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Slideshow:TheHistoryoftheDataCenter
ByWolfgangGruener ,APRIL8,201312:20PM

1.Introduction
RevolutionrarelyhappensinIT.Whenitdoes,wetypicallydealwithdisruptive
momentsthatcomesuddenlyandareoftenunexpected.Forthemajorityofthe
historyofIT,however,weareseeingamuchmoreevolutionaryprocessof
technologythathappensovertime.Thedatacenteranditshistorymaybeoneofthe
bestexamplestodescribethismixofrevolutionandevolutionasnewcomputing
modelsdevelopwithnewtechnologiesandopportunitiesovertime.Thisisthehistory
ofthecomputersystemsthathaveleadcomputingattheveryhighendintheirtime.

2.Pre1960:ENIACShowstheWayDataCenter
History
Ifwedefineadatacenterattheveryminimumasafeaturecompletecomputing
facilitywithinfrastructureandstorageelements,aswellassecuredbackuppower,
theENIACcouldbeseenasthegrandfatherofthedatacentersweknowtoday.Short
forElectronicNumericalIntegratorAndComputer,ENIACwasbuiltin1946forthe
U.S.ArmyBallisticResearchLaboratorytostoreartilleryfiringcodes.Noother
computerpriortothathadacomparablestorageandcalculationcapacity.Ithad17,468vacuumtubes,7,200crystaldiodes,
and10,000capacitors.Theentireinstallationrequired1,800squarefeetoffloorspaceandconsumedamassive150KWof
powertodeliveracomputeperformanceof0.05MIPS.ENIACwasuseduntil1955.RemainingcomponentsoftheENIACcan
beseenattheSchoolofEngineeringandAppliedScienceattheUniversityofPennsylvania.

3.The1960s:Commercialization&Virtualization
DataCenterHistory
Thefirsttransistorizedcomputer(TRADIC),asopposedtovacuumtubebased
systems,wasdevelopedin1954,butseriouscommercialsystemsdidnotarriveuntil
the1960s,whichresultedinmainframessuchastheIBMSystemseriesbringing
aboutasubstantialjumpincomputecapability.Priortothesemachines,mainframes
weremainlybuiltforgovernmentandmilitarypurposesandhadcertainrequirements
intermsofenvironmentandsecuritytosafeguardthedata.Thatincreaseinperformancecreatedaneedtopartitionthe
availablehardwareinsmallerunitstoenablethebestpossibleutilizationofresources.Virtualizationwasinventedand,while
verybasicinitsbeginnings,theconceptquicklyevolvedintoatechnologythatenabledmainframestomultitaskandrun
severalapplicationssimultaneously.Thefirstcommercialuseofvirtualizationwasavailablein1972withtheIBMVM/370OS.

4.1964:TheFirstSupercomputerDataCenterHistory
TheCDC6600,builtbyControlDataCorporation,isrememberedasthefirstsupercomputerandthemodernancestorof
supercomputingdatacenterstoday.ThesystemwasdesignedbySeymourCrayfortheLawrenceRadiationLaboratory,had
aclockspeedof100nanoseconds,andwasfirsttoincludeaCRTconsolewhichmadethecomputerfamousfordisplaying
theveryfirstmonitorshownvideogamessuchasLunarLander.ThedesignoftheCDC6000wasbasedona40MHzcentral

scientificprocessorwithtensupportingperipheralmachinesthatranwhatwouldlater
beknownaareducedinstructionset(RISC).Withasustainedperformanceof1
MFlops(peak3MFlops),itwasbyfarthefastestcomputerofitstimeandremainedin
operationuntil1977.TheCDC6600originallysoldfor$8million,ormorethan$60
millionintoday'svalue.

5.1970s:DisasterRecoveryArrivesDataCenter
History
Disasterrecoveryplansbegansurfacinginmainframeenvironmentsasearlyas
1973,buttheactualdevelopmentofbusinesscontinuityplanningtookeffectwith
Sungard,whichestablishedthefirstdisasterrecoverybusiness(thenknownasun
InformationSystems)intheU.S.Theideahelpedthecompanygrowtomorethan
17,000employees,evenifdisasterrecoveryservicesarenotthefirm'smainfocus
anymore.

6.1973:XeroxAltoTheMicrocomputerShowsUp
DataCenterHistory
WiththeinventionoftheIntel4004processorin1971,itbecamethatcomputers
couldbeminiaturizedandshrinkinsize.AlthoughtheAltodidnotintegratetheIntel
chip(ithadacustombuiltTTL16bitCPU),itwasthefirstdesktopcomputerthat
wouldeventuallydrivemainframetowardextinction.TheAlto,developedbyand
usedatthefamedXeroxPaloAltoResearchCenter(PARC)wasfirsttousea
graphicalUI,andcamewitha3buttonmouse.Itwasneversoldcommercially,evenifaslightlymodifiedversion,theStar,was
soldin1981for$17,000.Atotalof2,000unitswerebuiltforXeroxaswellasacademia.

