A while back the Black Swan Real Estate Zine had a post I enjoyed. Typically you will see data center site selection articles about where TO build a facility, but Black Swan approached it from the other point of view -- 10 Places You Don't Want to Build.
My two favorite on their list are #5 - In a building that used to be something else and #6 - in a large metropolitan area. I see a number of stories about converted malls or warehouses that are now data centers, and while I'm sure in 'some' cases the retrofit study / cost analysis made sense, I view data centers as a very purpose-built facility that should not, if at all possible be "fit" into a building that was built for something else. Not building in a large metropolitan area is another one I believe in -- and not just for the reasons mentioned in the article or stories I've personally heard. If anyone is reading this from Dallas -- are your lights dimming? :)
A few days after that blog post I read another excellent point brought up by Dave Ohara on the Green (low carbon) Data Center blog. Dave brings up the error of a single number view vs. the range of performance. With a number of criteria to pour over when selecting a site, Dave points out that most criteria have relationships to other things and that a holistic approach is rarely executed, marrying site, building, IT hardware and software.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
The Heartland Green Up Conference
Just a few weeks left until The Heartland GreenUp! If you haven't heard about this event -- please check it out. It is shaping up to be an outstanding symposium and expo. The goal of the conference is to "promote awareness of and best practices in reducing overall energy consumption and carbon footprints in information technology. This premiere event provides a forum to discover and share new, innovative green products and services".
I am personally looking forward to a few of the keynote speakers - including Randy Mott from HP. Randy is executive vice president and chief information officer at HP. Also delivering keynotes are Andrew Fanara works from ENERGY STAR and Bill Weihl, Green Energy Czar at Google.
Please don't think of this as some little, local event -- this is global conference for all those interested in learning about GreenIT and networking with others in the industry. In ONE event, it will bring together:
I am going! Will you?
Register Now!
I am personally looking forward to a few of the keynote speakers - including Randy Mott from HP. Randy is executive vice president and chief information officer at HP. Also delivering keynotes are Andrew Fanara works from ENERGY STAR and Bill Weihl, Green Energy Czar at Google.
Please don't think of this as some little, local event -- this is global conference for all those interested in learning about GreenIT and networking with others in the industry. In ONE event, it will bring together:
"a group of global enterprise and government thought-leaders for one, intense day of networking: to share latest research, brass-tacks case studies and fast-paced total-immersion backgrounders on enterprise-wide sustainable IT best-practice; next-gen datacenter architectures, power management strategies and facilities engineering; cloud computing and virtualization; and on the nuts and bolts (and business case) for plugging into wind and solar, biomass and other emerging energy technologies"If not able to attend in person, the Technology Association of Iowa will host a Virtual GreenUp to let you attend keynotes, track sessions and network with speakers, sponsors and peers.
I am going! Will you?
Register Now!
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Mobile Data Centers Introduced in Vietnam
A story on Vietnam Business News caught my eye this weekend -- no, not a publication I 'usually' read, but thanks to a Google alert....
The story covers mobile data centers being offered in the Vietnamese market by Dot VN, Vietnam Internet Center and Elliptical Mobile Solutions (EMS). Once again, the marketing hype calls it "meeting Tier 4+ standard" -- not sure which Tier system they are talking about. :)
The mobile data center is being proposed to meet the demands of "a wide range of clients" and reduce "the size by 50% and save up to 50% of the initial investment." Dot VN will be the sole distributor of EMS solutions in Vietnam and non-exclusive distributor in Asia.
I've been interested in container data centers for a while -- so EMS interested me. Upon further research I found they are an Arizona based business that provides "high-tech enclosures for the mobilization, operation, environmental protection, and security of electronic equipment." They must have an IT background, because every one of their products is an acronym for something. I would not call what they make a 'data center' either, as it is just a single rack, or small enclosure with a pretty narrow focus/market.
They do list some interesting government/military applications for their product, and maybe this is where they shine. I remember when the Sun Blackbox container first came out -- they showed several applications where the Blackbox is deployed into remote areas where the technology needed served a very unique purpose.
Maybe you take an ISO shipping container, fill half of it with Bloom boxes and half of it with EMS R.A.S.E.R.'s and you have something!
P.S.: Does anyone know what's going to happen to the Sun Blackbox, post-Oracle acquisition??
