創(chuàng)新引擎：政府資助的學(xué)術(shù)研究 The Innovation Engine - Government-Funded Academic Research

TheInnovationEngine:Government-FundedAcademic

Research

DavidA.Patterson

ElectricalEngineeringandComputerSciencesUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley

TechnicalReportNo.UCB/EECS-2025-140

/Pubs/TechRpts/2025/EECS-2025-140.html

July4,2025

Copyright?2025,bytheauthor(s).

Allrightsreserved.

Permissiontomakedigitalorhardcopiesofallorpartofthisworkfor

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Acknowledgement

Apaperlikethismakesonereflectontheiracademiccareers.AsproudasIamofourresearchaccomplishments,it’sthepersonalrelationshipsthatonetreasures.Thanksgotothehundredsofstudentsandpostdocswhoworkedhardtorealizethevisionsoftheselabs,manyofwhomhavemadelarge

marksoftheirown.Thelabsalsoreliedondozensoflongservingstaff.AndspecialthankstothedozensoffacultycolleagueswhomIwashonoredtoworkwithoverfourdecades.

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TheInnovationEngine:Government-FundedAcademicResearch

DavidPatterson,PardeeProfessorEmeritus,UCBerkeley

July4,2025(toappearinCommunicationsoftheACM)

Abstract:Fivegovernment-fundedacademicresearchprojectsoveronecareeratoneuniversitydeliveredeconomicbenefitsacrossnearly90%ofU.S.stateswithnewproductsalesabout10,000timestheUSgovernmentfunding

—returningtaxesbackover1000timesitsinvestment—andtrainedgenerationsofinnovators.

Introduction:FivehomerunprojectsascasestudiesofGoFAR

Government-fundedacademicresearch(GoFAR),latelythesubjectofacross-the-boardcutsintheUS,isoneof

theenginesthattrulymakesAmericagreat.WhenIstartedasanewassistantprofessorin1976,Iwasadvisedtoaimmyresearchobjectivesfor“homeruns”.Inanenvironmentinwhichambitiousprojectswithhighpotentialweren’t

penalizediftheyfellshort,mycolleaguesandIstrovetomakeahighimpact.Thethinkingwasthatyou’remorelikelytohithomerunsbyswingingforthefencesthanbybuntingforsingles.Andsoweswung.NSFandDARPAused

grants,contracts,andfellowshipstosponsorourresearch,alongsidesomesmallerdonationsfromindustry.

Hereisaquicksummaryof?vehighestimpactprojects—whichTable1summarizesandthesecondhalfofthepaperdetails—ofthe11thatcovermyacademiccareer:

●ReducedInstructionSetComputer(RISC)[24].Simplifiedinstructionsetsenabledfaster

microprocessors.Today,99%ofallcomputersfollowRISCprinciples;theRintheubiquitousARMarchitecture—withnearly300Bchipsbuilt—standsforRISC.

●RedundantArrayofInexpensiveDisks(RAID)[29].Strengthinnumbersviaredundantarraysofsmalldisksprovidebettercost,performance,andreliabilitythanlargedisks,leadingto>$100Binsales.

●NetworkofWorkstations(NOW)[2].Networkedclustersofoff-the-shelfworkstationslaidthefoundationforInternetserviceinfrastructure,whosedescendantspowerhyperscalersworthtrillionstoday.

●ReliableAdaptiveDistributedSystemsLab(RADLab).MachinelearningcombinedwithsystemsexpertiseledtotheSparkanalyticsengine[39]—that40,000companiesuse—andthestartupDatabricks.

●ParallelComputingLab(ParLab)developedRISC-V[37],anopeninstructionsetarchitecturethatanycompanycanuseforfree.In2024,2BRISC-Vchipsshipped,projectedtogrowto20Bby2031.

