Power Outages [Today: Update]

[Amperage]

I'm not sure how people get the idea that servers are still room sized hulks like the super computers you see from the likes of IBM. FFXI was brought online almost 10 years ago and server hardware at the time was MUCH less capable than your avg home PC today. You can be sure over the years that consolidation through the use of virtualization software has taken place to reduce the hardware "footprint" and cost of maintaining the game.

Another known fact is SE has already moved the location of the servers a number of times since FFXI has been in operation including a move just recently and it certainly didn't take them a month to do so.

As far as the radiation is concerned. The levels in Tokyo last I heard were nowhere near dangerous levels but in the event of a complete meltdown and a shift of winds carrying the airborne radioactive particles that could change quickly but for now there would be no danger of collecting the hardware required to resume operations and they could probably even safely turn the servers back on if needed for a short time to gather a backup of the latest data in the event they wish to just put other hardware in operation and restore the data to it.

It's already been made public that most of the major data centers in Tokyo have reserved fuel and plan to continue 24/7 service through the blackouts.

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/a...for-blackouts/

If you read the article in that link they repeatedly say that "Sony" shut down operation of FFXI and FFXIV. I know that Sony a number of years back purchased a large stake in Square but I don't think they are the majority holder currently are they? Assuming it's just a {mistake} made by the writer.

[RAIST]

I'm not sure how people get the idea that servers are still room sized hulks like the super computers you see from the likes of IBM. FFXI was brought online almost 10 years ago and server hardware at the time was MUCH less capable than your avg home PC today. You can be sure over the years that consolidation through the use of virtualization software has taken place to reduce the hardware "footprint" and cost of maintaining the game.

Another known fact is SE has already moved the location of the servers a number of times since FFXI has been in operation including a move just recently and it certainly didn't take them a month to do so.

As far as the radiation is concerned. The levels in Tokyo last I heard were nowhere near dangerous levels but in the event of a complete meltdown and a shift of winds carrying the airborne radioactive particles that could change quickly but for now there would be no danger of collecting the hardware required to resume operations and they could probably even safely turn the servers back on if needed for a short time to gather a backup of the latest data in the event they wish to just put other hardware in operation and restore the data to it.

It's already been made public that most of the major data centers in Tokyo have reserved fuel and plan to continue 24/7 service through the blackouts.

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/a...for-blackouts/

Guess you missed the recent example I gave in this thread (with a picture I might add) of the data center that just hosts fansites. No email server for 1800 employees. no 25 world servers for the game it self. No lobby servers for the various regions. No in-game messaging servers. No development center servers. No QA testing servers (which, by the way do have their own rack of blade server for as well). And then all the other servers needed for other daily support/business operations. This is just for hosting the fansites them selves. Here's the link to the post, in case you missed it:

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/th...ll=1#post29758

Also, bear in mind this pic doesn't show any of the beastly UPS solutions. If they don't use the humongous car battery sized units that WILL essentially cover a wall, the rack mounted ones can easly take up 3U's in a rack for each one, and you may need more than one per rack. You also have to provide 2 220v lines with a locking 3-prong plug to provide them power, which is a non-standard outlet.

In otherwords...setting up a large-scale datacenter takes a lot of planning, and not something you just pick up and move. I worked on a 5 server move across town 2 years ago for a small software firm (only 11 employees btw, some who worked remotely and didn't have a local office) and it took us a weekend to make the move.

Raist

Edit: oh, and here's another goody for those who still don't grasp the concept of just how large scale an operation this may be. It's an article about how SE set up their in-house messaging system, including the layout of their hardware:

http://media.netapp.com/documents/square-enix.pdf

[Amperage]

Guess you missed the recent example I gave in this thread (with a picture I might add) of the data center that just hosts fansites. No email server for 1800 employees. no 25 world servers for the game it self. No lobby servers for the various regions. No in-game messaging servers. No development center servers. No QA testing servers (which, by the way do have their own rack of blade server for as well). And then all the other servers needed for other daily support/business operations. This is just for hosting the fansites them selves. Here's the link to the post, in case you missed it:

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/th...ll=1#post29758

Also, bear in mind this pic doesn't show any of the beastly UPS solutions. If they don't use the humongous car battery sized units that WILL essentially cover a wall, the rack mounted ones can easly take up 3U's in a rack for each one, and you may need more than one per rack. You also have to provide 2 220v lines with a locking 3-prong plug to provide them power, which is a non-standard outlet.

In otherwords...setting up a large-scale datacenter takes a lot of planning, and not something you just pick up and move. I worked on a 5 server move across town 2 years ago for a small software firm (only 11 employees btw, some who worked remotely and didn't have a local office) and it took us a weekend to make the move.

