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Stanford Gets First Sun Blackbox

Posted by CowboyNeal on Sat Jun 23, 2007 09:08 AM
from the park-plug-and-play dept.
Sun Microsystems Education
miller60 writes "The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) will be the first end-user to get a Project Blackbox portable data center from Sun Microsystems. The 20-foot shipping container (which will be white, not black) will sit on a concrete pad behind the computer building with hookups to power, a 10-gigabit network connection and a chiller located on an adjacent pad. The 'data center in a box' will allow the SLAC to expand its computing capacity even though its existing data center has maxed out its power and cooling."
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[+] Hardware: Sun To Unveil Project Blackbox 175 comments
this great guy writes "A year ago, Google's secret plans for a portable data center in a shipping container were being revealed by Robert X. Cringely. Sun Microsystems is about to officially unveil its 'data center in a box' concept. Project Blackbox will involve the full-scale production of data centers in 20-foot-long cargo shipping containers." From the article: "The idea eliminates several major hurdles facing data center customers: finding an appropriate site, arranging the servers and cooling mechanisms in the most efficient manner, and waiting for construction to be complete. The company is touting energy efficiency as a crucial benefit of the confined space, as its patented cooling features can more accurately target hot spots than in giant warehouses. The box can hold hundreds of servers and save thousands of dollars per year in energy costs, the company said."
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  • The Market? (Score:5, Funny)

    by TheRaven64 (641858) on Saturday June 23 2007, @09:22AM (#19619545) Homepage Journal
    People were complaining that Sun didn't have a decent portable computer (they sold a few Tadpoles, but nothing they made themselves), and this is what they came up with. Apparently it's meant to be an iPhone killer.

  • the obligatory... (Score:3, Funny)

    by ArcSecond (534786) on Saturday June 23 2007, @09:23AM (#19619549)
    Wow! Can you imagine a Beowulf cluster of these? :)

  • Very impressive device (Score:5, Interesting)

    by nbvb (32836) on Saturday June 23 2007, @09:28AM (#19619593) Journal
    Project Blackbox is one incredibly cool device. Sun was gracious enough to park one as a demo at my company, and it's just a very well engineered, game-changing design. The beauty is that it can be done relatively cheap, because shipping containers are CHEAP in the US. Most of them come from China, and since we import more than we export, we're stuck with a boatload (literally) of excess containers.

    Imagine - rather than spending many millions building a true data center, you can just purchase a (relatively) cheap warehouse and line these things up inside. Instant data center - with lots of inherent redundancy.

    Mirror one Blackbox to another across the warehouse.

    Disaster Recovery? This the best thing since sliced bread. Park one at another facility 50 miles away and off you go.

    I'm highly impressed. It's a bit cramped in there, but if you do your work neatly and place the servers in the racks correctly, it's not an issue. One shouldn't spend much time in the data center anyway!

    and I asked ...

    #1 - yes, they are standard racks, so other vendors' equipment will fit.
    #2 - I asked about "oversized" equipment (such as Superdomes, E25k's, disk arrays, etc.) - they're working on a solution for that too. My guess is that it would involve removing some of the racks to make room.

    I think Blackbox is a great idea with lots of deployment potential. Another thing to note - I was told that the air filters are designed to filter out lots of particulate matter -- sand included. You can guess why.
    • I have to wonder how it compares to this [apc.com], both in price and in capabilities. (see the 'more images' link for pics of the inside).

      I don't know who came up with the idea first.

  • ''A chiller system will be added in August'' (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Alain Williams (2972) on Saturday June 23 2007, @09:41AM (#19619699) Homepage
    Oh, so how will they keep it cool until then ? Not switch it on perhaps ?

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by davef139 (790691)
      If you ever read up on shipping containers which is interesting stuff. Some are build for blast freezing in compartments of ships for like off shore fishing. I belive they can go down to -60C

      • If you ever read up on shipping containers which is interesting stuff. Some are build for blast freezing in compartments of ships for like off shore fishing. I belive they can go down to -60C
        Fish don't generate heat.