Lab

RISC

RAID

NOW

RADLab

ParLab

When

1980-1984

1988-1992

1993-1998

2005-2011

2007-2013

Keyresult/artifact

RISC-IandRISC-IImicroprocessors

RAID-IandRAID-IIstorageservers,

PostgresDBMS,Logstructuredfilesystems

NOW-IandNOW-IIclusters,Inktomi

searchengine

Mesoscluster

manager,Sparkdataanalyticssystem

RISC-Vopenarchitecture,Rooflineperformancemodel,Selectiveembeddedjustintimespecialization

Startups

MIPS,

Pyramid

Technology,

RidgeComputers

ArrayTechnologies

Corporation,NetApp

Inktomi,

Scale8

Comfy

,

Databricks,

Mesosphere

AheadComputing,Akeana,BinaTechnologies,Codasip,CondorComputing,Cortus,FuriosaAI,Rivos,SiFive,

Tenstorrent,Ventana

Companies

influenced

ARM(Advanced

RISCMachines),

SunMicrosystems,HP,&manyothers

DEC,EMC,Hitachi,

IBM,NCR,StorageTek,SunMicrosystems,&manyothers

Google,HP,Sun

Microsystems,&manyothers

Amazon,Cloudera,

Google,Microsoft+

40,000companiesthatuseSpark

AndesTechnology,MIPS,NVIDIA,Qualcomm,

Samsung,Synopsys,&manyothers

OpenSource/

OpenStandard

Magic

ECADtool

Postgres

DBMS

xFScloudfilesystem

ApacheSpark

,

ApacheMesos

RISC-Vspecification

,

Rocket

chipOpenHW

[5],GPUSVM

Awards

ACMdissertationaward;ACMTuringaward;ACM/IEEEEckert-Mauchly

award;IEEEvonNeumannmedal;NAEDraperprize

2ACMdissertation

awards;IEEE

Johnsonstorage

award;4Testoftime/Halloffameawards(1SIGMOD,2fromSIGOPS,1IFIP10.4)

1stclusterinTop500supercomputerlist;

3Graysortrecords;

1Testoftimeaward(HPDC);2Bestpaperawards(SOSP,HotInterconnects)

ACMdissertation

award;ACMWeiseraward;Frontiersofscienceaward;

5Testoftimeawards(ICDE,ICML,NSDI,SIGCOMM,SOCC)

ACMAthenaaward;

ACMKenKennedyaward;IEEECharlesBabbage

award;

2Bestpaperawards

(IPDPS,SPAA),1Testoftimeaward(DAC)

HighestCited

Paper,#Citations

[24],748

[29],4742

[2],1426

[3],15034

[4],3172

Table1.Impactoffive“homerun”researchprojectsovermyacademiccareer(1976–2016).Companiesinthistablehave(orhad)officesandemployeesin44ofthe50U.S.states,where98%ofAmericanslive.

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ThecompaniesinTable1—withofficesandemployeesacross44oftheUSstates1thathold98%ofthetotalUSpopulation—soldhundredsofbillionsofdollarsofproductsbasedonthesebreakthroughtechnologiesfromGoFAR,whichalsofoundhomesinthousandsofmilitarysystemsthatenhancednationalsecurity.

Eightprinciplesguidedthesehome-runprojects,whichwerestructuredas“l(fā)abs”reflectingthecollaborativeteamofstudentsandfacultyinasharedspace(see[26]):

●Multidisciplinaryteamsofthreetofivefacultyexpertsindifferentfields,astherearemorechancesforimpactacrossfieldsthanwithinindividualfields.

●Demonstrativeusableartifactsrequiregenuinecross-disciplinecollaborationthatleadsto

breakthroughs.Ratherthantoydemoswhosegoalistoproducepapers,theyarerealisticenoughtowinoverskepticstohelptechnologyadoption.

●Seventotenyearimpacthorizonsinsteadofdistantfutures.Inourincrediblyfast-movingfield,noonecanseeaccurately15to20yearsahead.

●Five-yearsunsetclausescreateurgencyandallowfornewopportunities.Manyfive-yearlabsoveracareergiveyoumorechancesforhomerunsthanafew10-or20-yearprojects.Deadlinesarerareinacademia,sothetimelinealsogivesarealtargetbywhichtodemonstratelabgoals.Itiseasieraswelltogetcommitmentsfromexpertsinseveralfieldstocollaborateforfiveyearsthanforlonger.

