Data Center Directions Virtual Conference

I just happened to check my e-mail at the right time today. I received a reminder of the CIO/CSO/Computerworld virtual conference that would be going on throughout the day today. I was pretty skeptical, but it was lunch time so I figured I would give it a shot. The virtual tradeshow software they are using has come a LONG way -- this was very cool.

They had a networking hub with people from all over the world talking, an expo floor with give-aways, brochures and the ability to see what other people/avatars were at the particular booth. I ventured over to the auditorium and browsed through the presentations that were scheduled. I attended one called Dream Big: Your next data center. It was interesting and I jotted down a few notes of interest:

• Barbara Bartell - VP of Information Services, Maximus;
• She pointed out the 8 critical skills for the data center:
• Risk Management
• Environmental Engineering
• Capacity Planning
• Systems Administration
• System Engineering
• Networking
• Backup Strategies
• Awareness of business needs.
• A poll during her part:
• Is a new data center or major revamp planned for this year?
• 56.8% Yes
• 43.1% No
• Aaron Wangenheim - President, Base Partners
• Discussed the power plants that had coal contracts - when those expire and aren't renewed -- what are their plans for renewable energy?
• He mentioned that he had heard of a large black box project in Chicago.
• He discussed raised floor pros/cons. He suggests NOT using raised floor when designing the data center. Hey Goolsbee -- preaching to the choir, huh?!
• Robert Mcfarlane - Interport division president, Shen,Milson & Wilke, Inc.
• bad metric -- watts/sq.ft. ; this results in grossly over-designing
  
• use watts/cabinet footprint instead for a metric.
  

Terremark - Fox Business Interview

Fox Business has their CSuite Sitdown interview with Manny Median, Terremark Worldwide (TMRK) CEO. He discusses their service offerings, the carrier neutral advantage, the competition and Terremark's stock performance.

Check it out here

Possible Iowa Data Center for Microsoft!

Aaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, so much for being calm and collected. :)

According to a Des Moines Register article, Mircosoft is "considering Iowa for a data center"!! The usual sworn secrecy and mystery surrounds this one, just as we were used to when Google moved in.

“I’ve been given quite a bit of confidential information by Microsoft,” Rep. Phil Wise, a Keokuk Democrat, said today. “I can’t tell you the size of the investment, but it is indeed hundreds of millions of dollars. I can’t tell you the number of jobs, but it is in the hundreds of jobs. I can’t tell you the nature of the wages for the jobs, but it would be one of the best sets of jobs ever created in the history of Iowa.”

Also as usual, Iowa lawmakers are pushing a set a tax breaks through as fasts as possible. More may be known after Feb. 21, the next Iowa Department of Economic Development meeting. The article doesn't say where in Iowa the data center site selection is, but it is speculated to be in the immediate Des Moines area.

Check out the Des Moines Register article here

Data Center University

About a year ago I started studying to get certified at Data Center University. It is a good program, even though it was sponsored soley by APC. The online tutorial sessions I have done are not APC commercials and have actually been very informative. Teaming with training partner Global Knowledge , they have done a nice job of delivering presentations on a wide variety of data center related topics.

The streetinsider.com has a nice article about a company that used the DCU sessions and trained their staff to come up to speed on data center technologies.

A recent survey conducted by AFCOM's Data Center Institute indicates that by the year 2015, the number of qualified senior-level data center professionals will have diminished by 45 percent. As the talent pool decreases and the demand for these professionals grows, certification offers the assurance that individuals have the knowledge, skills, and ability to successfully implement data center solutions.

As of April 2007, 400 people have achieved the Data Center University Associate Certification.

Check out the article here

Citrix Workflow Studio

I don't get too much into the IT automation work flow software -- it's a crowded market and just something I haven't been able to play with much. Since reading about the Citrix Workflow Studio, it seems to be a pretty cool product. Gus Pinto covers the product on his MVP blog and thinks it is revolutionary.

This may be a stretch -- but I wonder if Citrix could/would buy Platespin?

Also.....Citrix is keeping it's promise on its Xen acquisition as well --- a new commercial version of the Xen Server is set to roll out and Citrix Presentation Server has been renamed to XenApp.

World Wide Packets Acquired by Ciena Corp.