Raist

Edit: oh, and here's another goody for those who still don't grasp the concept of just how large scale an operation this may be. It's an article about how SE set up their in-house messaging system, including the layout of their hardware:

http://media.netapp.com/documents/square-enix.pdf

I had already looked at that PDF when you posted it initially and that's not all that complex a setup. A lot of those diagram elements are software layers and on the hardware side I've setup and currently admin more complex networks than that. I don't pretend to know the exact chain of connections or the location of all the servers involved from the time you load POL and finish connecting to the world servers but seeing as how they've organized and moved the server location in less than 1 day of downtime previously says volumes about the actual complexity of the operation. Even given the unprepared state they are in I would assume they could achieve a server move within the week downtime already in progress.

[RAIST]

the point is though, you don't do this as a temporary fix, and not likely easily implemented in just 3 days. A LOT of things have to be considered. If SE is going to migrate... this would be a long term move (short term would just be too big a hit to the bottom line), and would require a LOT of planning...aside from all the business/legal/political (work visa's etc) aspects involved, contractors/permits may have to be sent to the target site to prepare it for the equipment if they aren't simply going to move data to exisitng hardware in an already established datacenter.

They said at least a week, more information will be made available as it comes available. It would appear that no new information is available for them to release just yet.

Kinda remends me of the bickering married couple... honey, coud you take out the trash? I'll get it in a minute...in the middle of something here... 2 minutes later Are you gonna take out the trash? In a minute, lemme finish. 2 minutes later, are you gonna take this trash out or do I have to do it? I SAID I WOULD GET IT! GET OFF MY BACK WOMAN!!!

Raist

[Amperage]

Kinda remends me of the bickering married couple... honey, coud you take out the trash? I'll get it in a minute...in the middle of something here... 2 minutes later Are you gonna take out the trash? In a minute, lemme finish. 2 minutes later, are you gonna take this trash out or do I have to do it? I SAID I WOULD GET IT! GET OFF MY BACK WOMAN!!!

Raist

Actually that kinda sounds like my internal struggle to take out the trash weekly

[Ilax]

Now picture something about 200 times the size of that piece of ram

Now if you touch the end of the ram at all you could pooch the ram, if you miscarry it, it will also fry.

Also, bear in mind this pic doesn't show any of the beastly UPS solutions. If they don't use the humongous car battery sized units that WILL essentially cover a wall, the rack mounted ones can easly take up 3U's in a rack for each one, and you may need more than one per rack. You also have to provide 2 220v lines with a locking 3-prong plug to provide them power, which is a non-standard outlet.

In otherwords...setting up a large-scale datacenter takes a lot of planning, and not something you just pick up and move. I worked on a 5 server move across town 2 years ago for a small software firm (only 11 employees btw, some who worked remotely and didn't have a local office) and it took us a weekend to make the move.

Just wow, stop watching movie >.>

There not much different from Home PC and server, outside the quality of the parts.... The ram (Physical Size) is the same... The hdd (Phisical size) is the same.

Ark 4U-500-CA Black 4U Rackmount Case

Spec:
ARK 4U-500-CA Black 4U Rackmount Case 3 External 5.25 inch Drive Bays ARK 4U-500-CA Black 4U Rackmount Case 3 External 5.25 inch Drive Bays Dimension DxWxH- 500mm x 483mm x 177mm Drive Bays-3xexternal 5.25 bay - 1xexternal 3.5 bay - 9xinternal 3.5 bay Motherboard- Micro ATX and ATX Power Supply- PS2 option.

Is just a compact storage.... You can put normal (home computer parts in it) Or commercial technology like SCSI HDD, and the only difference on SCSI and IDE are performance, which IDE lately get very close to SCSI on they performance and stability. (Raptor HDD to give and example 15,000 rpm 7yr warranty)

Of course Raptor is no match at all again all SCSI product since they more tolerant to HEAT/COLD/less error, data SEEK way faster and so on... I don't really need go all thru detail. For power they not require anything special like a 3-prong outlet ><

here a list of price/spec if you interest more...

Rack Mount PC - 4U

I saw your picture, and is nothing amazing compare bigger server room i saw in my life... I agree it can be complex to relocate them sometime due to many thing that i just don't wan go thru. But please don't make it sound like it would need a power generator that would take 10,000$ Gaz / day.... These PC take max 280~400 watt each, of course it add up fast since they have many, but not at the point you say.

Maybe they've never shown a picture because it's all still running on those tapes and reels like in the bad guys lair from the old Bond flicks??

I was starting to think the same..