Google Search Appliance

Last updated
Google appliance as shown at RSA Conference 2008 Google Appliance.jpg
Google appliance as shown at RSA Conference 2008

The Google Search Appliance (GSA) was a rack-mounted computer device that provided document indexing functionality.

Contents

The GSA operating system was based on CentOS. The software was produced by Google and the hardware was manufactured by Dell. The final 2009 GSA version was based on Dell's PowerEdge R710. Google announced the phase out of the GSA in early 2016 and a complete discontinuation by 2019.

The GSA was supplied in two models: a 2U model (GB-7007) capable of indexing up to 10 million documents, and a 5U (2U plus 3U storage) model (GB-9009) that was capable of indexing up to 30 million documents. Sales were operated on a licensing scheme which started as a two-year contract for maintenance, support and software updates.

Features

The GSA contained Google search technologies and a means of configuring and customizing the appliance.

Versions

The GSA was first introduced in 2002.

Software version 6.0 was released in June, 2009. This software ran on some hardware versions of the GB-1001 model (all units with an "S5" prefix in their "Appliance ID"), and all GB-7007 and GB-9009 models.

Google released version 7.0 on October 9, 2012 and version 7.2 on February 11, 2014.

Models

The GSA could be purchased in two separate versions based on the number of documents being indexed. Model G100, a 2U appliance, could index up to 20,000,000 documents. The G500 5U appliance [1] could index up to 100,000,000 documents.

Other versions

Older appliances

Google sold a 2U appliance (GB-1001) capable of indexing up to 5 million documents, a half-rack cluster (GB-5005) of five 2U nodes capable of indexing up to 10 million documents, and a full-rack cluster (GB-8008) of eight―and later 12 nodes―capable of indexing up to 30 million documents. Some models were based on Dell PowerEdge 2950 2U rack mounted servers.

Google Mini

The Google "Blue" Mini was a smaller and lower-cost search solution that occupied 1U of rack space for small and medium-sized businesses to set up an Internet search engine that allowed them to index and search up to 300,000 documents. The hardware was manufactured by Gigabyte Technology then Super Micro Computer, Inc. [2] Manufacture and sale of the Google Mini were discontinued beginning in July 31, 2012.

GSA virtual edition for developers

For a brief period in 2008, Google offered a virtual version of the GSA aimed at developers. The virtual edition could be downloaded free of charge and index up to 50,000 documents. It was discontinued for unknown reasons.

Retirement and shutdown

Early in February 2016, Google sent a confidential letter [3] to its business partners and customers, stating that the GSA would not be available past 2018. It began with the discontinuation of GSA three-year contracts in 2016; in 2017 there would be only one-year renewal contracts and no hardware sales, followed by a complete shutdown in 2018. [4] Customers were expected to migrate to a cloud-based solution.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silicon Graphics</span> 1981–2009 American computing company

Silicon Graphics, Inc. was an American high-performance computing manufacturer, producing computer hardware and software. Founded in Mountain View, California in November 1981 by James Clark, its initial market was 3D graphics computer workstations, but its products, strategies and market positions developed significantly over time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Server (computing)</span> Computer to access a central resource or service on a network

A server is a computer that provides information to other computers called "clients" on computer network. This architecture is called the client–server model. Servers can provide various functionalities, often called "services", such as sharing data or resources among multiple clients or performing computations for a client. A single server can serve multiple clients, and a single client can use multiple servers. A client process may run on the same device or may connect over a network to a server on a different device. Typical servers are database servers, file servers, mail servers, print servers, web servers, game servers, and application servers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Data General</span> Minicomputer manufacturer, 1968–1999

Data General Corporation was one of the first minicomputer firms of the late 1960s. Three of the four founders were former employees of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC).

Quantum Corporation is a data storage, management, and protection company that provides technology to store, manage, archive, and protect video and unstructured data throughout the data life cycle. Their products are used by enterprises, media and entertainment companies, government agencies, big data companies, and life science organizations. Quantum is headquartered in San Jose, California and has offices around the world, supporting customers globally in addition to working with a network of distributors, VARs, DMRs, OEMs and other suppliers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SGI Tezro</span> Workstation computer series

The SGI Tezro is a series of high-end computer workstations sold by SGI from 2003 until 2006. Using MIPS CPUs and running IRIX, it is the immediate successor to the SGI Octane line. The systems were produced in both rack-mount and tower versions, and the series was released in June 2003 with a list price of US$20,500. The Tezro was released alongside the SGI Onyx4 and rack-mountable Tezros share many components with it, including plastic skins. The rack-mounted Tezros are functionally very similar to an Infinite Performance-equipped SGI Onyx350. Tezro marked the return of the original cube logo to SGI machines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alienware</span> American computer hardware subsidiary of Dell Inc.