●Sunsetclausesloweropportunitycosts.Ittakesadecadetodeterminethelevelofalab’ssuccess.Mostarenotahomerun;sixofmyotherprojectsdidnotmakeTable1.Butanygoodentrepreneurknowsthatyoudon'tgetbreakthroughswithoutriskandthepossibilityoffailure.Withoutatimelimit,projectscanlingeruntileveryonelosesinterest,apotentiallyenormousopportunitycost.Sunsetclauseshelpresearchersandfundersmoveontothenextpromisingproject.

●Biannualthree-dayoffsiteretreatsofferregularhonestfeedback,providedeadlines,andbuildteamspirit.Themostimportantfeatureisthepraiseandconstructivecriticisminthelastsessionfromexternalpractitionersandresearchers,whicharedeeper,morethorough,morethoughtful,andmorefrequentthanmostpaperreviews.

●Physicalproximityofcollaborators,ideallyinonelargephysicalspace.Multi-universityprojectsarelesssuccessfulwhilemulti-disciplinaryprojectsatasingleuniversityexcel[15].

●Leadershipfocusedonteamsuccessratherthanindividualrecognition.Iledabouthalfofthe11labsovermycareer,andwashappytohavecolleaguesleadothers.Theleaderbuildsteamspirit,focusesworktowardslabgoals,andallowsdelegationoflabadministriviatoabenevolentdecisionmaker.

Whyshouldthegovernmentpartnerwithacademia?

AfterWorldWarIIVannevarBusharguedthatinvestinginscientificresearchatuniversitieswouldhavea

tremendousreturntotheeconomy,tohealthcare,andtonationaldefense[9].Thegoalisforgovernment,academia,andindustrytobesynergisticpartners,allplayingtotheirstrengths.Eightyyearslater,herearemytoptenreasonswhythisGoFARpartnershiphasbeensoeffective:

1.Universitiespublishtheirresearchresults,whetheritsucceedsorfails,sothateveryonecanlearnfromtheeffort.Forexample,RISCpapersinspiredARMandRAIDpapersencouragedEMCtoproducesuccessfulproductswithoutanydirectcontactwiththeoriginalinventors(seebelow).Mostcompanieshavenosuchtradition.

2.Successfuluniversityresearchprojectscanleadtonewcompanies.Overmycareertherehave

beennumerousexamplesofuniversityresearchprojectsthatledtostartupsthatgrewtobemajorcorporations.It

canbechallengingtoformasuccessfulstartupspunofffromalargecompanywhenitownstheintellectualproperty.

3.Multidisciplinaryresearchisaninherentstrengthoftopuniversities.Whereelsecanonegatherexpertsfromallareasofscience,engineering,arts,andsooninonelocationandhavethemtalktoeachother?

Researchattheintersectionofcomputerscienceandotherdisciplineshasledtoadvancesthatwouldhavebeendifficulttoachieveinindustry,wheregroupsareoftenmorenarrowlyfocused.Forexample,topexpertsincomputerscienceandthetopexpertsinneurosciencecollaboratedtoreadmindsfromMRIdata[23].

4.Academicfreedomenablesexplorationofunconventionalideas.Academicresearchershavethe

intellectualfreedomtopursuehigh-risk,high-rewardideasthatmaynothaveimmediatecommercialapplications.Thisexploratorynaturecanleadtounexpectedparadigm-shiftingbreakthroughs.Forexample,RAID(describedbelow)

wasabyproductofcuriosity-drivenresearch.Industry,incontrast,istypicallymorerisk-averseandgoal-oriented,understandablymorefocusedondeliverableswithshort-tomedium-termpayoff.

5.Itcanbeawkwardforcompaniestodevelopandadoptnewtechnologiesthatdisruptcurrent

productlines.Anacademic’ssoleconcernisadvancingthestateoftheart.FormanyofthehomerunlabsinTable

1,theleadingcompaniesintheareawerethelasttoembracetheinnovation,astheywerehighlyprofitableinthecurrentmarketplaceandhadlittledesireforchange.ChristensenreferstothisasTheInnovator’sDilemma[12].