    • Re:''A chiller system will be added in August'' (Score:4, Informative)

      by fm6 (162816) on Saturday June 23 2007, @01:23PM (#19621475) Homepage Journal
      The thing has a built in cooling system. Supposedly it just needs a water hookup. But apparently the water has to be a certain temperature. Hence the chiller, which won't be needed until central California's August heat wave.
  • ... will it run Vista’s Aero interface?

    Cheap shot, I know.

    @yg
    • Actually, that's not a cheap shot at all. Sun is no longer a SPARC-only shop. I write docs for Sun's x64 servers, and many customers do use them as graphics workstations. It's the old "visualization" marketplace that used to be dominated by SGI supercomputers with graphic front ends.

      One big problem is that all of Sun's latest servers emphasize low power consumption. That means PCI slots that don't support power-hungry graphics cards. You get around this by clustering the server with an x64 workstatio

  • Node Failure? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by tansey (238786) on Saturday June 23 2007, @09:43AM (#19619713) Journal
    I'm just curious, but is the inside of this thing roomy enough for a person to easily get in there and replace a part? I know that node failures happen on a very regular basis with clusters and the box doesn't look very wide.

    • Re:Node Failure? Yes... (Score:5, Informative)

      by Fallen Kell (165468) on Saturday June 23 2007, @10:40AM (#19620135)
      I had the pleasure of getting to see and work with the demo unit that Sun had/has on tour. The inside of the unit has two rows of their custom built racks, three racks deep on both sides of the "black box". Each rack has a water cooling unit between it and the next rack in the row so that the hot air comming out of the front rack is cooled before it is used as the intake air for the following rack. The racks themselves are on a custom designed damping/shock absorption system and rail system so that when you need to work on a rack, it can be slid out into the center aisle where you can then access the front and back of the rack. A little planning is needed so that you have the appropriate tools/gear on the proper side of the rack before you pull it out into the center asile, however they do slide very easily even when loaded up so you can put is back in and move behind it or in front of it depending on what you need to do. It makes the most sense to have two people, one on either side do and work on the systems.

      It may be a little warm in there if you place it out in the middle of nowhere as the cooling system is really designed just to cool the systems in racks, and not the entire box, especially when you have the front or back doors open, and you may want to close the inner door if you can to keep try and keep the moist outside air from entering the container, however there is a dehumidifier in the system to take care of that situation. It will be a little cramped working in there, but no more so then any high density compute server room. The main idea however is to not have to go in there very often, in which the Sun "lights out managment" systems come into play. The only reason to go into the container is for actual hardware failure, all other maintenace can be performed remotely on systems with the "lom" ports, from bios settings, to single user/maintenance mode issues.

      As for your "I know that node failures happen on a very regular basis with clusters...", comment, I have personally found that if you are using "lom", you will almost never need to go in there unless it was a true hardware issue. In the 9 racks of beowulf cluster that I manage, there have only been 6 actual hardware outages over the last 3 years. The majority of issues are software related outages which can all be fixed over the "lom" connections, even reloading the OS...
      • Very informative post, thank you.

        Did they happen to say what the ballpark price is for one of these?
      • So it only holds 6 racks? Sounds like a neat set-up, but no more space-efficient than a normal data center.

        I guess they have sold at least one more than APC's "Data Center on Demand" with the Stanford purchase.

        We had a concept that could hold a bit more equipment, but this seems to be pretty hassle-free.

        • A BlackBox has 8 racks (not 6). One of the racks is used for infrastructure components, like the dehumidifier, power, network, etc. The remaining seven racks are 38 RU, but because of the power distribution unit and a patch-panel, you can fit 36 1U servers in a rack. That is a total of 252 1U servers per BlackBox.

          Someone calculated that if you would fill it completely with for example X2200 servers (two dual-core AMD Opteron), it would end up around position 200 in the Supercomputing Top500.
          • You could fix six 6U blade units into each of the seven general-purpose racks, and put sixteen blades into each. Put two quad-core processors on each blade, get 5376 processors into the rack. That should put you somewhere interesting in the Top500.

