On 6/30/2012 12:11 AM, Tyler Haske wrote:
On 6/29/2012 11:07 PM, Roy wrote:
I am not a computer science guy but been around a long time. Data centers and clouds are like software. Once they reach a certain size, its impossible to keep the bugs out. You can test and test your heart out and something will slip by. You can say the same thing about nuclear reactors, Apollo moon missions, the NorthEast power grid, and most other technology disasters.
How to run a datacenter 101. Have more then one location, preferably far apart. It being Amazon I would expect more. :/
First off. They HAVE more than one location, and they are indeed far apart. That said, it's all mixed together, like some kind of goulash, and the companies who've gone with this particular model for their sites are paying for that fact. Second, and more important. I *was* a "computer science guy" in a past life, and this is nonsense. You can have astonishingly large software projects that just continue to run smoothly, day in, day out, and they don't hit the news, because they don't break. There are data centers that don't hit the news, in precisely the same way. If I had a business, right now, I would not have chosen Amazon's cloud (or anyone's for that matter). I would also not be using Google docs/services, for precisely the same reason. I'm a fan of controlling risk, where possible, and I'd say that this is all in the wrong direction for doing that. No worries, though. It seems we are doomed to continue making the same mistakes, over and over. -- Politicians are like a Slinky. They're really not good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs.