NYC Tech Talk Series: How Google Backs Up the Internet

Raymond Blum describes the engineering challenges and site reliability practices Google uses to back up massive cloud data.

Google Tech Talk October 22, 2013 (more info below) Presented by Raymond Blum ABSTRACT Systems like GMail and Picasa keep massive amounts of data in the cloud, all of which has to be constantly backed up to prepare for the inevitable. Typical backup and recovery techniques don't scale, so Google has devised new methods for securing unprecedented volumes of data against every type of failure. There are many unique challenges, both obvious and subtle, in delivering storage systems at this scale; we'll discuss these and their solutions as well as some alternatives that didn't make the grade. About the speaker: Raymond Blum leads a team of Site Reliability Engineers charged with keeping Google's and its users' data safe and durable. Prior to coming to Google he was the IT director for a hedge fund after spending a few lifetimes developing systems at HBO and on Wall Street. In his meager spare time he indulges his interests in robotics and home automation and reads too much science fiction.