a16z Podcast: What Will the Datacenter of the Future Look Like?

TL;DR

The datacenter of the future will combine inexpensive commodity components with sophisticated software to support billions of users and growing numbers of connected devices. In the a16z Podcast, Chris Dixon and Peter Levine discuss how Facebook and Google became infrastructure blueprints, why ARM processors and flash memory matter, and how containers and hosted open-source services improve efficiency. Read on to understand the technologies reshaping cloud infrastructure.

Transcript

hi it's Chris Dixon this is the a 16z podcast I'm here with my partner Peter Levine who so Peter you focus a lot on data center technology yeah sort of when people talk about the cloud yeah what is this cloud you someone has to build it um it seems like it's an exciting time in that area like can you can you kind of explain why yeah it it sure is a... Read More

Key Insights

• 👤 The mobile revolution has triggered unprecedented growth in data centers to handle the massive amount of data generated by users.
• 🪛 Facebook and Google have spearheaded innovations in data center infrastructure, driving the aggregation of inexpensive components using software to create efficient and scalable data centers.
• 🎰 Containers offer a more lightweight and efficient alternative to virtual machines, enabling easier application deployment and greater resource utilization.

Questions & Answers

Q: What will the datacenter of the future look like?

It will aggregate inexpensive commodity components at massive scale through a sophisticated software layer. Facebook and Google provide the blueprint by combining components such as ARM processors and flash memory with open-source and proprietary software.

Q: What is driving the transformation of datacenter technology?

The mobile revolution is generating information from tweets, emails, applications, and other activity that must be processed in backend datacenters. The infrastructure is transforming to support massive numbers of users and, eventually, Internet of Things endpoint devices.

Q: How are Facebook and Google changing datacenter infrastructure?

Facebook and Google operate at a scale that forced them to design new backend infrastructure for billions of users. They replace reliance on large specialized systems with software that coordinates inexpensive components at massive scale.

Q: How is the new datacenter model different from the traditional model?

Traditionally, companies rented physical datacenter space and installed their own servers and software from vendors such as EMC, Cisco, HP, Dell, and Oracle. The emerging model relies more heavily on commodity hardware, Linux, and software-defined infrastructure.

Q: How does the mobile hardware supply chain influence datacenters?

Components developed through mobile innovation, including ARM chips and flash memory, can be aggregated inside datacenters. Peter Levine describes this direction as the mobile supply chain moving into the datacenter, supported by open-source and proprietary software.

Q: Why are power and cooling important in future datacenters?

Power is described as the scarcest datacenter resource, while cooling is also critical to facility design. Using lower-power mobile components can reduce power and cooling requirements while helping optimize floor space for massive scale-out infrastructure.

Q: How do containers differ from virtual machines?

Containers package applications and their dependencies into a single file while running directly on the host operating system. They are presented as a lighter alternative to virtual machines that can improve resource utilization and simplify application deployment.

Q: What role will hosted open-source software play in datacenters?

Companies can provide hosted instances or services built around open-source software. This lets users gain the benefits of open-source technologies without handling the complexity of deployment, helping unlock more of their market potential.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Data centers, considered the plumbing of the internet, have traditionally been a stagnant industry, but recent innovations are revolutionizing the sector.

• The mobile revolution and the need to support billions of users and massive amounts of data have driven advancements in data center infrastructure.

• Big consumer internet companies like Facebook and Google are leading the way in transforming data centers by using software to aggregate inexpensive commodity components at massive scale.