云計(jì)算能耗過(guò)高?把服務(wù)器搬到太空去!
????當(dāng)人們談到云計(jì)算時(shí),大家都明白,所謂的“云”不過(guò)是一個(gè)比喻,象征著一系列遠(yuǎn)程的服務(wù)器網(wǎng)絡(luò)。但當(dāng)蘭斯?帕克提到“太空計(jì)算”這個(gè)概念時(shí),他并不是在玩詩(shī)意,而是說(shuō)真的:他想把服務(wù)器搬到太空進(jìn)行運(yùn)作。帕克是ConnectX公司的CEO,這家位于洛杉磯的初創(chuàng)公司致力于將企業(yè)儲(chǔ)存于云端的數(shù)據(jù)搬到太空。一旦成功,它可能會(huì)徹底改變我們儲(chǔ)存、傳輸和分析信息的模式。 ????“云計(jì)算”這個(gè)名字雖然好聽(tīng),但有一定的誤導(dǎo)性。云在天上飄,而組成云計(jì)算的服務(wù)器網(wǎng)絡(luò)顯然是在地面上。云是優(yōu)美而千變?nèi)f化的,就像老天爺在空中潑墨一般;數(shù)據(jù)服務(wù)器則笨拙而有形,也沒(méi)有給人多少解讀的空間。不過(guò)據(jù)帕克稱(chēng),云計(jì)算還有一個(gè)大問(wèn)題,那就是不具備可持續(xù)發(fā)展能力。他或許說(shuō)得有道理。從創(chuàng)世之初到2002年以前,全球一共創(chuàng)建了50億G字節(jié)的信息。而今天,我們差不多每隔10分鐘就會(huì)創(chuàng)建這么多的信息。數(shù)據(jù)存儲(chǔ)技術(shù)已經(jīng)無(wú)法跟上呈指數(shù)級(jí)增長(zhǎng)的數(shù)據(jù)創(chuàng)建速度。另外數(shù)據(jù)中心也是能耗大戶(hù),它們消耗的電力已經(jīng)達(dá)到了全球電力的10%。 ????將服務(wù)器放到太空或許能夠解決能耗問(wèn)題,因?yàn)樘罩谐渥愕奶?yáng)光輻射可以為它們提供免費(fèi)的電力。另外,太空環(huán)境對(duì)旋轉(zhuǎn)式硬盤(pán)驅(qū)動(dòng)器非常有利。在零重力下,硬盤(pán)驅(qū)動(dòng)器旋轉(zhuǎn)的阻力變小了,而太空中的極寒環(huán)境意味著服務(wù)器不用擔(dān)心過(guò)熱問(wèn)題,從而運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)得更快。 ????當(dāng)然,如果沒(méi)有一種經(jīng)濟(jì)的方法能將服務(wù)器發(fā)送到太空,那么太空計(jì)算的所有好處都是無(wú)稽之談。好在近年來(lái),人造衛(wèi)星的尺寸越來(lái)越小,成本也在逐年降低。比如所謂的“立方體衛(wèi)星”(CubeSat)只有一個(gè)甜瓜那么大,花上不到10萬(wàn)美元的成本,就能將它送到太空軌道上。尺寸更小的“管狀衛(wèi)星”(TubeSat)只需要8000美元就能發(fā)射。把這個(gè)成本與15萬(wàn)美元的蜂窩基站相比,“小型衛(wèi)星就變成了一個(gè)很明智的選擇?!迸量苏f(shuō)。 ????如果說(shuō)成本并非太空計(jì)算的主要障礙,那么傳輸效率問(wèn)題很可能是。目前,服務(wù)器和電腦收發(fā)信息主要還是依賴(lài)電纜或光纖,典型的應(yīng)用程序的傳輸速度可以達(dá)到每秒100兆左右。而衛(wèi)星和智能手機(jī)則是通過(guò)電磁波傳輸數(shù)據(jù)。(數(shù)據(jù)通過(guò)二進(jìn)制進(jìn)行編碼,用一串波峰和波谷來(lái)區(qū)別數(shù)字。一系列數(shù)字隨后被發(fā)送到接收端,譯解成可用的信息。比如字母“A”會(huì)被顯示成8個(gè)0和1——也就是8個(gè)波形。)這種傳輸方法的效率要遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)低于有線(xiàn)傳輸。比如,威瑞森電信(Verizon)聲稱(chēng),其LTE無(wú)線(xiàn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)的下載速度可以達(dá)到每秒5至12兆。但就算按照這個(gè)速率,在太空存儲(chǔ)大量數(shù)據(jù)也是不可行的。 ????ConnectX公司就此提出了一個(gè)雙重解決方案。首先,該公司正在嘗試著通過(guò)“扭結(jié)”無(wú)線(xiàn)電波束的方法來(lái)提高數(shù)據(jù)傳輸速率。這聽(tīng)起來(lái)似乎有些天方夜譚,但南加利福尼亞大學(xué)電子工程學(xué)教授艾倫?威爾納最近已經(jīng)開(kāi)發(fā)出一種類(lèi)似技術(shù),能夠使無(wú)線(xiàn)電傳播速率達(dá)到每秒32G——大約比LTE無(wú)線(xiàn)傳輸快了30倍。威爾納已經(jīng)在9月16日的《自然通訊》上發(fā)表了一篇論文。帕克表示:“看著這個(gè)研究成果出來(lái)很有意思,因?yàn)槲覀兊募夹g(shù)也需要旋轉(zhuǎn),但我們使用了另一種更加有效的方式。” ????這種不同的方式是指ConnectX公司可能已經(jīng)實(shí)現(xiàn)的一項(xiàng)突破性創(chuàng)新。除了將無(wú)線(xiàn)電波束進(jìn)行扭結(jié)以加快傳輸速度之外,無(wú)線(xiàn)電波束還將以一種壓縮的、非二進(jìn)制的符號(hào)結(jié)構(gòu)進(jìn)行傳輸。這樣一來(lái),字母A就不再需要8個(gè)波形,而只需要1個(gè)波形。甚至像“蘋(píng)果落在了離樹(shù)很遠(yuǎn)的地方”這類(lèi)句子也只需要一個(gè)符號(hào)就能完成。帕克表示:“隨著研發(fā)工作的進(jìn)一步深入,我們的符號(hào)結(jié)構(gòu)甚至可以變得更復(fù)雜,一個(gè)符號(hào)能代表越來(lái)越多的信息。”這不僅解決了傳輸速率的問(wèn)題,也可以加快數(shù)據(jù)的分析速度,因?yàn)樗蟠鬁p少了數(shù)據(jù)梳理過(guò)程所占用的時(shí)間。 ????一家熟悉ConnectX業(yè)務(wù)的《財(cái)富》美國(guó)500強(qiáng)企業(yè)的數(shù)據(jù)科學(xué)總監(jiān)表示,ConnectX專(zhuān)有的符號(hào)結(jié)構(gòu)可以用一個(gè)詞來(lái)概括,那就是“可視化”。在傳統(tǒng)的大數(shù)據(jù)分析模式中,記錄是二維的,因此很難觀察到產(chǎn)品和人的關(guān)系,或者隨著時(shí)間的推移而產(chǎn)生的變化。