You may recall that I wrote about Sun's Project Blackbox as "crackpot technology." Today I received a follow-up email from Mark Richardson at Sun:
Martin,
I thought you might find this YouTube video interesting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HNGM-rje7UFor the past few weeks, Sun and the University of San Diego (UCSD) have been conducting earthquake testing of Project Blackbox. The tests have been done on UCSD’s Seismic Response Modification Device, better known as the "shake table."
The testing is part of Sun’s quality assurance, an important step before Project Blackbox becomes generally available later this year. Since Project Blackbox is a modular datacenter its important that it be able to withstand movement.
The link above shows Project Blackbox surviving a Northridge-equivalent earthquake with only minor damage. The Northridge quake occurred on at 4:30 a.m. on January 17, 1994. It was a 6.7 magnitude. The test was the culmination of weeks of more subtle shock testing. With the SRMD we've observed Project Blackbox as it is subjected to less severe, but more normal shock such as might be incurred during transport from Sun's assembly facility to a customer's site. Things such as crane lifts, truck, rail, ship, or air transport. Observing Project Blackbox in those situations, and being able to adapt the testing in real-time, has allowed Sun to collect a tremendous amount of data that will help us
to refine the product and make it even better.
Posted by Martin Heller on June 11, 2007 01:00 PM