  • Stanford is a very appropriate place... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by foxtrot (14140) on Saturday June 23 2007, @09:54AM (#19619793)
    for Sun (Whose name came from where their first machines were seen, the Stanford University Network) to deploy their first of a new idea.

    I'm not sure it's the world-killer that everyone wants to think, mind: If your data center is tapped out for power or cooling, you'll still need to get portable power and cooling to go next to your portable data center, but it does seem to be an excellent idea to tide you over until your real data center expansion gets built. Which means I expect to see a number of these sitting outside fixed data center locations in a basically permanent role, just like the "temporary" trailer classroom buildings outside schools and all the other stop-gap measures we implement "just to tide us over" that wind up being permanent emplacements.

    I kinda fear this outside our data center. Especially when the machines therein get on the "long in the tooth" side, and we've decommissioned every application in the thing but one.

    It's a great new idea, don't get me wrong, but the problem is how most companies want to run their data centers doesn't look a whole lot like how anybody's actually doing so in the real world. :)
    • I just don't get it. I mean, I really, REALLY don't get it?!?!?!

      Places like 365 Main [365main.com] offer top-notch server hosting for dirt-cheap prices. I have a half-rack there with 6, quad-core Opteron clustered LAMP servers in place now. Reliability is excellent, bandwidth availability is fabulous (we have a Gb interface to the Internet) and the price is just astonishingly cheap - although we are an "Internet Company", we spend more on phone calls than we do on hosting and related fees. Never mind hotels and travel/fl

  • They've got a serious need for more space... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 23 2007, @10:07AM (#19619903)
    SLAC is in a big bind for space to house computers. They're out of power in their existing building but are also under very very onerous rules about approval for electrical installs due to an accident on site that nearly killed an electrician. They figure 24 months to get a new electrical feed from the transformers just outside the building... Apparently they'll be able to get the (simpler) electrical install of the Blackbox done more quickly.

    So, they are using the Blackbox in the mode of "gotta get more capacity yesterday" vs. a real change in direction of datacenter planning... Still, I bet SUN sells more of these to customers in similar situations.

  • See the innards (Score:5, Informative)

    by tcampb01 (101714) on Saturday June 23 2007, @10:28AM (#19620041)
    I was a bit surprised that all the pictures only show off the outside and none of the links follow to info on what these things look like on the inside or how they work.

    Here is Sun's page that shows off considerably more info: Sun's Project Black Box page [sun.com]

    Basically the outside of the box has hookups for power, cooling water, and network. Everything on the inside is pre-wired. Servers aren't included, but they are designed to serve as the transport container for the servers -- not just a place to put servers once the box arrives (the racks have a shock-absorbing suspension system so that servers can be transported in the container without the need to unrack them or pack them for shipping.). When it arrives it just needs to be "plugged in" and it's literally ready to go. Since it really is a standard shipping container, all rules about shipping containers apply -- e.g. there's no shortage of trucks, trains, or boats designed specifically to hold them. They are structurally sturdy and can be stacked tall just like containers on a cargo ship.

  • My conerns... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by HockeyPuck (141947) on Saturday June 23 2007, @10:38AM (#19620109)
    I'm assuming you don't set this up 'in a parking lot' but under some sort of cover/tarp/tent, even painting it white, putting it outside in the northern california sun, can't be very efficient as far as cooling is concerned. How much insulation do they have between the metal of the 'box' and the interior walls?

    If it's RAINING, how do you keep from increasing the humidity inside the box. In our datacenters, we have sticky plastic sheets on the floor outside the datacenter so you won't track dust into the datacenter. With a door that opens 'to the outside' how do you keep out dust/dirt?

    • Apparently there's an inner and outer door, so there should be space there to close one before opening the other. At least, one would hope so.

    • I'm assuming you don't set this up 'in a parking lot' but under some sort of cover/tarp/tent, even painting it white, putting it outside in the northern california sun, can't be very efficient as far as cooling is concerned.

