Cloud Computing: Amazon Bares Its Computers

Grazed from New York Times.  Author: Quentin Hardy.

However big and ambitious you think Amazon’s plan to run the world’s computing may be, you should probably think bigger.  In a startling talk Thursday evening, a vice president who oversees the internal engineering of Amazon’s global computing system described how Amazon is building its own specialized computers, data storage systems, networking systems, even power substations and optical transmissions systems. In every case, he said, Amazon Web Services had developed ways to make its computers run cheaper and more efficiently than standard commercial products.

“We’re changing everything everywhere,” said James Hamilton, vice president and distinguished engineer at Amazon Web Services. “All of our engineers are focused” on reducing the costs of computing. He was speaking at Amazon’s second annual gathering of A.W.S. customers, partner companies and analysts, an event that drew 9,000 people…

For Amazon, which rarely talks about Amazon Web Services, it was an unusually frank and detailed explanation of a system on which the company is thought to spend perhaps $1 billion annually (Amazon officials would not confirm this number, but did not dispute it when asked directly.)…

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