Sneaker Net is alive and well
Who new Google would be carrying the Sneaker Net torch.
The principle behind Google's program is that the bandwidth of a shipping crate full of hard drives should not be underestimated. DiBona said that Google has developed a combination of drive arrays (in a small form factor case) and packaging that can be sent to the source of the data: "We bought some hard-sided foam packing cases, not unlike the roadie cases you'd see at a concert, and ship the arrays in them. We've gone through a couple of different models and have settled on a model that can ship about three terabytes of data in a case," DiBona said.
Also Jonathan Schwartz of Sun seems to be jumping on the bandwagon maybe.
From Moving a Petabyte of Data: I made a speech last week at which I asserted it was faster to send a petabyte of data from San Francisco to Hong Kong by sailboat, than by the internet.
Of course this isn't your fathers sneaker net, but one that's all grow'd up and on steroids.