那位數(shù)據(jù)科學(xué)總監(jiān)表示:“這正是ConnectX想要糾正的,它想把數(shù)據(jù)描繪成具有關(guān)系、特性和運(yùn)動(dòng)的物體。這也正是目前市場(chǎng)上所缺少的——一種能夠展示分析結(jié)果,并幫助企業(yè)高管指明公司下一步走向的方法?!?/p> ????ConnectX的團(tuán)隊(duì)目前擁有13名員工,其中大多數(shù)都是工程師和科學(xué)家,他們希望填補(bǔ)市場(chǎng)空白。這個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)計(jì)劃首先在地面上驗(yàn)證符號(hào)傳輸技術(shù)的可行性,然后再在太空進(jìn)行測(cè)試。Beta版產(chǎn)品計(jì)劃于2017年推出。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)) ????譯者:樸成奎 ????審校:任文科 |
????When people talk about cloud computing, it’s usually understood that the cloud is a metaphor for groups of remote, networked servers. But when Lance Parker talks about “space computing,” he’s not taking poetic license. He means it literally: physical servers operating in outer space. Parker is the CEO of ConnectX, a startup company based in Los Angeles that’s working on a way to take corporations’ data out of the cloud and into the final frontier. If his company succeeds, it could revolutionize the way we store, transmit, and analyze information. ????As metaphors go, “cloud computing” sounds nice but is misleading. Clouds are in the sky; server farms are decidedly earthbound. Clouds are aesthetic and amorphous, a Rorschach test in the atmosphere; data warehouses are boxy and don’t leave much room for interpretation. But the bigger problem with cloud computing is that, according to Parker, it’s simply unsustainable. He may have a point. From the beginning of time until 2002, the world created five exabytes (five billion gigabytes) of information; today, we create that much data in about 10 minutes. Data storage technology just isn’t keeping pace with the exponential growth of data creation. Data centers are also energy hogs, using up 10% of the world’s electricity. ????Putting servers in space could potentially remedy the energy problem, since they could be powered by free, plentiful solar radiation. And, Parker adds, the space environment would be advantageous for spinning disk drives. Zero-gravity allows the drives to spin with less resistance, and the extreme cold in space means the servers could process faster without overheating. ????Of course, all of the benefits of space computing are worthless without a cost-effective way to launch a server into space. Fortunately for ConnectX, satellites are getting smaller and cheaper by the year. The CubeSat, which is about the size of a cantaloupe, can be placed into orbit for less than $100,000. The even smaller TubeSat can be launched for $8,000. Compare those costs to, say, a cellular tower at $150,000, and “the small satellite becomes the obvious choice,” Parker says. ????But if cost is not the main barrier to space computing, data transmission rates could well be. Currently, servers and computers send and receive information mostly through cables or fiber optics, which allow a data transfer rate of around 100 megabits per second for typical applications. Satellites and cell phones, on