The story covers mobile data centers being offered in the Vietnamese market by Dot VN, Vietnam Internet Center and Elliptical Mobile Solutions (EMS). Once again, the marketing hype calls it "meeting Tier 4+ standard" -- not sure which Tier system they are talking about. :)
The mobile data center is being proposed to meet the demands of "a wide range of clients" and reduce "the size by 50% and save up to 50% of the initial investment." Dot VN will be the sole distributor of EMS solutions in Vietnam and non-exclusive distributor in Asia.
I've been interested in container data centers for a while -- so EMS interested me. Upon further research I found they are an Arizona based business that provides "high-tech enclosures for the mobilization, operation, environmental protection, and security of electronic equipment." They must have an IT background, because every one of their products is an acronym for something. I would not call what they make a 'data center' either, as it is just a single rack, or small enclosure with a pretty narrow focus/market.
They do list some interesting government/military applications for their product, and maybe this is where they shine. I remember when the Sun Blackbox container first came out -- they showed several applications where the Blackbox is deployed into remote areas where the technology needed served a very unique purpose.
Maybe you take an ISO shipping container, fill half of it with Bloom boxes and half of it with EMS R.A.S.E.R.'s and you have something!
P.S.: Does anyone know what's going to happen to the Sun Blackbox, post-Oracle acquisition??
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Nuclear Energy Resurgence
In a recent speech on clean energy in Lanham, Maryland President Obama announced that his administration has approved an $8.3 billion loan guarantee to build the first nuclear power plant in the U.S. in three decades. His 2010 budget calls for $54 billion to be set aside for nuclear loan guarantees, so other announcements are sure to come. President Obama noted that "Japan and France have long invested heavily in this industry. Meanwhile, there are 56 nuclear reactors under construction around the world: 21 in China alone, 6 in South Korea, 5 in India."
The $8.3 million was awarded to Southern Co. to build twin nuclear reactors in Georgia. These reactors will be Westinhouse Electric Company's Ap1000 reactor design - the first to receive final design approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Westinghouse has a nice graphical depiction of how the AP1000 works here. A Forbes article on the announcement notes that "the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said last year that the AP1000 nuclear units needed to be redesigned because the commission feared the structure wouldn't stand up to strong winds."
Forbes also reports on GE's nuclear waste plans - where spent nuclear fuel would be used as raw material for a new type of nuclear reactor. GE's joint venture with Hitachi, called GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy could be a recipient for some of the remaining $54 billion in loan guarantees.
Last week at TED2010 Bill Gates talked about the nuclear reactor project at TerraPower, an incubated company from Intellectual Ventures which was founded by former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold. TerraPower uses a "traveling wave reactor design' - earth2tech explains that it uses a "small amount of enriched uranium at the beginning of the process, but then the nuclear reactor runs on the waste product and can make and consume its own fuel." A video explanation of the traveling-wave reactor and how it works can be found on the Intellectual Ventures Lab web site. earth2tech also has a post on 6 nuclear power startups to watch.
I haven't mentioned the data center angle yet - but with each site turning out Gigawatts instead of Megawatss - it's implied.
If the whole nuclear thing doesn't work out, then I say we start to power the data center (and the grid) by bike -- electricity generating gyms. :)
The $8.3 million was awarded to Southern Co. to build twin nuclear reactors in Georgia. These reactors will be Westinhouse Electric Company's Ap1000 reactor design - the first to receive final design approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Westinghouse has a nice graphical depiction of how the AP1000 works here. A Forbes article on the announcement notes that "the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said last year that the AP1000 nuclear units needed to be redesigned because the commission feared the structure wouldn't stand up to strong winds."
Forbes also reports on GE's nuclear waste plans - where spent nuclear fuel would be used as raw material for a new type of nuclear reactor. GE's joint venture with Hitachi, called GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy could be a recipient for some of the remaining $54 billion in loan guarantees.
Last week at TED2010 Bill Gates talked about the nuclear reactor project at TerraPower, an incubated company from Intellectual Ventures which was founded by former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold. TerraPower uses a "traveling wave reactor design' - earth2tech explains that it uses a "small amount of enriched uranium at the beginning of the process, but then the nuclear reactor runs on the waste product and can make and consume its own fuel." A video explanation of the traveling-wave reactor and how it works can be found on the Intellectual Ventures Lab web site. earth2tech also has a post on 6 nuclear power startups to watch.
I haven't mentioned the data center angle yet - but with each site turning out Gigawatts instead of Megawatss - it's implied.
