A very informal talk on FPGA-accelerated search, from 2009! Research by Wim Vanderbauwhede and Leif Azzopardi

1. Greener Search

2. 1 cup of tea
=
10 gram
CO2
(boiling 250 ml water)

3. “Performing two Google searches from a desktop
computer can generate about the same amount of
carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea,
according to new research.”
(The Sunday Times)

4. 2 x =
1 x
(The Sunday Times)

5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Google searches per day
average: 25
#searches/day

7. But maybe you're an
espresso person
...

9. However ... the original
Sunday Times article
was factually incorrect

10. 25 x =
1 x

11. 6 x =
1 x

12. So ... no big deal?

13. Google handles about
1,000,000,000,000
searches per year

14. To do so, Google deploys
an estimated 500,000 servers
in about 50 data centre worldwide
(these are rough estimates,
Google isn't telling)

15. Note the cooling plants ...
Google's data centres in Dalles, Oregon

16. Each data centre consumes about 50MW
Cooling requires most of the power
Infrastructure cost is about $22,000/kW
Reducing power consumption can result in
huge cost savings

17. Reduce costs,
save the planet

18. We (Leif & Wim) have developed a
Greener Search
Solution:
FPGA-accelerated search

19. The Sinner: Intel CPU
120W (at least)

20. The Saviour: Xilinx FPGA
3W (at most)

21. Implementing IR algorithms on FPGA:
20x faster @
10% of the power!

22. Some results

23. Effect on data centre cost
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
$0
$10,000,000
$20,000,000
$30,000,000
$40,000,000
$50,000,000
$60,000,000
Total data centre cost
1000 servers, cost accumulated over 15 years
Total Cost – no FPGA
Total Cost – FPGA
FPGA Yearly License
License per FPGA
Years
Cost($)

24. 5000 x =
1 x
With Greener SearchLW

25. Enjoy!