the other hand, beam information using electromagnetic waves. (The data is delivered in a code of ones and zeroes, with the height or the frequency of the wave distinguishing between the numerals. A series of numerals is then translated by the receiver into useable information. For example, the letter “A” is represented by eight zeroes and ones—eight waves.) This method of transmission is much slower than using wires. Verizon claims that its LTE wireless network, for example, downloads at speeds between five and 12 megabits per second. At that rate, storing large amounts of data in space is just not feasible. ????ConnectX’s proposed solution to the transfer rate challenge is twofold. First, the company is working on a way to twist radio beams to increase data transmission rates. This might sound farfetched, but Alan Willner, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Southern California, has recently developed a similar technique, which achieved a rate of 32 gigabits per second—about 30 times faster than LTE wireless. Willner published an account of the research in Nature Communications on September 16. “It was interesting to see that come out,” Parker says, “because our technology requires spin, but we do it in a different way that’s much more effective.” ????That different approach is where the real blockbuster innovation of ConnectX might be found. In addition to twisting the radio beams for faster transmission, the beams will be sending the data in a condensed, non-binary symbol structure. Instead of the letter “A” requiring eight waves, it could require just one. Or an entire sentence, “The apple fell far from the tree,” could be communicated with a single symbol. “Our symbol structure can get even more complex as we evolve it,” Parker says, “where a symbol can mean more and more information.” This eases not only transfer rates, but could also speed up analytics by reducing the sheer volume of data that must be combed through to find actionable intelligence. ????According to the head of data science at a Fortune 500 company, who is familiar with ConnectX’s work, the value of the company’s proprietary symbol structure can be communicated in one word: visualization. In the traditional approach to big data analytics, records are two dimensional and it’s therefore difficult to see relationships between products and people or changes over time. “That’s what ConnectX is trying to fix,” the data science manager says, “picturing the data as an object with relationships, attributes and movement. That’s what’s missing on the market now: something that can show the insights, and help executives figure out the next steps for the company.” ????ConnectX’s team of 13 employees, most of whom are engineers and scientists, are hoping the company can fill that void. They plan to prove the transmission technology on earth first, then test it in space. The beta launch is slated for 2017. |
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