      I suspect this is a lot like worrying about aerodynamic drag on a 100 ton locomotive. Yes, it exists, but it's negligible compared to the other load you have to deal with. I bet if you compared the amount of heat that the container would gain from sunlight, it's probably a small per


      • There's no AC.

        It's all chilled water; you hook it up to an external chiller, and the racks are set up back-to-front, and in between every pair of racks is a wall of fans and a radiator with cold water. The water sucks out the heat, and redistributes it outside the unit.

        I don't know how they deal with humidity, to be honest.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by mollymoo (202721)

        I'm assuming you don't set this up 'in a parking lot' but under some sort of cover/tarp/tent, even painting it white, putting it outside in the northern california sun, can't be very efficient as far as cooling is concerned.

        I suspect this is a lot like worrying about aerodynamic drag on a 100 ton locomotive. Yes, it exists, but it's negligible compared to the other load you have to deal with.

        I suspected the solar heat load was relatively small, but I decided to run a (very) rough estimate to get a bet

  • Prank (Score:5, Funny)

    by Joebert (946227) on Saturday June 23 2007, @10:39AM (#19620119) Homepage
    What do you think would happen if a student pasted a "PODS" label on the side of it & called the company to come do a pickup ?

  • Checklist (Score:5, Funny)

    by Dan East (318230) on Saturday June 23 2007, @10:58AM (#19620255) Homepage
    Faraday cage large enough to encompass a shipping container... Check.
    Honking-big wirecutters... Check.
    Rollback flatbed truck with 20' bed and winch... Check.

    Dan East

  • No Way Is This Going To Be Successful (Score:5, Funny)

    by smackenzie (912024) on Saturday June 23 2007, @11:05AM (#19620299)
    I mean, look Apple, tried the whole white computer in a box thing with their so-called "Cube" and it never took off. To make it worse:

    1. I think this computer looks even BIGGER and UGLIER than the Cube. (Can someone post picture of Cube and this together so we can see size differences to confirm?)

    2. Though the internet connection is decent, I don't see a firewire port. HELLO! People still use firewire these days!!

    3. Can I use it as a media center device? Those are cool. I think most American's will be able to fit this in their living room under their TV, but no way the Japanese are going to go for it with their smaller apartments...

    Nice try, Sun, but I'm not going out and picking up another electrical substation powerstrip just to plug this (probably) under-powered and over-priced white "computer in a box" copycat...

  • I used to design modules very much like this for the oil biz, its a common way to provide office space, utilities, subsea control, temporary functions etc. for oil rigs and hazardous areas.
    You can order the shells pretty much any size/shape you want, especially if you dont have to worry about regulations.

    Theyre not as sturdy as you might think tho, they get beat up something awful by transport, esp. offshore.
    Crane operators like to use the one in the sling to knock the others in place/out of the way :)

    So if
  • A related link at the end of the article [datacenterknowledge.com] describes how Sun took one of their Black Box systems to a giant shake table at the seismic research center at UCSD [ucsd.edu], to see how well it would hold up during an earthquake. Some things pulled loose, and some things will need a little redesign, but it was able to keep functioning during and after the simulated earthquake. Sun produced a slick little video [youtube.com] of it.

    • Re:buy your sun boxen here... (Score:5, Funny)

      by LighterShadeOfBlack (1011407) on Saturday June 23 2007, @10:10AM (#19619925) Homepage
      Yeah, because now that everyone here on /. has seen it sales will go through the roof.

      As I type this I'm on the phone with Sun ordering a $500,000 portable data centre off the back of an article I read via slashdot. Finally something that can run Aero!

      I agree though, this is a shameless plug. It's a growing trend unfortunately. Remember just last year the /. sellout editors were trying to hawk their advertisers' wares with a slashvertisement for Spaceship One. I was helpless to resist their blatant advertising and now I've got Spaceship's Two and Three just sitting in the garage. I never even use them. Curse you /. editors and your evil advertising!

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