Brazilian engineer Luiz Andre Barroso, who shook up Google’s rules, is dead. His radical ideas about data centers laid the foundation for cloud computing. Wired: Luiz Andre Barroso had never designed a data center before Google asked him to do so in the early 2000s. By the time he finished his first year, he had upended many IT industry conventions, throwing thus the foundations of the development of cloud computing in Silicon Valley.
Barroso, a 22-year Google veteran who died suddenly Sept. 16 at age 59, built his data centers with inexpensive components instead of expensive, specialized hardware. He reinvented the way they worked together to develop the concept of the “data center as a computer,” which now underpins the web, mobile apps, and other Internet services.
Jen Fitzpatrick, senior vice president of Google’s infrastructure organization, says Barroso left an indelible mark on the company whose contributions to the industry are countless. “We have lost a beloved friend, colleague and respected leader,” she wrote in a statement on behalf of the company.