1CompaniesinTable1haveorhademployeesandofficesinAlabama,Arizona,Arkansas,California,Colorado,Connecticut,

Florida,Georgia,Hawaii,Idaho,Indiana,Iowa,Illinois,Kansas,Kentucky,Louisiana,Maine,Maryland,Massachusetts,Michigan,Minnesota,Missouri,Nebraska,Nevada,NewHampshire,NewJersey,NewMexico,NewYork,NorthCarolina,Ohio,Oklahoma,Oregon,Pennsylvania,RhodeIsland,SouthCarolina,Tennessee,Texas,Utah,Vermont,Virginia,Washington,WestVirginia,

Wisconsin,andWyoming.

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6.Industryhasreducedtheamountofinternalpureresearchitfunds,especiallyforhighriskresearchthatistheraisond’etreofthehigh-impactlabs.Computerscienceresearchlabsinindustrythatplayedvitalrolesinthe20thcenturyareshadowsoftheirformerselves.Almostallcompany’sR&Dinthiscenturyisadvancedproduct

development.OursocietyreliesmuchmoreonGoFARforfoundationalresearchtodaythanwhenIstartedmycareer.

7.Topuniversitiesattracttoppeoplefromaroundtheworld.Academiaattractsverybrightpeople

worldwidewhowanttoearnadvanceddegrees.Somewhoreceiveadvanceddegreesbecomeleadersofexisting

corporations(e.g,AMD,Google,andMicrosoft)orfoundnewones(e.g.,HewlettPackard,Intel,NVIDIA,Netflix).

EnsuringthatUSuniversitiescandrawfromthebrightestoftheglobalpopulationof8billion—25timeslargerthantheUSdomesticpopulation—hasbeenandisvitaltoUSsuccessinscienceandengineering

8.Evenprojectsthatarenothomerunstrainstudents.Aftergraduationtheycanbecomeinnovatorsandmaketheirowncontributions.Whileuniversitiesproducenovelideasandtransfertechnologytoexisting

companiesandtostartups,theirmostimportantproductispeople[25].Thesilverliningofresearchprojectsinindustrythatdonotpanoutisunclear.

9.Computerscienceisayoungperson’sfield.Ourtechnologychangessorapidlythatthestateoftheart20oreven10yearsagocanbenearlyirrelevanttoday.Astudentmayhavebetterknowledgeofthemostcriticalmaterialthansomeonewithdecadesofexperience.Havingaresearchprojectstaffedbybrilliant,hard-working,

up-to-date,youngpeoplewithlessexperienceisnotnecessarilyahugedisadvantageincomputerscience.

10.Fundsgomuchfurtheratuniversitiesthaninindustry.Facultysalariesarelowerthanindustry,plusresearchfundspayonlyasmallpartoffacultysalary—primarilyforsummersupport—andstudentsreceiveamuchsmallersalarycomparedtoindustryemployees.Industryoverhead,commonlygreaterthan100%,isroughlydoubletheuniversityoverheadontheGoFARgrantsinpartduetomorelayersofmanagementtopayforandinpartsinceuniversitiespartiallysubsidizeit.ThislowercostmeansGoFARcanexploremoretopicsforthesameinvestment.

GoFARfundsprimarilysupportstudents

MostofthebudgetofaGoFARgrantisforthestudentsdoingthework,notforequipment,staff,orfaculty.Suchlabsleadtoamajorpositiveimpactontechnologyandtheindustry,andtremendoustraininggroundsgiventheirteamorientationandcollaborativemultidisciplinarygoals.Renownedcomputerarchitect

BurtonSmith

calledtheParLab

teaminthe2010s“thebestgroupofPh.D.studentsthatIhaveeverseen”,whichechoedcomputervisionary

Mark

Weiser

’scommentalmostwordforwordinthelate1980saboutthefourthRISCproject.TheselabsalsouncovertreasuretrovesofPh.D.topics,astheACMdissertationawardsinTable1attest.

Beyondtechnicalinnovations,abyproductoftheselabsisfutureleadersofourfield.Labalumnihavegoneontofoundbilliondollarstartups,becometechnicalleadsoflargecorporations,andsuccessfulresearchersandleadersattopuniversities.

ExploringfiveGoFARhomeruns

Nextaremoredetailedhistoriesofmyfivehomerunlabsandtheirimpact,startingwithRISC[27].

