On 1/12/11 12:58 PM, Rich Alderson wrote:
From: Al Kossow
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 9:51 AM
Something I've wondered about is how people
learn to build and run the
large data centers that now exist. Are there engineering courses in
this now, or is it a 'trade skill'?
There used to be (perhaps still are, but I haven't needed the info)
companies that taught classes on computer room design and/or data center
design in the large, often in the guise of "disaster planning". These
were actually accredited classes which offered Continuing Education Units
to those who cared about such things.
So while much of it was "trade skill", there were places to get a leg up
on the issues.
Actually, I was thinking more about the software side than physical plant.
What got me thinking about this were several generations of network based
services, things like General Magic, Web TV, Danger, etc. that had big back-end
infrastructures, and the huge number of web based services that exist now.
Besides being a total nightmare for any attempts for software preservation, I
assume that they all came up with differing configuration, backup, and software
rollout strategies.
The people I have talked to who worked on these systems said that they all learned
the stuff on the job, then used what they learned when they built the next system.
Rinse, lather, repeat.