If the whole nuclear thing doesn't work out, then I say we start to power the data center (and the grid) by bike -- electricity generating gyms. :)
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Financial Health of the Colocation Industry
I would like to preface this post with the statement that I am very much a novice when it comes to stock analysis and any form of insightful opinion into the valuation of a publicly held company. However, I think it is interesting, I'm learning, and it allows me to really dig into the inner workings of a company.
I decided to do a little analysis of the colocation industry and the specific stocks I was interested in
Key figures
The average price to earnings ratio for my colocation group is 24.1, with a few troublesome negative p/e's for Savvis (-60) and Terremark (-16). Another interesting one to look at was the debt-to-equity ratio. For the most part, the group stayed under 2.0, but Terremark's 6.18 and 3.61 for Savvis is an indicator of how they have been financing their growth. In the case of Terremark however, building such intense data centers like they do requires some serious capital outlay up front.
An interesting stock comparison number to look at is the revenue per employee. Digital Realty and Dupont Fabros aren't really in the same category as the rest in this group, and their revenue per employee figures reflected as much ($2.9 million and $2.6 million respectively). Otherwise Equinix and Internap were the highest with $745,000 and $597,500 respectively.
I ran across a few 'insights' from the industry on Equinix and Internap. The Motley Fool website included Equinix in their '5 Deathbed stocks?' article, talking about companies where revenues dry up, margins contract and profit evaporates. Apparently Equinix has an Altman Z-Score of 1.7. This score is used to predict the probability that a firm will go into bankruptcy within two years, utilizing multiple income and balance sheet values to measure the financial health of a company. I'm sure numbers don't lie, but I think I believe this one about as much as I believe in Jim Cramer's knowledge of the industry (in other words, I don't!). An article at Smartrend notes the uptrend for Internap by showing that they are currently above their 50 day moving average of $4.22 and above their 200 day average of $3.36.
Finally, I looked at Morningstar to review financial statistics on these companies. The morningstar 'grades' were interesting, as they analyzed growth, profitability and financial health of the company. Equinix received a B for both growth and financial health, but a F for profitability. Rackspace received the best grades with a C for growth and a B for both profitability and financial health.
If anyone is interested -- here is the Google spreadsheet where I tracked the data.
Overall I think the industry is doing well and set for a positive 2010. The toughest part may be just defining 'what' the industry really is. Many if not all of the financial sites I visited had not attempted to categorize the industry that these companies are in, or put them in odd categories with peers that really weren't industry equivalents at all. I think some of the smaller data center companies may be acquired and some interesting things will certainly happen in the related telecommunications sector.
I decided to do a little analysis of the colocation industry and the specific stocks I was interested in
- Equinix
- Digital Realty Trust
- Savvis
- Terremark
- Dupont Fabros
- Rackspace
- Internap
Key figures
The average price to earnings ratio for my colocation group is 24.1, with a few troublesome negative p/e's for Savvis (-60) and Terremark (-16). Another interesting one to look at was the debt-to-equity ratio. For the most part, the group stayed under 2.0, but Terremark's 6.18 and 3.61 for Savvis is an indicator of how they have been financing their growth. In the case of Terremark however, building such intense data centers like they do requires some serious capital outlay up front.
An interesting stock comparison number to look at is the revenue per employee. Digital Realty and Dupont Fabros aren't really in the same category as the rest in this group, and their revenue per employee figures reflected as much ($2.9 million and $2.6 million respectively). Otherwise Equinix and Internap were the highest with $745,000 and $597,500 respectively.
I ran across a few 'insights' from the industry on Equinix and Internap. The Motley Fool website included Equinix in their '5 Deathbed stocks?' article, talking about companies where revenues dry up, margins contract and profit evaporates. Apparently Equinix has an Altman Z-Score of 1.7. This score is used to predict the probability that a firm will go into bankruptcy within two years, utilizing multiple income and balance sheet values to measure the financial health of a company. I'm sure numbers don't lie, but I think I believe this one about as much as I believe in Jim Cramer's knowledge of the industry (in other words, I don't!). An article at Smartrend notes the uptrend for Internap by showing that they are currently above their 50 day moving average of $4.22 and above their 200 day average of $3.36.
Finally, I looked at Morningstar to review financial statistics on these companies. The morningstar 'grades' were interesting, as they analyzed growth, profitability and financial health of the company. Equinix received a B for both growth and financial health, but a F for profitability. Rackspace received the best grades with a C for growth and a B for both profitability and financial health.
If anyone is interested -- here is the Google spreadsheet where I tracked the data.
