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Time:
08:33 EST/13:33 GMT | News Source:
E-Mail |
Posted By: Brian Kvalheim |
According to Netcraft, Microsoft sent its strategic new Search widgetry over to Akamai for hosting, like it does other stuff. Microsoft is a tad sensitive to the fact that Akamai's got it running off a Linux infrastructure. A Microsoft spokesman argued that it would be "inflammatory and unfair" to say that the thing leverages Linux. According to Microsoft, MSN Search is built and runs on Windows Server 2003 64-bit Edition.
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#1 By
2332 (66.92.78.189)
at
11/16/2004 9:34:37 AM
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Give me a break... the beef of MSN search is running on Win2k3. Things like DNS and perhaps image hosting are farmed out to Akamai's network simply for bandwidth reasons.
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#2 By
7797 (63.76.44.6)
at
11/16/2004 11:31:37 AM
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So why doesn't Microsoft use a company other than Akamai .. a company who will use Microsoft's own OS to solve the bandwidth issues.
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#3 By
1658 (24.18.60.13)
at
11/16/2004 11:31:40 AM
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RMD - Close, but not quite.
DNS is farmed out to Akamai simply for the purposes of evading DoS attacks. As I'm sure you're aware, we've been the target of DoS attacks in the past and having Akamai allows us to effectively change our DNS information in real-time with no impact on availability. This adds an extra layer of redundancy to the network that we would otherwise not have. If Akamai's DNS fails, our own internal primary DNS and web traffic tier takes over the load for MSN.
Image thumbnail caching, search index caching, search query resolution, and page serving is all done in house at MSN.
Bandwidth is NOT a concern in any shape or form. Our connectivity rivals the government's...
This post was edited by aamendala on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 at 11:33.
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#4 By
371 (62.242.66.72)
at
11/16/2004 11:56:30 AM
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MSN Search runs on a farm of Windows 2003 x64 edition servers
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#5 By
26839 (24.250.172.39)
at
11/16/2004 1:19:53 PM
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MSN Search runs on a farm of Windows 2003 x64 edition servers
But Linux delivers the content and does the DNS
ping search.msn.com
PING a134.g.akamai.net (69.31.48.9) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from ip-69-31-48-9
whois 69.31.48.9
Akamai Technologies, Inc. NLYR-69-31-48-0-1 (NET-69-31-48-0-1)
69.31.48.0 - 69.31.48.127
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#6 By
1658 (24.18.60.13)
at
11/16/2004 1:49:05 PM
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#6 - You're 100% incorrect.
Linux does NOT deliver ANY of the content found on any Microsoft.com, MSN.com, or Bcentral.com based site. Linux is used at Akamai SOLELY to handle redundant DNS resolution services.
I would love to hear you explain how you've determined what web server is delivering content to your browser with an ICMP based command (ping) and a DNS lookup command (whois).
Neither command will tell you anything about what is delivering the *content* to your browser. If you are so gung-ho about Linux, use 'nmap' to do a promiscuous packet analysis on the headers of what you see from beta.search.msn.com or search.msn.com and every one of them you will see is signed as an NT4.0+ packet. The only packets you'll find that come from anything other than an NT operating system will be from the RRDNS service running at Akamai's host and if you open them, you'll find they contain nothing more than NAME and CNAME records.
Not to mention that... if MSN Search were running on Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition, how are we using Linux to do both the DNS and content delivery? What's the point of Server 2003 then? You don't refute that point in your post.
This post was edited by aamendala on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 at 13:50.
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#7 By
7797 (63.76.44.6)
at
11/16/2004 2:36:34 PM
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i repeat: So why doesn't Microsoft use a company other than Akamai .. a company who will use Microsoft's own OS to do whatever it is Akamai does for Microsoft.
This post was edited by tgnb on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 at 14:37.
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#8 By
1643 (204.210.28.138)
at
11/16/2004 9:56:14 PM
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#10 Obviously they care about the service they and not the platform...as opposed to some of the ABM ideologues on this post.
It's people like you that still think 95% population who isn't technical give a hoot about what OS they run...they just care that there's is the best. And no, it's not linux.
BTW, I installed Novell Desktop Linux and ran it for the last week to make sure that I keep up to date on other OS's. I couldn't wait to go back to my WinXP SP2 HD!!! That experience was horrible...i installed an RPM for RSSOwl and it didn't even install a shortcut to the start menu. How can you guys be pushing linux for the desktop? OMG, I thought Linux has improved the usability...I could NEVER deploy this to my end users. It's not even close to primetime...Yet :) (It's always possible)
I will give them props for a much easier install though, it was flawless on my Compaq Laptop. However, I couldn't get my Netgear 54Mbs card to work even though it was recognized in the config panel...the driver (ummm, cough, I mean module) never loaded so the light turned on.
I was hoping that Entourage would be a half decent replacement for outlook after a lot of hype...dissapointing, poorly documented, and just plain fugly.
