Along came Google

The company we know as "Google" came to be on September 7 th, 1998 and grew exponentially from there. "Google", derived from the "googol", which refers to the number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros, is now a household name for just about everything internet. Search, Web Mail, Maps, Ads, Blogging, Photos are just a few of the tangents that Google has taken over the years.

As the success of Google's Search engine increased, Google started selling search appliances that brought the power of the Google Search engine into corporate IT server rooms. When the appliances first came out, they carried a fairly hefty price tag, even for the entry level appliance. But, on April 6, 2005, the price of the Google Mini came down to a very reasonable $2,995, which is a sweet spot for IT managers to charge to their credit cards.

Once the price drop came into effect, we decided to purchase a unit and move our entire site searches over to the Mini.

Opening the Box

The Mini arrived in a box with Google printed in large letters along the side. Our UPS courier asked us what was in the box; it's not too often that you see Google on anything physical:

Opening the box reveals a decent packing job, similar to just about any other 1U server made by any reputable manufacturer.

Just inside, you'll find two Ethernet cables (one orange crossover cable and one yellow straight-through cable) and a power cord for the unit.

Below the cardboard tray of cables, you'll find the server itself:

...as well as a bag containing the rear-bracket mounting kit, installation guide and a free Google T-shirt:

Beneath the server, you'll find a box containing a modem:

The modem is used for Google to gain remote access to the machine if it needs remote maintenance:


Index Examining the Google Mini
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  • zmagaw - Tuesday, September 6, 2005 - link

    there are a few methods - including creating separate collections by user type filtering out or in urls by pattern matching
  • Brickster - Wednesday, September 7, 2005 - link

    Actually, I found you can achieve that with an upgrade... of course :)

    http://www.google.com/enterprise/feature_compariso...">http://www.google.com/enterprise/feature_compariso...

    Here is the Appliance feature:
    Secure Content API - Search across secure content using Google's Authorization API to integrate into existing access control systems.

    Looks like the Mini doesn't support secured content.
  • zmagaw - Tuesday, September 6, 2005 - link

    we signed a non-disclosure that said we couldnt open the google search appliances... although the hardware looks simple and run of the mill... the software is not... a lot of open source stuff on that puppy but execution is everything... the support we got though was horrible... 2 day respose times... so not easy because the software is full of bugs that are not easily diagosed... hardware failures - disks... and speedy google working with large corporations has been seen as a daunting task for the bright people at Google
  • nadirshakur - Tuesday, September 6, 2005 - link

    What is the warranty on these puppies. Hey didn't Anandtech void there's by opening it like that and showing the whole world they did.
  • flatblastard - Tuesday, September 6, 2005 - link

    Thats okay, if the RAM/CPU goes bad, I'll sell them my old p3 450Mhz system I got laying around for spare parts. Heck, I'll even give them a sweet deal.....$1999.95 and I'll even throw in Windows 98 (not SE)..... ;)
  • deathwalker - Tuesday, September 6, 2005 - link

    Is this really important when it comes to your experience when visiting the AnandTech website? I guess I'll get blasted for that statement!! So much really good stuff that could be the news of the day...this article is just cannon foder...something to fill the need for a new article to read on this day.
  • Jason Clark - Tuesday, September 6, 2005 - link

    Guys, we don't crawl every day :) It crawls 3-4 times a week, since large articles are on the front page, searching for them is pretty unnecessary.
  • Gooberslot - Tuesday, September 6, 2005 - link

    Is it normal for servers to give you no control like that? I wouldn't want anything that had a bios password that I couldn't change.

    I'm also surprised that you can even get a P3 or a P3 motherboard anymore.
  • zmagaw - Tuesday, September 6, 2005 - link

    i think when you are buying appliances yes... the reason google does this... you would be able to decompile their software on that hard-drive which is formatted in a google HD format - or so I have heard
  • smn198 - Tuesday, September 6, 2005 - link

    You could remove BIOS password but then you loose all the BIOS info as well and maybe they are doind something special there.

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