Overall I think the industry is doing well and set for a positive 2010. The toughest part may be just defining 'what' the industry really is. Many if not all of the financial sites I visited had not attempted to categorize the industry that these companies are in, or put them in odd categories with peers that really weren't industry equivalents at all. I think some of the smaller data center companies may be acquired and some interesting things will certainly happen in the related telecommunications sector.
Monday, January 04, 2010
Data Center Jobs
A number of 'data center' job openings have come up on my radar recently and so I went digging. Maybe the new year means new budgets and new initiatives to hire and fill data center jobs that the 2009 fiscal year just didn't allow. Maybe it's an indicator of a hot job market for the data center industry in 2010. Maybe I need to surf the web a little less and stop reading into things so much.
A nice trending tool for job searches can be found at indeed.com - a job search engine. Check out this graph on job trends for postings containing "data center" in them.
One of the items that started my search for data center jobs was a number of openings for the Google facility in Belgium. There were at least 10 'data center' related postings on LinkedIn by Google just today. Three of them were for the Saint-Ghislain, Belgium location. I've been very intrigued by Googles Belgium location ever since the Chiller-less data center information was out and I really think the 'follow-the-moon' concept is interesting.
On Google's web site they list current engineering openings for the Council Bluffs, Iowa, North Carolina, Oregon and South Carolina locations. Here is the Indeed.com job trends search for Google:
One final graph of interest given the acquisition of Switch & Data by Equinix:
A nice trending tool for job searches can be found at indeed.com - a job search engine. Check out this graph on job trends for postings containing "data center" in them.
One of the items that started my search for data center jobs was a number of openings for the Google facility in Belgium. There were at least 10 'data center' related postings on LinkedIn by Google just today. Three of them were for the Saint-Ghislain, Belgium location. I've been very intrigued by Googles Belgium location ever since the Chiller-less data center information was out and I really think the 'follow-the-moon' concept is interesting.
On Google's web site they list current engineering openings for the Council Bluffs, Iowa, North Carolina, Oregon and South Carolina locations. Here is the Indeed.com job trends search for Google:
One final graph of interest given the acquisition of Switch & Data by Equinix:
Thursday, December 31, 2009
2009 Review
I'm going to keep my final post of the year brief for a few reasons -- one, I waited until the very last minute to write it, and two, everyone is probably tired of 2009 reviews and 2010 predictions.
First - stocks. After over a year of manually tracking my own data center stock index I'm going to stop (actively) tracking it. I have found some amazingly cool Google Finance formulas for Google spreadsheet and should be able to create it on the fly when or if I want to. Check out this link to see the Google Finance snapshot of the stocks in my index currently. Another tool joining my arsenal is Wolfram Alpha. This site has some pretty awesome compute power for any number of search/compute queries. For instance - check out this comparison of Equinix, Terremark, Savvis and Internap stock information. Additionally, for the web geeks - check out the website data Wolfram Alpha generates - for instance, on equinix.com
The other Google tool I like to use this time of year is Google Insight. Check out this graph showing Worldwide web Search Interest for colocation, "data center", "cloud computing":
Here is an insight graph for search terms Equinix, Savvis, Terremark, Switch & Data and Digital Realty Trust:
My take on the biggest story for 2009 is tours of mega data centers such as Microsoft and Google and the planning of a $1 billion Apple data center. I (continue) to think that container data centers are a valid architecture, and not just for the big companies. Hey Microsoft - if you need me to go move some dirt to get the Des Moines, Iowa data center moving I'll do it. :)
The only prediction I'll make for 2010 is that it will be a breakout year for desktop virtualization. We'll finally come full circle from the green screen dumb terminals that talked to the mainframe, with virtualized desktops talking to the cloud.
I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and Happy 2010!
First - stocks. After over a year of manually tracking my own data center stock index I'm going to stop (actively) tracking it. I have found some amazingly cool Google Finance formulas for Google spreadsheet and should be able to create it on the fly when or if I want to. Check out this link to see the Google Finance snapshot of the stocks in my index currently. Another tool joining my arsenal is Wolfram Alpha. This site has some pretty awesome compute power for any number of search/compute queries. For instance - check out this comparison of Equinix, Terremark, Savvis and Internap stock information. Additionally, for the web geeks - check out the website data Wolfram Alpha generates - for instance, on equinix.com
The other Google tool I like to use this time of year is Google Insight. Check out this graph showing Worldwide web Search Interest for colocation, "data center", "cloud computing":
Here is an insight graph for search terms Equinix, Savvis, Terremark, Switch & Data and Digital Realty Trust:
My take on the biggest story for 2009 is tours of mega data centers such as Microsoft and Google and the planning of a $1 billion Apple data center. I (continue) to think that container data centers are a valid architecture, and not just for the big companies. Hey Microsoft - if you need me to go move some dirt to get the Des Moines, Iowa data center moving I'll do it. :)
The only prediction I'll make for 2010 is that it will be a breakout year for desktop virtualization. We'll finally come full circle from the green screen dumb terminals that talked to the mainframe, with virtualized desktops talking to the cloud.
