Thoughtput

Google's Use of More Memory

We have noted before that Google has long understood the pitfalls of relying too heavily on disks for rapid results. There are numerous mentions of Google and their innovative use of memory within their data centers in More on Google's Storage Performance Gap and Google's Storage Performance Gap.

Today, some new rumors appeared that Google will be using flash-based solid state disks from Intel to add a bit more boost to their already speedy architecture. See Is Google Trying Solid-Sate Disks? at CNET. In particular, the reasons driving this shift are a need to reduce power, space, and cooling...all of which are characteristics where memory often fares better than disks.

Google is already a firm believe in this trend. An earlier quote from a Google presenter hinted...

It’s really not that useful to have things that are used even slightly frequently on disk because you are limited by the bandwidth to the disk and the number of seeks you can do.

So I don't think this is earth-shattering news. But the world seems continually interested in how Google is able to scale their massive infrastructure. No doubt others will have to find similar ways to scale as well.

If the new memory landscape is interesting to you, check out our series on Memory in the Data Center covering trends and industry implications.

Does Cloud Computing Signal the End of SMB?

Just about every magazine or newspaper I pick up these days has some reference to cloud computing. Last week both Business Week (Cloud Computing: Eyes on the Skies) and the Wall Street Journal (Sky High in the Tech World...about Microsoft Live Mesh) had pieces on the trend. In my opinion, coverage from these broad business publications indicates something more than just a little technology tinkering is afoot.

But with all of this activity, I'm stuck wondering....how do the large system vendors who have also been promoting sales to small and medium businesses (SMB) rationalize these two markets. If you are a large systems vendor selling servers and storage, can you promote your cloud computing strategy and ask these businesses to keep buying more equipment?

If everything is moving to the cloud, why would any small business ever consider buying a small storage system? The SMB market has been perceived as a major source of growth for equipment vendors. Perhaps it will soon be replaced by a cloud driven push to sell web services instead.