Google's first production server, 1999
Many computing advances are hidden from the users they benefit.
This server, from around 1999, was one of about 30 made by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin by connecting desktop computer components.
The company could ill afford dedicated servers, but Page and Brin showed that using cheap consumer-grade hardware in large amounts could compete with more expensive purpose-built equipment.
This approach is still used by the search and advertising giant today, and has influenced many other web firms.
The server is on display at the Computer History Museum, Silicon Valley.
(Image: James Fry under GNU licence)
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