Google: What does it use?

[Tom Wilson]

On Thu, 2004-05-06 at 21:48, Joel Hammer wrote:
> Can someone tell me what Google uses for its server OS? I
> think they use linux. If so, the following should be
> of interest.

It is indeed Linux they run on their servers.  Remember all the
speculation that Google was sco's big target for a copyright lawsuit.

> Here is a snippet of an editorial recently from the Wall Street Journal:
> 
> 
>      But those who see Google only as an IPO phenomenon miss the
>      real story. Poke around Google and you sense a clean break
>      from the past, a harbinger of the future. The company's Web
>      site handles about 750 million page views a day and has become
>      the third most visited site in the world. Google performs its
>      Web search miracle with a backroom technology plant consisting
>      of about 100,000 cheap servers -- basically, mail-order PCs
>      without monitors -- that cost about $2,000 apiece. When one
>      of these cheap crunchers goes on the blink, Google junks it
>      like an old razor blade, and slips in a replacement.
> 
>      Pay attention to the money Google does not spend. No fat service
>      contracts. No bloated in-house "fix-it" departments. Google's
>      cheap ways save 90 cents on a typical information-technology
>      dollar, according to Mike Nevens, a former head of McKinsey's
>      technology practice. This amazing 90% savings is the key
>      to understanding Google and much, much more about today's
>      economy. I call it the Cheap Revolution, and it's in full
>      swing. All around us, it's pushing costs down -- not down a
>      slope, but over a cliff.
> 
> 
> The Wall Street Journal has been a strong supporter of
> MS in its legal troubles. So, maybe that's why they don't
> mention the OS. Or, they don't care what the OS is.
> 
> Note: This editorial says 100,000 servers. I wonder if
> they got the decimal place wrong.

I thought it was 10,000 servers but I could be wrong on that.  

Tom Wilson 
McSwain Carpets 
513.771.1400 x4433 
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