Alienware Corporation is an American computer hardware subsidiary brand of Dell. Their product range is dedicated to gaming computers and accessories and can be identified by their alien-themed designs. Alienware was founded in 1996 by Nelson Gonzalez and Alex Aguila. The development of the company is also associated with Frank Azor (co-founder), Arthur Lewis, Joe Balerdi, and Michael S. Dell (CEO). The company's corporate headquarters is located in The Hammocks, Miami, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dell Digital Jukebox</span>

The Dell Digital Jukebox or just Dell DJ is a brand name for a series of digital audio players sold by the Dell corporation.

PowerLinux is the combination of a Linux-based operating system (OS) running on PowerPC- or Power ISA-based computers from IBM. It is often used in reference along with Linux on Power, and is also the name of several Linux-only IBM Power Systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google data centers</span> Facilities containing Google servers

Google data centers are the large data center facilities Google uses to provide their services, which combine large drives, computer nodes organized in aisles of racks, internal and external networking, environmental controls, and operations software.

The Dell Remote Access Controller (DRAC) is an out-of-band management platform on certain Dell servers. The platform may be provided on a separate expansion card, or integrated into the main board; when integrated, the platform is referred to as iDRAC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PowerEdge</span> Server computer platform

The PowerEdge (PE) line is Dell's server computer product line. PowerEdge machines come configured as tower, rack-mounted, or blade servers. Dell uses a consistent chip-set across servers in the same generation regardless of packaging, allowing for a common set of drivers and system-images.

The current portfolio of PowerConnect switches are now being offered as part of the Dell Networking brand: information on this page is an overview of all current and past PowerConnect switches as per August 2013, but any updates on current portfolio will be detailed on the Dell Networking page.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dell Vostro</span> Line of laptop and desktop computers by Dell

Dell Vostro is a line of business-oriented laptop and desktop computers manufactured by Dell aimed at small to medium range businesses. From 2013–2015, the line was temporarily discontinued on some Dell websites but continued to be offered in other markets, such as Malaysia and India.

The Origin 3000 and the Onyx 3000 is a family of mid-range and high-end computers developed and manufactured by SGI. The Origin 3000 is a server, and the Onyx 3000 is a visualization system. Both systems were introduced in July 2000 to succeed the Origin 2000 and the Onyx2 respectively. These systems ran the IRIX 6.5 Advanced Server Environment operating system. Entry-level variants of these systems based on the same architecture but with a different hardware implementation are known as the Origin 300 and Onyx 300. The Origin 3000 was succeeded by the Altix 3000 in 2004 and the last model was discontinued on 29 December 2006, while the Onyx 3000 was succeeded by the Onyx4 and the Itanium-based Prism in 2004 and the last model was discontinued on 25 March 2005.

The Dell Inspiron Mini Series is a line of subnotebook/netbook computers designed by Dell. The series was introduced in September 2008 amidst the growing popularity of low-cost netbook computers introduced by competitors.

Exalogic is a computer appliance made by Oracle Corporation, commercially available since 2010. It is a cluster of x86-64-servers running Oracle Linux or Solaris preinstalled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">POWER8</span> 2014 family of multi-core microprocessors by IBM

POWER8 is a family of superscalar multi-core microprocessors based on the Power ISA, announced in August 2013 at the Hot Chips conference. The designs are available for licensing under the OpenPOWER Foundation, which is the first time for such availability of IBM's highest-end processors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Classes of computers</span>

Computers can be classified, or typed, in many ways. Some common classifications of computers are given below.

Dell EMC Unity is one of Dell EMC's mid-range storage array product lines. It was designed from the ground up as the next-generation midrange unified storage array after the EMC VNX and VNXe series, which evolved out of the EMC Clariion SAN disk array.

Inspur Server Series is a series of server computers introduced in 1993 by Inspur, an information technology company, and later expanded to the international markets. The servers were likely among the first originally manufactured by a Chinese company. It is currently developed by Inspur Information and its San Francisco-based subsidiary company - Inspur Systems, both Inspur's spinoff companies. The product line includes GPU Servers, Rack-mounted servers, Open Computing Servers and Multi-node Servers.

References

  1. "Computerworld - Google Releases New Versions of Its Search Appliance". ComputerWorld.com. 2 June 2009.
  2. "Analysis of a Second Hand Google Mini Search Appliance". Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law. 2013.
  3. "See Ya, Google Search Appliance". fortune.com.
  4. "Google Search Appliance Fades Away". CMSwire. 9 February 2016.