I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and Happy 2010!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Review of 2009 Smart Grid News
Smart Grid is a topic captured my attention late last year and I have been (loosely) following the topic ever since. A Google Insights graph shows that I am right in line with everyone else and that 2009 was a big year for smart grid. In April 2009 I started collecting a few links on smart grid and this past summer I had every intention on posting a few links out to the things I had been reading. Well, the year just got away from me and later in the year I decided to do this 2009 roundup of news, sites and various links of interest. I know there is much more than what I have listed here, but these are my bookmarks.
Security in the smart grid is of particular interest to me. I've been in IT long enough, and have read Christopher Hoff's blog long enough now that I know security aspects of this technology can NOT be underestimated. Earlier this month President Obama appointed a new Cybersecurity Coordinator, Howard Schmidt. Let's just say I bet/hope security aspects of smart grid technologies are on his short list. Below is my list of smart grid websites about companies, products, projects and government related information. After that I'll list my news bookmark collection as 2009 progressed.
Smart Grid Companies / web sites / projects / government
2009 time line of events and news about smart grids.
Interest in the topic peaked in April when the U.S. power grid being hacked was a big story, and then again in October when President Obama announced $3.4 billion in funds to enable the "largest single energy grid investment in U.S. history." I have a few news stories about the current power grid, but (to me) they are related to the smart grid.
Security in the smart grid is of particular interest to me. I've been in IT long enough, and have read Christopher Hoff's blog long enough now that I know security aspects of this technology can NOT be underestimated. Earlier this month President Obama appointed a new Cybersecurity Coordinator, Howard Schmidt. Let's just say I bet/hope security aspects of smart grid technologies are on his short list. Below is my list of smart grid websites about companies, products, projects and government related information. After that I'll list my news bookmark collection as 2009 progressed.
Smart Grid Companies / web sites / projects / government
- NIST Smart Grid Interoperability Standards Project
- U.S. Dept. of Energy Office of Electricity delivery and energy reliability
- NationalGrid
- HowStuffWorks: How the smart grid will work
- GridWise Alliance
- Zigbee alliance: an association of companies working together to enable reliable, cost-effective, low-power, wirelessly networked, monitoring and control products based on an open global standard.
- EnerNOC: technology-enabled energy management solutions to help meet the needs of utility/grid operators.
- GridNet: Software intelligence to manage the smart grid
- ICE Energy: provider of distributed energy storage and smart grid solutions for optimizing energy system efficiency
- GE Ecomagination
- Cisco Smart Grid solutions
- Cisco EnergyWise
- IBM Smart Grid
- UtiliQ ranking of U.S. electrical utilities Analysis from IDC Energy Insights and Intelligent-Utility magazine
- SmartGrid stocks
- Smart Grid News
- SmartGrid - TMCNet portal
2009 time line of events and news about smart grids.
Interest in the topic peaked in April when the U.S. power grid being hacked was a big story, and then again in October when President Obama announced $3.4 billion in funds to enable the "largest single energy grid investment in U.S. history." I have a few news stories about the current power grid, but (to me) they are related to the smart grid.
- January 26: earth2tech FAQ: Smart Grid
- April 8 Cnet : Report: Spies hacked into US electricity grid
- April 9: U.S. Power Grid Hacked, Everyone Panic - Bruce Shneier
- April 9: Video - U.S. Power Grid Hacked
- April 9: CNN - Hacked power grid video on YouTube
- April 9: eWeek - Electric Power grid hack lights up cyber-security infrastructure experts
- April 16: White House: Vice President Biden Outlines Funding for Smart Grid Initiatives
- June 11: Government Computer News: DOE, NIST aim to secure smart grid
- July 12 Hacking Power : Feds Promise Smart Grid Security
- July 23: Science News: Electric grid still very vulnerable to electromagnetic weaponry
- July 28: IO Active - IOActive's Mike Davis to unveil smart grid research at Black Hat USA
- August 28: Cnet - Bill would give president emergency control of Internet
- September: InTech - Security, wireless standards on smart grid roadmap
- September 4: Defense contractors pursue the smart grid
- September 11: How to short-circuit the US power grid
- September 11: earth2tech - Utility interest in WiMAX for smart grid growing
- September 14: Computerworld - City 2.0: IT will make cities more engaging and energy-efficient
- September 16: ZDnet : IBM opens up systems framework for energy companies
- September 21-24 GridWeek
- September 24: Scientific American - How will the smart grid work?
