The magic that makes Google tick

pr0digal jenius · Dec 2, 2004, 09:31 PM

The numbers alone are enough to make your eyes water.

-Over four billion Web pages, each an average of 10KB, all fully indexed.
-Up to 2,000 PCs in a cluster.
-Over 30 clusters.
-104 interface languages including Klingon and Tagalog.
-One petabyte of data in a cluster -- so much that hard disk error rates of 10-15 begin to be a real issue.
-Sustained transfer rates of 2Gbps in a cluster.
-An expectation that two machines will fail every day in each of the larger clusters.
-No complete system failure since February 2000.

It is one of the largest computing projects on the planet, arguably employing more computers than any other single, fully managed system (we're not counting distributed computing projects here), some 200 computer science PhDs, and 600 other computer scientists.

And it is all hidden behind a deceptively simple, white, Web page that contains a single one-line text box and a button that says Google Search.
Source/Read More: ZDNet

Zardon · Dec 2, 2004, 09:37 PM

As the scale of the operation increases, it introduces some particular problems that would not be an issue on smaller systems. For instance, Google uses IDE drives for all its storage. They are fast and cheap, but not highly reliable. To help deal with this, Google developed its own file system -- called the Google File System, or GFS -- which assumes an individual unit of storage can go away at any time either because of a crash, a lost disk or just because someone stepped on a cable.

The power of three
There are no disk arrays within individual PCs; instead Google stores every bit of data in triplicate on three machines on three racks on three data switches to make sure there is no single point of failure between you and the data. "We use this for hundreds of terabytes of data," said Hölzle. Don't expect to see GFS on a desktop near you any time soon -- it is not a general-purpose file system. For instance, a GFS block size is 64MB, compared with the more usual 2KB on a desktop file system. Hölzle said Google has 30 plus clusters running GFS, some as large as 2,000 machines with petabytes of storage. These large clusters can sustain read/write speeds of 2Gbps -- a feat made possible because each PC manages 2Mbps.

pr0digal jenius · Dec 2, 2004, 09:39 PM

*suddenly feels his dual xeon setup is very insignificant*

caqde · Dec 3, 2004, 05:48 AM

Wow detailed and long article very informative. Thanks prodigal jenius.

Damn Google runs off one heck of a computer system. I want one! The things I could store with that much storage

.

Dec 2, 2004, 09:31 PM	#1
pr0digal jenius Delete Me Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 14,648 Rep Power: 0	The magic that makes Google tick The numbers alone are enough to make your eyes water. -Over four billion Web pages, each an average of 10KB, all fully indexed. -Up to 2,000 PCs in a cluster. -Over 30 clusters. -104 interface languages including Klingon and Tagalog. -One petabyte of data in a cluster -- so much that hard disk error rates of 10-15 begin to be a real issue. -Sustained transfer rates of 2Gbps in a cluster. -An expectation that two machines will fail every day in each of the larger clusters. -No complete system failure since February 2000. It is one of the largest computing projects on the planet, arguably employing more computers than any other single, fully managed system (we're not counting distributed computing projects here), some 200 computer science PhDs, and 600 other computer scientists. And it is all hidden behind a deceptively simple, white, Web page that contains a single one-line text box and a button that says Google Search. Source/Read More: ZDNet

Dec 3, 2004, 05:48 AM	#4
caqde HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: US, IL Posts: 505 Rep Power: 66 System Specs	Wow detailed and long article very informative. Thanks prodigal jenius. Damn Google runs off one heck of a computer system. I want one! The things I could store with that much storage . __________________ AMD Phenom II X4 925 AM3/ Giga-byte MA790XT-UD4P XFX HD5770 1GB / 2x8GB of Geil DDR3 12800 10-10-10-28 Samsung SH-S182D DVD-RW drive / Sony Optiarc BD-5300S BD-RW drive Western Digital WD1501FASS(Primary)/Western Digital 15EADS(Secondary)/Western Digital 7500AACS(Secondary)/Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320gb(Secondary) Antec TP-550 / CoolerMaster CMStacker Sound Blaster X-FI Titanium Fatal1ty Professional / Creative Inspire 6600 6.1 speakers Samsugn T200HD 20" LCD Monitor / Logitech Internet 350 Black Keyboard Logitech MX510 Mouse

Dec 2, 2004, 09:37 PM	#2
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	As the scale of the operation increases, it introduces some particular problems that would not be an issue on smaller systems. For instance, Google uses IDE drives for all its storage. They are fast and cheap, but not highly reliable. To help deal with this, Google developed its own file system -- called the Google File System, or GFS -- which assumes an individual unit of storage can go away at any time either because of a crash, a lost disk or just because someone stepped on a cable. The power of three There are no disk arrays within individual PCs; instead Google stores every bit of data in triplicate on three machines on three racks on three data switches to make sure there is no single point of failure between you and the data. "We use this for hundreds of terabytes of data," said Hölzle. Don't expect to see GFS on a desktop near you any time soon -- it is not a general-purpose file system. For instance, a GFS block size is 64MB, compared with the more usual 2KB on a desktop file system. Hölzle said Google has 30 plus clusters running GFS, some as large as 2,000 machines with petabytes of storage. These large clusters can sustain read/write speeds of 2Gbps -- a feat made possible because each PC manages 2Mbps.

Dec 2, 2004, 09:39 PM	Thread Starter #3
pr0digal jenius Delete Me Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 14,648 Rep Power: 0	suddenly feels his dual xeon setup is very insignificant