4 ms·

What hardware does apple use in their data centers?

by blahyawnblah 5y ago

true_religion 5y ago
Linux apparently. Even Microsoft used Linux servers for some things.
- giancarlostoro 5y ago
  The tale is that they used FreeBSD for Hotmail for like 20 years.
  - nazgulsenpai 5y ago
    Hotmail was an acquisition so that makes sense.
  - bogwog 5y ago
    Well it’s not like they’d be able to use Windows at that scale lol
    - tinus_hn 5y ago
      They actually wrote a really open paper about the things they needed to do to migrate Hotmail onto Windows servers. https://web.archive.org/web/20021021164226/http://www.securityoffice.net/mssecrets/hotmail.html https://web.archive.org/web/20021021164226/http://www.securi...
  - oscargrouch 5y ago
    FreeBSD have a lower memory footprint and their network (now together with their filesystem) make it a better server than Linux if you want a better use of your network bandwidth. I love FreeBSD and would prefer to use it as my desktop instead of Linux, but for servers people should also consider FreeBSD as a great option for a better use of computational resources. (And all this even when Linux have zillions of smart people working hours and hours to optimized it which FreeBSD cannot afford to)
    - behnamoh 5y ago
      I was also looking into BSDs (FreeBSD and OpenBSD) as an alternative to Linux, but almost every package that I need is available for the top 3 OSs (Win, macOS, Linux) only. For example, I didn't see vscode for BSD. And I'm worried that maintaining a BSD would be more of a hassle than even Arch Linux.
      - throw0101a 5y ago
        There's an emulator if you need binary support: * https://wiki.freebsd.org/Linuxulator https://wiki.freebsd.org/Linuxulator Back in the day I used run the Linux version of Return to Castle Wolfenstein under FreeBSD (with NVidia drivers), and it ran as fast or faster (per FPS counts). * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_to_Castle_Wolfenstein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_to_Castle_Wolfenstein
        boopmaster 5y ago
        and you still can: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/unix/freebsd-x64-archive/ https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/unix/freebsd-x64-archiv... someone at Nvidia must be a FreeBSD stalwart and I’m okay with that
      - ncphil 5y ago
        It used to be that if you were going to run BSD that meant either compiling from ports or source. Packages were only available for the most common components, but the default was ports and most admins went along with that because you got greater flexibility/opportunities to optimize. Back then source compiles of software like Apache were the norm for even the Solaris boxes I worked on. Same for most perl modules (I had a decade-long war with Math::Pari).
      - mst 5y ago
        https://www.freshports.org/editors/vscode/ https://www.freshports.org/editors/vscode/ has apparently been part of the ports tree since 2019 and was last updated 11 days ago. Whether it's been added to the binary package build farm or you'll have to build the port yourself I don't know though, but poudriere makes (re-)building ports a pretty pleasant experience. BSD often does start off feeling like a hassle, but the docs are excellent and once you get a feel for it then it doesn't honestly feel like more work than linux. Note: I run a mixture of FreeBSD and Debian on my personal systems and find them both pretty painless, but I do tend to value "do exactly what I told you to" when it comes to recreational sysadminry so bear that preference in mind when interpreting my thoughts.