#1:ReducedInstructionSetComputer(RISC)

WhenStanford’sJohnHennessyandIwereassistantprofessorsin1980,conventionalwisdomheldthat

computerinstructionsets—thevocabularythatsoftwareusestotalktohardware—weretoolow-level,burdening

programmersandcausingsoftwarefailures.Thetrendwastowardcomplexinstructionsetstobridgethegapbetweenpeopleandmachines.

Inthe1970s,microprocessorswereonlyfoundinhomeappliances.Webelievedmicroprocessorswouldbecomecomputing'sfoundation,followingMoore'sLawofdoublingtransistorcountseveryyearortwo.Thequestionwas:

whatinstructionsetwouldbestservetheserapidlyimprovingmicroprocessors?

ThesuccessoftheoperatingsystemUNIX,writteninahigh-levellanguage,changedperspectives.Theissue

wasn'tprogrammerswritingmachinecodeanymoreevenforoperatingsystems,butwhethercompilerscouldproduceefficientprogramsforaninstructionset.

TogetherwithmycolleagueCarloSéquin,wearguedforaReducedInstructionSetComputer(RISC),keepinginstructionssimpleratherthancomplex[28].WetermedtheconventionalapproachComplexInstructionSet

Computers(CISC).WebelievedRISCwouldbeeasiertobuildandeasierforcompilerstoutilize.

Thedebatecenteredonperformance:whileCISCmightrequirefewerinstructionsduetotheirsophistication,eachinstructionmighttakelongertoexecutethanaRISCinstruction—likeapageofpolysyllabicwordspotentiallytakinglongertoreadthansimplerwords.

IsentadraftofthecaseforRISCpapertofriendsinindustrybuildingCISCminicomputers.Insteadofsendingmecomments,theywrotearebuttaltoappearnexttoourpaper[13].

Thisscientificquestionbecameemotionallychargedinthecomputerdesigncommunity.CISCadvocatesbelievedRISCwouldcomplicatesoftware;RISCadvocatesarguedcompilerscouldhidethesedetailsfromprogrammers.

Despiteouruniversities'on-the-fieldathleticsrivalry,JohnHennessyandIjoinedforcestoadvocateforRISC.

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Industrydebatesgrewheatedatconferencesbeginningin1982.SimilardiscussionshadoccurredearlieratIBMaroundthe801projectledbyJohnCockeconcerningminicomputers,thoughIBMmanagementdelayedpublicly

sharingtheirviewsuntillater.

ResearchultimatelyshowedthatwhileRISCneededabout30%moreinstructions,itprocessedthem

approximately5timesmorequickly,makingRISC3-4timesfasteroverall.Additionally,RISCmicroprocessorsrequiredlesshardwareandpower—acrucialadvantageascomputingbecamemobileandbattery-powered.

In1983,Hennessy’sPh.D.studentsincludingChrisRowenandNormJouppiandourPh.D.studentsRobert

SherburneandManolisKatevenispresentedtheirRISCmicroprocessorsatthemajormicrochipconference,stunningtheaudiencebycreatingdesignsarguablysuperiortoindustrystate-of-the-art[31][32].

MaxPlancksaidthatscientifictruthdoesnottriumphbyconvincingopponentsandmakingthemseethelight,butthatscienceadvancesonefuneralatatime.Computerarchitecturebenefitsfromthecommercialmarketthattests

newideas,sowedon’thavetowaitforfuneralstochangethefield.

Forexample,in1983,Cambridge-basedSteveFurberandSophieWilsoncreatedanewmicroprocessorfortheAcornpersonalcomputer.InspiredbyourRISCpapers,theydevelopedtheAcornRISCMachine(ARM)withtwo

"advantages":nomoneyandnoengineers.Theseconstraintsprioritizedsimplicity,aligningperfectlywithRISC

philosophy.TheARM1debutedin1985asthefirstcommercialRISCprocessor,outperformingallmicroprocessorsinthemarket.

