Search marketing beyond the search engines | Search Optimization Marketing (SOM)

T: 1-714-556-8633

Webmasters Update the List for Current Google Data Centers!

Users at the Webmaster World have updated a list of almost all of the Google Data Centers, spread throughout the globe. Here are some of the Google Data Centers from the updated list:

1. 66.249.81.nnn – gfe-bx/bx2/bx3

2. 66.249.83.nnn - gfe-wx/wx2

3. 66.249.93.nnn - gfe-ug/gfe-ug2

4. 72.14.205.nnn - gfe-qb/qb2

5.72.14.207.nnn - gfe-eh/eh2

6.209.85.129.nnn - gfe-fk/fk2/fk3

Here are a few excerpts from that thread:

“Google search can be accessed in several different ways:
There is of course, google.com and all the various country google TLDs.
Next there is the direct IP address. There are several thousand of those, as listed below.

There used to be access at a URL like www-xx.google.com but those were replaced in 2005 with the newer gfe-xx.google.com system.
Finally, there is the direct alias per-IP address, all like xx-in-fnn.google.com where xx is the same letters as from the GFE name, and nn is the last octet of the IP addesss (like 107 from 66.102.9.107 and so on).”

“In 2005, people were listing only 56, or so, IP addresses spread over about 18 Class C blocks.

At that time, Google did have more online (not much more though), but people just hadn’t yet discovered them.
Things have changed a lot since then.”

“Back in 2006 I showed that Google used approx. 43 Class C blocks for their search operations and postulated that this corresponded with 43 datacentres (or at least 43 “server rooms”) active.

So, about 43, then 41 (when some fell out of use), then 47 (when new ones were discovered) Class C blocks were in use in mid-late 2006.
Since the 2006 lists were produced, 11 more have fallen out of use, and 34 new blocks have come online.

Going back a little further; in the last two years they have therefore closed about 11 of the older server farms (mostly in the older 66.102.nnn.nnn and 216.239.nnn.nnn Class C blocks). They have also opened 28 more in the 209.85.nnn.nnn range, and 10 more in the 74.125.nnn.nnn range, at the same time.
There are currently 70 Class C blocks in use, and the current system of allocation allows for a maximum of 288 such blocks to be brought in to use at full capacity.

When you take into account the individual GFE names like gfe-ro and gfe-pn3 there are approx. 204 of those active at present. Their current system allows for 1152 of those to be allocated, at a maximum of four per Class C block. Some blocks use less, but most new blocks seem to come online with four GFE names resolving these days. However, their naming convention has room for 2704 GFE entries, so there is plenty of room for expansion.

Although not a directly useful measure, the number of individual directly accessible IP addresses in use is already in excess of 1400.
The number of servers at Google appears to have almost doubled in the last two-and-a-bit years alone.“

“For new sites, or for new pages added to existing sites, there can be considerable differences and many days before they are even close to being synchronised.
For unchanging sites, there are not so many differences, though several IP ranges are always in use testing new things out - which range that is, differs from week to week.”

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