  - shagie 5y ago
    Aug 3, 2000 : https://www.zdnet.com/article/ms-moving-hotmail-to-win2000-servers/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/ms-moving-hotmail-to-win2000-s... > It has been an ongoing sore spot for Microsoft that its highly trafficked Hotmail site runs atop not its own operating system, but the FreeBSD-Apache platform. > Since it bought Hotmail at the end of 1997, Microsoft repeatedly promised that it would transition Hotmail to Windows NT, then Windows 2000. More than anything, Microsoft's desire was a matter of personal pride. What better way to prove its own contention that NT was just as scalable and robust as Unix than to run its complex, free, Web-based email infrastructure on it. According to the market watchers at Netcraft -- an Internet consultancy based in Bath in the UK -- Microsoft finally has commenced the long-awaited Hotmail migration.
    - throw0101a 5y ago
      Love the etymology of the original name: > The name "Hotmail" was chosen out of many possibilities ending in "-mail" as it included the letters HTML, the markup language used to create web pages (to emphasize this, the original type casing was "HoTMaiL"). * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlook.com#Launch_of_Hotmail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlook.com#Launch_of_Hotmail
- pjmlp 5y ago
  Microsoft has their own Linux distributions, no need for past tense.
leros 5y ago
I browsed through a few Apple data center jobs and it seems to indicate they use Linux as their OS. No idea about hardware.
- lostlogin 5y ago
  A fleet of xserves? Those beasts were a weird one. I’d like to get ones and pull its guts out and make it a bit more useful. The roar, the heat, the size and the age make them a little home-unfriendly.
  - mproud 5y ago
    Not for at least 10 years.
bragr 5y ago
I could be wrong but on the hardware front I think Apple came up in the drama about the supposed SuperMicro hardware implants.
kube-system 5y ago
The same stuff everyone runs in their data centers. MacOS server was not the type of offering that could replace what they need to do.
kcb 5y ago
Probably custom x86 racks with Linux.
treesknees 5y ago
It appears they use at least some amount of Super Micro hardware, possibly in very generic or custom cases (ie, they're not buying Dell.) That being said, I have to wonder how much datacenter space Apple really has. IIRC most of their iCloud services are hosted on various 3rd party cloud providers. https://www.macrumors.com/2017/02/23/apple-ends-relationship-with-super-micro/ https://www.macrumors.com/2017/02/23/apple-ends-relationship... https://9to5mac.com/2021/02/12/super-micro-spy-chip-story/ https://9to5mac.com/2021/02/12/super-micro-spy-chip-story/
- Melatonic 5y ago
  The rumour is that iTunes runs on a literal warehouse filled with mac minis. I'm not kidding. The rest of it I would imagine is just commodity hardware like you said (supermicro is good stuff generally)
blenderdt 5y ago
There are some picture on the internet with HP, Dell and IBM hardware, just the normal rack servers you would expect. But it is also known they moved a lot of storage to Google servers.
hawthornio 5y ago
One of the debian maintainers told me the Apple store infra runs debian