AppleapproachedAcornin1990,interestedinARMforitsnewNewtonhandhelddevice.OnlyRISCcouldmeetNewton'sperformance,power,andcostrequirements.AcornagreedtoApple'srequesttospinoffARMasajoint

venture,rebrandingitasAdvancedRISCMachine.WhiletheNewtonfailedcommercially,ARM'sefficiencymadeit

idealforcellphones.Atthattime,Nokiawastheleadingsupplierofcellphones,sotheselectionofARMfortheNokiaGSMphone(globalsystemformobilecommunications)in1998wasamajorboost.TheNokiaexperiencehelped

ARMunderstandsystem-on-chiprequirements,positioningittodominatethesmartphoneandembeddedcomputingrevolutionforthefollowingdecades.

Withalmost300billionARMchipsshipped—nearly40perpersonglobally—99%ofprocessorstodayare

RISC-based,whichtracesitsrootsbacktoGoFAR.RISC'ssimplicitywasmoreefficientinsiliconuseandpowerconsumption,drivingitssuccess.Beyondprovidingfasterandmoreeconomicalcomputingfortheworld,RISCgeneratedsubstantialeconomicbenefitsthroughjobcreationandtaxrevenue.2

#2:RedundantArrayofInexpensiveDisks(RAID)

Thisprojectstartedwithaquestion.MycolleagueRandyKatzwasanearlyMacintoshuser,whichwhen

announcedin1984reliedonfloppydisksforstorage.AfewyearslaterthefirstsmallharddiskdrivewasdevelopedforMacandtheIBMPC,whichwasagodsendforpersonalcomputerusers.Randy’squestionwas“Iwonderwhatelsewecoulddowiththesesmalldisks?”Hiscuriositysparkedarevolutioninstorage.

Atthetime,harddiskdrivesformainframeswerethesizeofdishwashersandthesizeofmicrowaveovensforminicomputers.Katz,ourPh.D.studentGarthGibson,andIspeculatedthatwecouldreplaceonemainframeharddrivewith100smallPCdrives(andoneminicomputerdrivewith10).Wewroteadraftshowingthatitwouldbe

cheaperforthesamecapacitybuthavemuchgreaterperformancegivenwehad100drivesaccessingdataversusonelargedrive,evenifonelargedrivewasmuchfasterthanonesmallPCdrive.WesentittoafriendatIBM.His

feedbackhighlightedourcriticaloversight:reliability.With100drives,failureratesmultiplieddramatically,asitwasatleast100timesmorelikelythatonedrivewouldfailandwewouldlosedata.Thisinsightinspiredustoadd

redundancy—andtonameourprojectRAIDforRedundantArrayofInexpensiveDisks.

Wefoundsomerelatedprojectsofferingreliablestorageviaredundancyatothercompanies.Toclarifyourwork,thepaperthatdebutedRAIDidentifiedfivelevelsofsophisticationofredundancythathadincreasingbenefitsin

cost-performance.DigitalEquipmentCorporation(DEC)andTandemComputersofferedRAIDlevel1,Thinking

MachinessoldRAIDlevel2,IBMfiledapatentonRAIDlevel4,andwebuiltaprototypeofRAIDlevel5wedubbedRAID-I.RAID-IIwasnext,whichhad144diskdrivesunderasinglestoragecontrollerattachedtoahighspeed

network.RAID-IIisnowhousedattheComputerHistoryMuseum.

Ourbottomlinedemonstratedstrengthinnumbers;aRAIDsystemwasabout10timesbetterin

cost/performance/reliabilitythanamainframedriveandabout5timesbetterthanaminicomputerdrive.Whenthepaperwaspublished[29],itreceivedimmediateattention.Itevenledtoatutorialinamagazineforpersonal

computers[1],whichwasamuchdifferentmarketthanweexpectedtoshowinterest.

ThepaperalsolandedonthedesksofexecutivesatEMCCorporation,whowerefacingacrisis.Theirmain

productwascheapermemorymodulesforIBMmainframecomputers.TheyhadrecentlybeensqueezedoutofthatmarketduetochangesatIBM,andneededanewproduct.EMCdecidedtoembracetheRAIDideastoofferreliablestorageforIBMmainframecomputersusingarraysofmorecosteffectivesmallerdrives,savingthecompany.

