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Google has yet to become a serious player in the computer hardware game, but that could
be about to change. Sources close to Google say the Web giant is considering designing
its own microchips.
According to an anonymous insider who talked to Bloomberg, Google wants to control both
the hardware and software pieces of the server puzzle to streamline the interactions between
the two and improve efficiency.
That efficiency is in Google's best interests. Recent analysis from Web tracking firm DeepField
show Google's servers account for an enormous chunk of the Internet's traffic.
DeepField's numbers show more than 60 percent of connected devices in North America send
info through Google's colorful data centers on a daily basis. Google accounts for one-fourth
of daily worldwide Internet traffic — it's bigger than Facebook, Netflix and Twitter
combined.
And Google wants new tools for the task. It reportedly wants to design ARM chips, which
typically run mobile devices, not racks of servers.
But analysts have said ARM entering the server market is only a matter of time because the
same things that make them attractive to handset makers — low power requirements, low heat
levels and now, 64-bit operation — make them a good fit for the server market, too.
(Via PCWorld)
Of course, design is not the same as manufacturing, which is going to be really expensive no matter
which way you slice the silicon. A writer for Forbes doesn't think Google will actually
roll its own chips if the only place they'd see use would be in its own data centers.
"There's no way at all that Google's demand could possibly justify the billions upon billions
necessary to build a new chip fab. So we're obviously looking at the design then being
sent out for manufacturing elsewhere."
But if this manufacturing does move forward, it will have immediate impact on the server
hardware ecosystem, and specifically on chipmaker Intel.
Intel controls more than 95 percent of the server chip market, and right now Google buys
much of its server hardware straight from Intel — which would definitely change if
Google started making its own chips. (Via Wired)
Google has declined to get into specifics about the report or its plans. All a Google
spokesperson provided to Bloomberg was a nonstatement:
"We are actively engaged in designing the world's best infrastructure. This includes
both hardware design (at all levels) and software design."
So for now, Google's move is still potential. Bloomberg's source said the company hasn't
made any concrete decisions on how or even if to proceed.