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Google Patents Shipping-Container Data Centers
Posted by
Zonk
on Tue Oct 09, 2007 12:43 PM
from the pick-it-up-and-move-it-out dept.
from the pick-it-up-and-move-it-out dept.
theodp writes "Two years ago, Robert X. Cringely wrote that Google was experimenting with portable data centers built in standard shipping containers. The idea, Cringely explained, wasn't new and wasn't even Google's, backing up his claim with a link to an Internet-Archive-in-a-Shipping-Container presentation (PDF, dated 11-8-2003) that was reportedly pitched to Larry Page. Google filed for a patent on essentially the same concept on 12-30-2003. And on Tuesday, the USPTO issued the search giant a patent for Modular Data Centers housed in shipping containers, which Google curiously notes facilitate 'rapid and easy relocation to another site depending on changing economic factors'. That's a statement that may make those tax-abating NC officials a tad uneasy."
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Oops! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Doesn't the existence of Blackbox imply prior art for Google's patent?
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
If Sun started in, say, 2000 (I don't know when they did start) then yes, it could be prior art depending on what the patent covers exactly.
But, if the patent covers something a bit more specific than "computers hooked up in a shipping crate" then it is possible that black box doesn't infringe on this patent, and isn't prior art.
(IANAL, so copious amounts of sodium chloride recommended with this post.)
Re:Oops! (Score:4, Insightful)
a little later we got a HAWK missile platoon command post which was an air-transportable shipping container, once again mounted on a trailer, inside the wire-wrapped cpu of the RCA computer used ferrite cores for memory. I think Google patent really would only have defensive value, there is way too much prior art for them to use it offensively.
Parent
Re:Oops! (Score:5, Funny)
Nonetheless, I can humbly state that I'm something of an inventor myself. For the past several years, I've been developing a concept which involves assembling computers in 4-foot by 6-foot containers. I know, it sounds incredible, but it is actually possible (despite the intuitive difficulty).
I'm looking to monetize the idea, so if you're interested please contact me about patent licensing and such.
Dr. Hansel Hanselsonson, PhD
hanselsonson@ingenious-inventions-seriously.com
Parent
Sun Blackbox? (Score:5, Insightful)
Evil (Score:5, Insightful)
Could someone please remind me how patenting something obvious is not evil?
Basically it reduces the freedom of all law-abiding citizens to do something that's fairly obvious.
Re:Evil (Score:5, Insightful)
Not everyone is evil. That said, how evil Google themselves are remains to be seen. I'm kind of on the fence at this point...
Parent
They COULD publish instead of patenting. (Score:5, Insightful)
Publication of the idea makes it unpatentable "prior art;" once published, the idea can never be patented by anyone. So, if Google's intent were strictly defensive, to prevent someone else from patenting the idea and using it against them, publication would suffice. Thus, the idea that they are "merely protecting themselves" is a bit less persuasive. Of course, there are other reasons for patenting something; looks good on the resume, provides ammunition for cross-licensing battles, and so on, but most of them involve "offense" rather than "defense."
This is not to say that Google has evil intent, just to point out that preemptively patenting something isn't the only way to avoid patent exposure.
Parent
Re:They COULD publish instead of patenting. (Score:5, Insightful)
I think it is safer to have a patent which you don't intend to use than a mere publication which might be ignored.
Parent
Re:Evil (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Defensive patents (Score:3, Interesting)
No computer company can touch IBM because of fear of their patents. I think Google is trying to achieve the same status.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I have no idea if that is what's going on, but that answer your question about "how"
Think I'll invest in a big rig truck... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Think I'll invest in a big rig truck... (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re:Think I'll invest in a big rig truck... (Score:5, Funny)
And you wouldn't? Come on, do you have any idea how much porn one of these shipping containers could store? I bet I could fit my entire collection in like, just three or four of them.
Parent
Server Farm in a Trailer Park? (Score:5, Funny)
I'm sorry, but white trash nerds have been doing this for a long time.
the history of the internet (Score:5, Funny)
1987: first worm made. internet communication not guaranteed anymore
2007: in the event of communication problems, one of the world's most powerful companies will mobilize their TPT (trail park technology) army
2027: warhol virus takes out entire web, needs to rebuilt from scratch with ipv8
2047: in the event of worldwide internet outage, GoogleMicrosoftApple will deploy nuclear warheads to silence virus spewing nodes. the circle is complete
Uncle Sam beat em to it... (Score:5, Interesting)
I worked in one such container that housed a full Digital Subscriber Terminal Equipment (DSTE) suite with a second container of backup equipment while Saudi Arabia in 1986. (oops, that really showed my age.)
The non-Useful Part (Score:5, Insightful)
Considering the rapid advance of technology, anything that's stood in one place for more than a year or two at most is probably not worth moving. A new one would prove cheaper, faster, at least double the capacity, and all within the same energy budget, or less -- which is what I expect will be the controlling factor for all new data centers.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
What's new about this? (Score:4, Interesting)
Each data center was made up of a Univac 1218 processor, an online card reader-punch unit, a drum printer, and a bunch of tape drives.
Seems like the same concept to me.
The US military has been doing this for years. (Score:5, Informative)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOBIDIC [wikipedia.org]
Sun 'project blackbox' photos (Score:3, Interesting)
http://www.netstuff.org/Sun_blackbox/ [netstuff.org]
sorry, no index.html yet - but I put together a thumbnail view in the time being:
http://www.netstuff.org/Sun_blackbox/contact_sheet.jpg [netstuff.org]
A Quick Google... (Score:4, Funny)
OK, I don't think they're quite THAT bad.. YET... I'm sure the guy granting the patent put almost exactly that much effort into his research as well...