Proving that the Ethernet services market is hot, equipment supplier World Wide Packets was acquired by Ciena Corp. for $305 million.

Ciena announced the intent to acquire WWP back on Jan. 22nd. Carrier Ethernet has been a side interest of mine (one of several....) for a while now -- I have just have not had time to read up on it. Ciena has a pretty cool poster that covers OTU (Optical Transmission Unit) Network technology.

Ciena delivers flexible network platforms, software and professional services to telecoms, cable operators and enterprises migrating to an IP platform. Ciena stock was up 16% today.

Check out the Dark Fiber Resource information on the acquisition here

Google/IBM Cloud Computing

Not to over-hype the term cloud computing -- but it really has me intrigued. I think the potential is absolutely huge and with companies like IBM and Google researching it, they are sure to make some significant progress to understanding it and making it better.

I came across an InfoWorld article this weekend that I felt was very good in covering the IBM/Google partnership/initiative for cloud computing. IBM and Google make money in very different ways and I think that cloud computing could (potentially) be the new platform that both IBM (the enterprise side of things) and Google (the Internet, massively scaled applications side of things) run on. In the article, IBM exec Steve Mills is interviewed about the goals of the partnership and research.

Check out the article here

Green Collar Jobs

I was at a meeting tonight where a lot of discussion focused on workforce development and attempting to bolster tech recruitment in the area. It seems like the changing workforce landscape is a problem that has plagued many generations. Training and re-training people to keep pace with technologies and changing industries is an industry in to itself. From the Agricultural revolution to the industrial revolution to the Internet Revolution (where I learned my history) companies and individuals are tasked to educate themselves, adapt to a changing world, and solve the economic development puzzle.

Ok -- perhaps this is a bit dramatic for the forthcoming link, but the MSNBC article does make you think. The title/subject is the future trend of "green collar jobs". I'm not sure why, but that just makes me think of Mr. Green Jeans from the Captain Kangaroo show. :) Anyway....the article presents some pretty interesting statistics; including that "wind energy industry currently employs about 45,000 people in the U.S. and had $9 billion worth of investment last year, a 45 percent increase from 2006". Randall Swisher is quoted as saying that by 2030 there will be nearly half a million new jobs created in green industries.

Check out the MSNBC article here

Hosting Industry Consolidation

I think 2008 will have a lot of consolidation and mergers in the hosting industry. The dedicated and shared hosting business is tough.......and crowded. As companies try to focus and compete for customers and the coveted SaaS (yes, I said it) market they will see the benefits of joining forces and/or acquiring smaller/similar companies.

Alentus Corp. recently acquired the Ohio data center from AO Technologies. AO will continue to focus on the streaming media and become a colo customer of Alentus. I imagine that this data center for California based Alentus will provide a midwest facility for them without the hassle of building their own. AO was founded in 1996, so I certainly hope they have upgraded the data center since then! :) I'll admit that I had not heard of Alentus -- but they certainly have an impressive customer list!

Check out the article here

Cloud Computing

John M Willis has a very nice summary of cloud computing -- hype and all. John covers all aspects of it from myths to facts and the various levels of clouds. I will also admit that clouds are currently pretty high on the hype cycle, but like John -- I'm hooked!

Check out his post here

New Blog!

Ever since I have been following the Data Center industry I have had a side interest in Business Continuity Planning and Disaster Recovery. I have decided to dig into the topics much deeper, and as a means for me to learn the industry and concepts I have started a separate blog for it.

If these topics interest you, please check out my new blog -- BCP Links (bcplinks.blogspot.com)

Due Diligence

Scott Whitney (on the TechNewsWorld site) has an excellent article on his trials and tribulations for selecting a data center. Having worked in a colo facility for some time I can appreciate his problems and desire to get a root canal instead of evaluating data centers.

While the points he brings up are kind of 'the usual' list for me; it is a very complete list and good for anyone else looking to run down the list of what they should be thinking of when shopping around for colo space.

Check out the article here

“Think containers. They’re for real.”

This headline was a quote from Debra Chrapaty, Corporate VP of Global Foundation Services at the Cisco Nexus 7000 announcement.

As I may have mentioned a few hundred times, I simply don't get the container model. I have seen it, studied it and read most everything about it....but where can it (practically) be used?!?!

