Data Centers is what almost all of your care about. And, some of you may enjoy Legos. Here is a blog post when you combine both.
Datacenter History: Through the Ages in Lego
OCTOBER 22, 2013 BY 3 COMMENTS
The data center has changed dramatically through the ages, as our Lego minifigures can testify!
As a rule, I don’t participate in contests: There’s usually little reward, considering chances of winning. But when Juniper Networks asked me to build a datacenter from Lego bricks, I took a second look. And, seeing that the winner can support a charity of their choice, I felt that this was an excellent opportunity for me to have some fun while doing some good!
The above post goes through history. For you who won’t click on the post, here is the modern lego data center.
The Modern Datacenter
We now turn to today. Our modern datacenter evolved from the history shown here: We retain the same 19-inch rack mount system used for Colossus way back during World War II. All of our machines are “Turing Complete” like the ENIAC. We run UNIX and Windows Server on CPUs spawned from the PDP-11, and our Windowed GUIs reflect the Xerox Alto. Today’s multi-core servers and multi-threaded operating systems carry the lessons learned by Cray and Thinking Machines.
A modern datacenter, complete with an EMC VMAX, Juniper router, and rackmount servers
My Lego datacenter tour ends here, with two racks of modern equipment. At the rear is an EMC Symmetrix VMAX which, like the CM-5, calls attention to its black monolith shape with a light bar. At front is a Juniper T-Series router (white vertical cards with a blue top) rack-mounted with a number of gold servers. Our technician holds an iPad while walking across a smooth raised floor. I even used a stress-reducing blue color for the walls!
Although the Symmetrix model only has three Lego axes, the router rack features four: The servers sit on forward-facing studs while the router is vertical. Both use black side panels, reflecting today’s “refrigerator” design.