7.1977:ARCNET,theWorld'sFirstCommercial
LANDataCenterHistory
Aninfrastructuretoconnectcomputerstoeachothercamein1977courtesyof
Datapoint,whichdevelopedARCNET(AttachedResourceComputerNetwork)for
theirDatapoint2200computerstoconnecttoasharedfloppydatastoragesystemvia
coaxcables.IteventuallyconcededtothemuchmorepracticalEthernet,whichwas
standardizedin1985,butlaidthethoughtworkandfoundationforafunctional
computernetworkconsistingofmanymicrocomputers.TherearestillARCNETsinoperationtoday.

8.TheEarly1980s:TheRiseofthePCData
CenterHistory
Mainframeswereextremelyexpensivetouseandrequiredenormousresourcesin
space,operationandcooling.AsIBMintroducedthefirstrecognizedPC,themodel
5150,in1982,companiesworldwidebegandeployingdesktopcomputers
throughouttheorganizationandsawasignificantbenefitincomputersthatrequired
littlesupportandranwithsimpleaircooling.

9.1980s:TheUseofVirtualizationIsQuestioned
DataCenterHistory
CountlessPCsinorganizationseffectivelykilledtheneedforvirtualizationasamulti
taskingenabledsolutioninthe1980s.Atthattime,virtualizationwaswidely
abandonedandnotpickedupuntilthelate1990sagain,whenthetechnologywould
findanewuseandpurpose.

10.TheEarly1990s:ClientServerComputing
DataCenterHistory
About20yearsago,themicrocomputerindustrywasenteringitsboomtimeandsaw
desktopPCsmoveintotheoldmainframerooms.Combinedwithinexpensive
networkingequipmentthatbecameavailable,theclientservercomputingmodelwas
born,alongsidewiththeemergenceoftheideaofcolocationandexternaldata
centers.

11.TheLate1990s:TheInternet&NonStop
ComputingDataCenterHistory
TheInternet,whichreachedaninflectionpointtowardmassmarketadoptioninthe
mid1990s,broughtafeedingfrenzytodatacenteradoptioninthelateyearsofthe
decade.AscompaniesbegandemandingapermanentpresenceontheInternet,
networkconnectivityandcolocationservicesgrewintoabusinessrequirement,
InternetprovidersandhostingcompaniesandquicklygrowingInternetDataCenters
consistingofhundredsandoftenthousandsofserverswerecreated.Thedatacenterasaservicemodelbecamecommonfor
mostcompanies.

12.Early2000s:AProblemofPower&Efficiency
DataCenterHistory
TheopportunityofaboomingPCanddatacenterindustrybroughtanunprecedented
increaseintheneedforcomputerspace,aswellasinthecostofpowertosupport
theseinstallations.Backin2002,datacentersalreadyaccountedfor1.5percentof
thetotalU.S.powerconsumptionandwasgrowingbyanestimated10percentevery
year.Morethan5millionnewserversweredeployedeveryyearandaddedapower
supplyofthousandsofnewhomeseveryyear.Asexpertswarnedofexcessivepowerusage,hardwaremakersbegan
focusingonmorepowerefficientcomponentstoenablegrowthforthefutureandalleviatetheneedfordatacentercooling.
Datacenterownersbegandevelopingsmartdesignapproachestomakethecoolingandairflowindatacentersmore
efficient.By2007,largedatacenteroperatorsstartedleveragingrenewableenergysources,soundaswindenergytoruntheir
datacenters.

13.2007:TheModularDataCenter
Oneofthemostinnovativerecentdatacentermodelsisthemodulardatacenter,oftendeployedintheformofcontainersthat

housecompletecomputerinfrastructures.Oneofthebestknownsystemswasthe
SunBlackbox,whichdelivereditsmodulardatacenterwith280serversina20foot
shippingcontainerstoanylocationworldwide.Thesedatacentersmaynothave
beenvisuallypleasing,butSunclaimedatthetimethattheircostwasonly1percent
ofthecostofadatacenterinatraditionalbuilding.TheSunBlackboxwasalsooneof
thekeyproponentsofarenewedfocusonvirtualization,thistimeasatechnologyto
consolidateserverresources.

14.2010&TheFuture:TheCloudDataCenter
Softwareasaservice(SaaS)isshiftingtheneedforcomputingresourcesfroman
infrastructure,hardwareandsoftwareownershipmodeltowardasubscriptionand
capacityondemandmodel.Thismodelfavorscooperationbetweennetwork
infrastructureanddatacenteroperatorstodeliverahugeincreaseinrequireddata
bandwidth.DespiteunexpectedandearlyentriesfromcompaniessuchasAmazonin
thecloudproviderbusiness,aswellasseveralinfrastructurecompanieswitha
substantialsize,largeInternetcompanieswithhugesubscriberbasesleadinthe
designofdistributedclouddatacenters.Forexample,Googleiscurrentlybelievedtooperate17datacentersintheU.S.and
16moreacrosstheglobe.Thecompanyisestimatedtoruncloseto2millionserversinthosedatacentersatthistime.

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