Well....I'm starting to turn the corner. Forrester research has a nice article on the topic and potential uses for it; and like Douglas Gourlay over on the Cisco Data Center Networks blog, I think I'll utilize the white board and run some numbers. There may be some possibilities for this model after all..... :)

New Data Center in Guam

GTA Teleguaum is a communications company in Guam, a small Pacific Ocean island. They recently opened a $60 million, 60,000 sq.ft datacenter for businesses on the island to have a safe and secure to operate their equipment.

I may not have even posted about this data center, but one fact about the facility is pretty interesting:

Ninety percent of the undersea cable system for voice and Internet traffic between the U.S. mainland and Asia comes to Guam, said Singapore-based Eric Handa, vice president of sales with global telecom giant Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd., or VSNL.

Check out the rest of the details in the article here

Another Google Data Center?

It seems like all of the news surrounding where the next mega Google data center would be located had died down. They made a number of announcements and after they slowed down, the buzz slowed down. Until now....

Is Colorado the next spot? Chris Sherman at SearchEngineLand has an article about a "mystery buyer" of a 432 acre plot. Chris makes some good points for why it could be a good location...guess we'll have to wait and see.

Check out the article here

Tuesday Links

• Now I have to change my Google Alerts from Sun Blackbox to Sun Modular DatCenter S20
• Cisco has a cool 3D view of the new Nexus 7000 series switch
• Here is a nice introductory write up on the anatomy of a DNS DDoS amplification attack
• Peter Christy has a nice article explaining the Cisco TrustSec architecture
• Google's $10 million investment in eSolar
• Continuing yesterday's post on wind energy - check out Marquiss Wind Power - ducted wind turbine

Winds of Opportunity

One thing I meant to get to in my site selection white paper that I just didn't find time for was maps of renewable energy sources across the U.S. While surfing tonight I ran across some information on Wind energy - something that has interested me for a while now. Google and others have been big on Hydro energy and I would by no means discount that as a valuable and beneficial energy source.

The U.S. Department of Energy has a nice web site for their Wind and Hydropower program. I found a subsection of the site called "Wind Powering America" that contained a lot of valuable information on wind power. I clicked through to an update presentation they had available and wow - this report is amazingly thorough and has some really nice maps, research, correlative data and is a really nice place for anyone looking to learn about wind power and all of the environmental and economic benefits to start.

The 20% Wind-Electricity vision states:

Wind energy will provide 20% of U.S. electricity needs by 2030, securing America’s leadership in reliable, clean energy technology. As an inexhaustible and affordable domestic resource, wind strengthens our energy security, improves the quality of the air we breathe, slows climate change, and revitalizes rural communities.

Check out the Wind Powering America Update presentation here

Cisco - Data Center Infrastructure Transformation

If you work in a data center or follow the industry, you certainly can not avoid Cisco. Even if you somehow managed to avoid Cisco gear in your network there is a good chance you use something that they have since acquired. In 2007 they had 11 acquisitions, including the big one -- Webex . Cisco has engineered some amazing products, bought the rest and orchestrated a $146 Billion company. The San Jose Mercury News has a nice article on how the company has reinvented itself and other information on the collaboration strategies they are rolling out.

Fundamental to the data center space was the July 2007 announcement about "Data Center 3.0" (I then declared Data Center 3.5 ) Cisco's Data Center 3.0 strategy is a collection of products to manage network and other data center assets. There was the Vframe , the DC Assurance Program , and numerous acquisitions, including Securent . In this month alone they have demonstrated Visual Networking at CES , extended their Application Network Services portfolio , and made an investment in ipaccess.com (market leader in femtocell technologies) . On top of all this, CEO John Chambers was on the panel for the World Economic Forum a little while back titled Corporate Global Citizenship in the 21st Century (YouTube link ). Hey John -- I can't even fathom your schedule, but how about a blog like Jonathan Schwartz does from you?

