The Google Way

Redundancy

This limitation was an opportunity in disguise. Secondhand computers aren't necessarily in good working order, so they tend to break down frequently and unexpectedly. The solution to mitigating this defect is well known and obvious: redundancy. If you think one component might go down, you replicate the data on other components to decrease the risk of loss. Born of necessity, redundancy became a centerpiece of the factory Page and Brin would eventually build. (On a larger scale, redundancy has also allowed Google to safeguard against disasters by distributing its servers geographically. If an earthquake or a flood shuts down one server farm, servers in other locations will be able to pick up the load.)

Initially, the perceived need for ...