What hardware does apple use in their data centers?

true_religion 5y ago

Linux apparently. Even Microsoft used Linux servers for some things.

giancarlostoro 5y ago
The tale is that they used FreeBSD for Hotmail for like 20 years.
- nazgulsenpai 5y ago
  Hotmail was an acquisition so that makes sense.
- bogwog 5y ago
  Well it’s not like they’d be able to use Windows at that scale lol
  - tinus_hn 5y ago
    They actually wrote a really open paper about the things they needed to do to migrate Hotmail onto Windows servers. https://web.archive.org/web/20021021164226/http://www.securityoffice.net/mssecrets/hotmail.html https://web.archive.org/web/20021021164226/http://www.securi...
- oscargrouch 5y ago
  FreeBSD have a lower memory footprint and their network (now together with their filesystem) make it a better server than Linux if you want a better use of your network bandwidth. I love FreeBSD and would prefer to use it as my desktop instead of Linux, but for servers people should also consider FreeBSD as a great option for a better use of computational resources. (And all this even when Linux have zillions of smart people working hours and hours to optimized it which FreeBSD cannot afford to)
  - behnamoh 5y ago
    I was also looking into BSDs (FreeBSD and OpenBSD) as an alternative to Linux, but almost every package that I need is available for the top 3 OSs (Win, macOS, Linux) only. For example, I didn't see vscode for BSD. And I'm worried that maintaining a BSD would be more of a hassle than even Arch Linux.
    - throw0101a 5y ago
      There's an emulator if you need binary support: * https://wiki.freebsd.org/Linuxulator https://wiki.freebsd.org/Linuxulator Back in the day I used run the Linux version of Return to Castle Wolfenstein under FreeBSD (with NVidia drivers), and it ran as fast or faster (per FPS counts). * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_to_Castle_Wolfenstein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_to_Castle_Wolfenstein
      - boopmaster 5y ago
        and you still can: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/unix/freebsd-x64-archive/ https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/unix/freebsd-x64-archiv... someone at Nvidia must be a FreeBSD stalwart and I’m okay with that
    - ncphil 5y ago
      It used to be that if you were going to run BSD that meant either compiling from ports or source. Packages were only available for the most common components, but the default was ports and most admins went along with that because you got greater flexibility/opportunities to optimize. Back then source compiles of software like Apache were the norm for even the Solaris boxes I worked on. Same for most perl modules (I had a decade-long war with Math::Pari).
    - mst 5y ago
      https://www.freshports.org/editors/vscode/ https://www.freshports.org/editors/vscode/ has apparently been part of the ports tree since 2019 and was last updated 11 days ago. Whether it's been added to the binary package build farm or you'll have to build the port yourself I don't know though, but poudriere makes (re-)building ports a pretty pleasant experience. BSD often does start off feeling like a hassle, but the docs are excellent and once you get a feel for it then it doesn't honestly feel like more work than linux. Note: I run a mixture of FreeBSD and Debian on my personal systems and find them both pretty painless, but I do tend to value "do exactly what I told you to" when it comes to recreational sysadminry so bear that preference in mind when interpreting my thoughts.
- shagie 5y ago
  Aug 3, 2000 : https://www.zdnet.com/article/ms-moving-hotmail-to-win2000-servers/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/ms-moving-hotmail-to-win2000-s... > It has been an ongoing sore spot for Microsoft that its highly trafficked Hotmail site runs atop not its own operating system, but the FreeBSD-Apache platform. > Since it bought Hotmail at the end of 1997, Microsoft repeatedly promised that it would transition Hotmail to Windows NT, then Windows 2000. More than anything, Microsoft's desire was a matter of personal pride. What better way to prove its own contention that NT was just as scalable and robust as Unix than to run its complex, free, Web-based email infrastructure on it. According to the market watchers at Netcraft -- an Internet consultancy based in Bath in the UK -- Microsoft finally has commenced the long-awaited Hotmail migration.
  - throw0101a 5y ago
    Love the etymology of the original name: > The name "Hotmail" was chosen out of many possibilities ending in "-mail" as it included the letters HTML, the markup language used to create web pages (to emphasize this, the original type casing was "HoTMaiL"). * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlook.com#Launch_of_Hotmail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlook.com#Launch_of_Hotmail
pjmlp 5y ago
Microsoft has their own Linux distributions, no need for past tense.

leros 5y ago

I browsed through a few Apple data center jobs and it seems to indicate they use Linux as their OS. No idea about hardware.

lostlogin 5y ago
A fleet of xserves? Those beasts were a weird one. I’d like to get ones and pull its guts out and make it a bit more useful. The roar, the heat, the size and the age make them a little home-unfriendly.
- mproud 5y ago
  Not for at least 10 years.

bragr 5y ago

I could be wrong but on the hardware front I think Apple came up in the drama about the supposed SuperMicro hardware implants.

kube-system 5y ago

The same stuff everyone runs in their data centers. MacOS server was not the type of offering that could replace what they need to do.

kcb 5y ago

Probably custom x86 racks with Linux.

treesknees 5y ago

It appears they use at least some amount of Super Micro hardware, possibly in very generic or custom cases (ie, they're not buying Dell.) That being said, I have to wonder how much datacenter space Apple really has. IIRC most of their iCloud services are hosted on various 3rd party cloud providers. https://www.macrumors.com/2017/02/23/apple-ends-relationship-with-super-micro/ https://www.macrumors.com/2017/02/23/apple-ends-relationship... https://9to5mac.com/2021/02/12/super-micro-spy-chip-story/ https://9to5mac.com/2021/02/12/super-micro-spy-chip-story/

Melatonic 5y ago
The rumour is that iTunes runs on a literal warehouse filled with mac minis. I'm not kidding. The rest of it I would imagine is just commodity hardware like you said (supermicro is good stuff generally)

blenderdt 5y ago

There are some picture on the internet with HP, Dell and IBM hardware, just the normal rack servers you would expect. But it is also known they moved a lot of storage to Google servers.

hawthornio 5y ago

One of the debian maintainers told me the Apple store infra runs debian