DC 3.0 is about enhancing business resiliency and agility(remember--the keyword/buzword from the Garnter conference? ) Now there is the Infrastructure Transformation stage of their Data Center 3.0 strategy. The DC Networks blog (Douglas Gourlay) hinted at this several weeks back . Today Cisco releases the details on the infrastructure transformation stage, and exeution of the DC 3.0 strategy. The 4 cornerstones of this announcement are:

1. Unified Fabric - convergence to a single network (Storage,Ethernet,IP and HPC traffic)
2. A new switching platform, Cisco Nexus - Multi-terabit platform for the most stringent availability needs.
3. NX-OS - multi-protocol, Data Center-class operating system.
4. DC Network Manager - end-to-end systems visibility.

The new Data Center-class switch - the Cisco Nexus 7000 series is a powerhouse that delivers a number of things: first, it is a zero service disruption design; second, it is capable of handling 40GbE/100GbE; and third, it has a 15 Terabit switching capacity. Cisco usually touts 'investment protection' in their switch line and I have to imagine that the 6500 series switches will have 40GbE and 100GbE cards in the future. The Nexus 7000 delivers investment protection through fabric modules (46Gps per slot) that support GbE, 10GbE, 40GbE and 100GbE modules. Another impressive feature is "integrated lights-out management". This means there is a separate network in place for applying changes, so as you remotely connect and make changes to a switch you don't have to worry about applying changes and being in the dark because you have restarted the network you were connected on. In a nutshell - it's their latest revision in the switch line that delivers support for the future, transport flexibility and efficient physical and power design.

The new Nexus 7000 series I/O modules are either a 32 port 10GbE card or a 48 port 10/100/1000 card. One of the cool new features of these cards is Cisco TrustSec. TrustSec was announced on December 5, 2007 and was promised to be available across the switching platform. It will be interesting to see the first labs run the 7000 series through testing to see what, if any overhead there is on the TrustSec product. The claim is that it is "wire-rate encryption" on a hop by hop basis.

Nexus (NX-OS) represents a new operating system to converge ethernet and SAN network protocols. This convergence and a zero service disruption design are its most impressive features. With NX-OS planned outages cause pre-emptive reconvergence around the device in a maintenance window. Think of it at as proactive, real-time ITIL Change Management. Pardon the marketing terms, but.... it provides a "virtualized control plane and scalable design", and it "sets a new standard for usability".

Other details being released today include:

• Data Center Network Manager - Complete infrastructure visibility and ease of configuration, troubleshooting and management.
• Catalyst 4900M Switch - high density uplinks, GbE and 10GbE Host and NAS
• Catalyst Blade Switch 3100 - coming in May 2008

Cisco will hold a Webcast today to discuss the changes and continued execution of the DC 3.0 strategy.

As a side note I started poking around in Second Life again recently....Cisco has a pretty cool plot inside of Second Life. They have a wealth of information about the company and products, as well as hold events regularly about various things . Their efforts here, the Telepresence offering and John Chambers saying "collaboration" every tenth word means that there are exciting times for this branch of Cisco coming. IDC thinks pretty highly of the collaboration group at Cisco as well:

"IDC predicts that Cisco (CSCO) will take the platform that they acquired with Webex, beyond just Web conferencing and other "collaboration" applications, to become an online platform for a wide range of business applications and services. "

Cisco holds their Q2 Financial results conference call in a little over a week.

Google's Iowa Data Center: Smart Move

Well Duh!! oh...sorry, was that out loud?

For anyone new to this blog, I was simply ecstatic that Google selected Iowa for one of their mega data centers. Bridget Botelho at Searchdatacenter.com has a nice article that explains why the experts agree that Iowa is a great place to build a data center. At the last Linux Users Group meeting we had two Google employees present and a member of the group inquired about the Google data center expected to be built just south of Ames.....pure speculation/guestimate by the way. The Google employees of course declined to answer. I would doubt that they would even know such a thing anyway.

Check out the Search Data Center article here

Charter Deletes 14,000 E-Mail Accounts

Charter Communications claims a "software glitch" was the cause of an accidental deletion of 14,000 active e-mail accounts. I post this, partially to poke a little fun at the 'accidental' part of it and partially just to further show that human error is the most likely cause in so many large goofs like this.

They claim it was a software error - that they regularly delete inactive accounts and this time 'some' active accounts slipped in. I bet if you were to ask the software company they would most likely say that their software was configured wrong -- by a human. Even routine procedures need to have a RFC (Request for Change) filled out, the process thought through, and a review board look over the change.

Check out the Cnet article here