by Google is over as they have released a statement- they intend to use the structures as "learning spaces" for new technology. Now, let us never speak of this again!

If these are learning spaces, why do they have to be on barges?
If these are learning spaces, why do we see the same level of security that we see at a data center?
If these are learning spaces, why do inspectors form the US Coast Guard have to sign a non-disclosure agreement?

I don't buy it.

In all honesty they're probably using them for temporary compute power or for low rent labs. Best guess is they wanted some analytic work done fast and temporarily bulked up their hardware footprint with a few barges full of cheap clustered hardware.

You wouldn't want to try and direct massive traffic through a cellular or satellite connection, these are most likely data centres but they won't be movable particularly and they won't be to back up all of the company's data since the company already has a tier-3+ backup plan on everything it has. Google may own a large building with Google on the front somewhere in California but they certainly don't keep all their data centralised there, for one thing it leaves them vulnerable to a disaster, it's not highly available and their business is based around the fact that Google is fast so routing everything through 'murrica is a disadvantage. They'll have at least one datacentre covering an area and another two or three on failover with full copies of everything in it. Aside from that they'll probably have cold backups for everything off site at a series of storage facilities.

The other rather amusing possibility is that they intend to take to the waves in a fleet of barges and declare themselves independent of the land nations.

 

[xDarc]

You wouldn't want to try and direct massive traffic through a cellular or satellite connection...

Couldn't they patch in to major undersea network cables?

Google may own a large building with Google on the front somewhere in California but they certainly don't keep all their data centralised there...

It's not just about having more than one physical location, it's about becoming independent from the grid and being able to generate your own electricity; and perhaps as someone else pointed out- evading local jurisdictions not covered under maritime law.

 

[ForumSafari]

Couldn't they patch in to major undersea network cables?

No. You can connect something to those cables but it's not a small job and they'd be doing so repeatedly if mobile. Also those cables actually belong to people that wouldn't enjoy that.

It's not just about having more than one physical location, it's about becoming independent from the grid and being able to generate your own electricity; and perhaps as someone else pointed out- evading local jurisdictions not covered under maritime law.

Most datacentres have a failover power solution already, normally it's petrol generators and a battery to cushion the transition. As for international waters I don't think it'd do them any good, they'd have minimal Internet access and I'm not 100% that those boats are even capable of sailing in open waters.