Backblaze intros Storage Pod 2.0: DIY 135TB server for $7K
updated 04:20 pm EDT, Wed July 20, 2011
Company posts doit-yourself plans
Backblaze has announced that it has updated its budget-priced Storage Pod concept, doubling the capacity and performance while lowering the cost below the original design. The second-generation model now represents a 135TB server fitting into the same 4U rack space, with component costs totaling just $7,384. Although the company uses the Storage Pod 2.0 for its own $5/month backup service, the design is free to use for do-it-yourself projects.
The second-generation servers utilize an array of 3TB Hitachi Deskstar hard drives, which account for the majority of the total cost. Drive management is handled by a 3.06GHz Intel Core i3 processor mounted to a SuperMicro motherboard.
Backblaze suggests Pod 2.0 is capable of filling in 25 days of continuous backup operations from thousands of desktop machines. The fill time is the same as the first-generation model, which offered just 67TB of capacity.
The company claims its Storage Pod brings a hardware expense of less than $57,000 for a full petabyte of storage over three years, compared to $378,500 for Dell's enterprise servers and $2.4 million for the same capacity using Amazon's S3 services.
"We offer our storage pod design free of any licensing or any future claims of ownership," Backblaze's Tim Nufire wrote in a blog post. "Anybody is allowed to use and improve upon it. To all of those builders who take up the challenge, we’d love to hear from you and welcome any insights you provide about the experience."