AfterdiscussingwithKatz,marketerslaterchanged"Inexpensive"to"Independent"intheRAIDnameforpricing

2WhenIaskedChatGPTtoquantifyeconomicimpactusingthisparagraphasaprompt,itreplied“RISChasenabledmillionsofjobsgloballyandcontributesupwardsof$100Bannuallyineconomicandtaxvalue,directlyandindirectly.It’soneofthemosteconomicallyimpactfularchitecturalinnovationsintechhistory."ClaudeandGeminigaveevenrosierforecasts.

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flexibility.ThenumberedRAIDlevelshadanunintendedconsequence:companiesinventedhigherlevels(beyond5)tosuggestsuperiority,sometimeswithtechnicalmeritbutoftenasmarketingploys.Theseeventshelpedinspire

companiestoformtheRAIDAdvisoryBoardtoadvocateandevolveRAIDtechnology[21].

GoFAR-basedRAIDbecametremendouslysuccessful,withEMCalonegenerating$25Binsevenyears,

suggestingindustry-widerevenuesexceeding$100B.Twoassociatedprojectsalsoachievedsignificantimpact:

RAID'slimitedwriteperformanceinspiredthedevelopmentoflog-structuredfilesystems[30],nowfoundationalin

manyproducts;andtheopensourcePOSTGRESobject-relationaldatabase[34],whichevolvedintoPostgreSQL,theopensourcedatabaseusedbythousandsofcompaniesworldwide.

#3:NetworkofWorkstations(NOW)

Somesupercomputerswerebuiltusingmanyprocessorsgoingbackatleasttothe1980s[16].In1995we

proposedbuildingmorecost-effectivesupercomputersusingoff-the-shelfworkstationsconnectedviaemerging

switch-basednetworkslikeMyrinet[7].OurNetworkofWorkstations(NOW)project[2]competedphilosophicallywithStanford'sDASH[20],whichbetoncache-coherentmemoryinlargescalemultiprocessorstosimplifyparallel

programming.Thisrivalrybetweenwhatbecameknownasclustersversuslargescalesharedmemoryprocessorswasapopulardiscussiontopicincomputerarchitecturecirclesinthe1990s.

InApril1997NOWsettwosortingrecords.ThatsamemonthNOWdemonstratedversatilitybybecomingthefirstclusterrankedinthe

Top500supercomputers

list

.Itisrareforthesamehardwaretobegreatatbothdataprocessingandnumbercrunching.DespitesomesupercomputerslastingsixyearsintheTop500,withinfiveyears20%ofthe

world’sfastestcomputerswereclustersandintenyears90%ofthenewentriesand80%

overallwereclusters(Figure1).

WealsodevelopedxFS,aprecursorofcloudfilesystems[36].

However,themostinfluentialapplication

provedtobeInternetservices.WhileAltaVista—theleadingsearchengineinthelate1990s—ranonlargescalesharedmemory

multiprocessors,newassistantprofessorEricBrewerandhisPh.D.studentPaulGauthierrecognizedclustersofferedbetter

cost/performance,scalability,andfaultisolation.

TheirInktomisearchengine,builtonNOWprinciples,becamemorepopularthanAltaVistadespiterunningona

universitycampus.TheythenstartedaneponymouscompanythatdominatedsearchuntilGoogle'sdebut.GoogleandmanyothercompaniesfollowedInktomi’sleadofdeliveringInternetservicesonsuchclustersofmany

inexpensivecomputers.Today,descendantsoftheseGoFARclustersinhyperscalerdatacentersarethecomputingfoundationforcompaniesworthtrillionsofdollarsemployinghundredsofthousands.

#4:ReliableAdaptiveDistributedSystemsLab(RADLab)

TheReliableAdaptiveDistributedSystems(RAD)LabcombinedmachinelearningwithsystemsexpertisetoenablerapiddevelopmentofrevolutionaryInternetservicesandfordatacenterstobecomeself-healingand

self-managing.PursuingthisagendaledustobecomeearlyAmazonWebServicescustomers.Ourworkloadstestedearlycloudscalabilitylimits,positioningustoauthoradefinitivevisionpaperexplainingcloudcomputing'simportanceandresearchdirectionstoimproveit[3].

ItwasalsothefirstlabtofacetheproblemthatcomputersandtheInterne