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#9 By
5912 (145.222.138.61)
at
11/17/2004 2:55:57 AM
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So what if Linux is used to run (part of) MSN Search? MS fanboys should really stop being so anal about it. There are more operating systems than just Windows and companies are using them because they have certain advantages. It is not the end of the world.
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#10 By
37 (12.104.90.162)
at
11/17/2004 8:23:55 AM
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Sounds like aamendala has THE facts.
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#11 By
16451 (65.19.17.149)
at
11/17/2004 8:32:25 AM
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Sounds to me like he doesn't know the difference between a DNS server and a http proxy server/load balancer
This post was edited by RH7.3 on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 at 08:35.
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#12 By
1658 (24.18.60.13)
at
11/17/2004 1:15:03 PM
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"Sounds to me like he doesn't know the difference between a DNS server and a http proxy server/load balancer"
Care to take that one up with me directly? What precisely makes you think I don't know the difference between the two? Please elaborate in your posts rather than making blanket statements that lack any definitive proof whatsoever as to support your point.
I work at Microsoft and have been a member of over 20 different teams of the company over 10 years. I know what goes on here and if you can point out one thing to me that I said was incorrect, I'll be glad to retract my statement, admit fault, and correct myself. Otherwise, stop your yammering and attack my points directly. What exactly DON'T I understand?
If what you're saying is that it IS possible to determine what web server is streaming content to your browser by using only DNS-lookup and ICMP echo-response requests, you have a serious surprise coming. I can setup in a matter of minutes a configuration that can portray my web server to be whatever I want it to be. You need to learn more about stateful host addressing and packet-superimposition before you're ready to argue this point with me.
This post was edited by aamendala on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 at 13:46.
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#13 By
1658 (24.18.60.13)
at
11/17/2004 1:22:26 PM
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And as far as you Halcyon are concerned, I already know. We're always wrong, you're always right.
And by the way, we never didn't admit that Hotmail ran FreeBSD as you make it sound. In fact, the instant we bought them, we began to the conversion to NT 4.1 based servers and some beta software that at that time was to eventually become Windows 2000 Server Enterprise Edition. While we did this, we kept accurate logs of the transition costs, performance gains and drawbacks, and the procedures required to perform such a massive rollover to new software. All of the said documentation is available via Microsoft BackStage, Microsoft TechNet, and the Microsoft Developer Network.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/migration/case/hotmail/default.mspx
A link to only one such document to which I refer. There are 15 such publications done by Microsoft, all covering different aspects of the migration. At no time did we deny the operating system Hotmail was based on and at no time did we try to hide that FreeBSD was there when we got there. But we did NOT sit idly by and wait a while for Windows to "mature" before upgrading. That is a crock and a half. We began upgrades on the entire network as soon as the preliminary planning phases were completed which was 35 days after the purchase of Hotmail.
At that time, Hotmail was hosted on a little over 3500 servers. 1900 of those were migrated to NT Server 4.1 and SQL Server 7.0 Enterprise within 20 days of our beginning such work.
I know though, we don't innovate, our software is bloated, slow, useless, and overly expensive. Once again, we've failed. Even though Hotmail continues to grow at rates that are staggeringly high in the face of G-mail, Yahoo! Mail, and other free service competitive threats. Must be all those payoffs and threatening sessions we hold with our customers.
With respect to your not believing my "facts" as Brian put it, use your Linux tools! You love it so much! Use nmap and Ethereal! Prove to me with a network brute-challenge log and full packet analysis that MSN Search is NOT running Windows Server 2003. You know way more about this stuff than I do, this should be a walk in the park for you.
As well, as far as people not believing us is concerned... That is something we take issue with and are working on every day. We have a problem with corporate trust in certain areas and we absolutely have admitted this in the past and are working hard to rectify the situation and make it better. At least we don't sit around whining about a lost customer, whining about why one of our products isn't being adopted as fast as we'd like. We analyze our failures, seek our weaknesses, seal those holes, and build a better product next time around. It's our culture. The simple fact is, no one can win with a close-minded fool like yourself. You'll never understand our way of operating. And note that understanding does not mean agreement with.
One of these days, you'll be man enough to take me up on the week long campus tour and hang-out session. I'd bet I can even swing free airfare for you. And I bet you'll still come up with some wonderous reason why you can't attend... afraid to find out we aren't what you think? Or is it the typical Linux-bigot flight or fight response I'm seeing from you: I'm not educated enough on the topics about which I argue, therefore, I'll get defensive rather than opening up to learn and converse as to facilitate being able to make a fully informed evaluation of the material at hand.
This post was edited by aamendala on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 at 13:43.
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#14 By
7797 (68.142.9.161)
at
11/17/2004 7:27:25 PM
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aamendala: after all that bashing, you still havent answered my simple question.
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#15 By
1658 (24.18.60.13)
at
11/18/2004 2:01:23 AM
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"Well I guess I just have to face the truth that MS never misleads anyone."
Yup, that's exactly what I said too.
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