- October 5: Business Week: The coming energy revolution
- October 21: Smart grid leads German revolution
- October 26: White House - President Obama explains the smart grid and economic recovery
- October 27: President Obama announces $3.4 Billion Investment to Spur Transition to Smart Energy Grid
- October 28: Here's where that smart grid money is going
- October 29: Network World : Q&A: Why IP is the right choice for Smart Grid
- October 29: Network World: Will smart grid power IPv6?
- November 7: Earth Times: Smart grid projects in 90 percent of U.S. states
- November 9: Data Center Knowledge: power grid hacking back in the news
- November 18-19 Green Beat 2009 conference on the smart grid
- November 20: Mother Nature Network: Smart technology may increase grid's vulnerability
- December 9: Renewable Energy Focus - GridWise alliance releases two smart grid reports.
- December 17: Smart Grid News: Report: Smart grid market could double in four years.
- December 18: U.S. Dept. of Energy - Secretary Chu announces efforts to strengthen US. electric transmission networks
- December 22: earth2tech: Top 10 trends for the smart grid in 2010, courtesy of Ray Bell.
- December 22: EE Times - Universities gear up for smart grid training
- December 25: The Hot Aisle - Want to understand the smart grid?
- May 18,19, 2010: The Networked Grid
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Writing For Data Center Knowledge
Over a month since my last blog post .... wow. Between the holidays, being busy at work and busy at home, I just have not found the time to blog. However, one main reason I haven't posted much here lately is the 'other' blog I write for. If you follow the data center industry then surely you have seen -- I am a contributor to the editorial team at the one and only Data Center Knowledge blog.
I have thoroughly enjoyed writing for the site and while much of what I'll cover is a roundup of news in the industry, I also have covered various topics or news more in-depth; such as:
The Data-Crunching Powerhouse Behind 'Avatar'
Blue Waters and the Supercomputing Frontier
I will continue to write 'other' stories here as I see fit.... although I also intend to just tweet them out if time does not permit a full blog post. I also intend to do some end of the year items regarding 2009 review, 2010 predictions and a final edition of my data center stock index.
I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
I have thoroughly enjoyed writing for the site and while much of what I'll cover is a roundup of news in the industry, I also have covered various topics or news more in-depth; such as:
The Data-Crunching Powerhouse Behind 'Avatar'
Blue Waters and the Supercomputing Frontier
I will continue to write 'other' stories here as I see fit.... although I also intend to just tweet them out if time does not permit a full blog post. I also intend to do some end of the year items regarding 2009 review, 2010 predictions and a final edition of my data center stock index.
I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Electricity Decentralization Study
I have been thinking about an update to my now 2 year old white paper on data center site selection. Many blog posts and articles on the web this past year have prompted me to think of many new additions that could be integrated in to it.
For instance -- TreeHugger.com reported today on a very interesting story about the 100-Mile Diet for Electricity? It discusses a new/second version of a study done by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) titled Energy Self-Reliant States. It is a very interesting article that of course ties into the number one priority for data centers -- power. The study argues that "the cost of constructing new transmission lines to carry the power and electricity losses during transmission could result in an electricity cost to the consumer that is about the same, or higher, than local generation with minimal transmission upgrades."
I have a blog post brewing on the red-hot topic for 2009, smart grids, that will summarize the industry news for the year and everything that is happening with smart grid technologies. Stay tuned.
For instance -- TreeHugger.com reported today on a very interesting story about the 100-Mile Diet for Electricity? It discusses a new/second version of a study done by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) titled Energy Self-Reliant States. It is a very interesting article that of course ties into the number one priority for data centers -- power. The study argues that "the cost of constructing new transmission lines to carry the power and electricity losses during transmission could result in an electricity cost to the consumer that is about the same, or higher, than local generation with minimal transmission upgrades."
I have a blog post brewing on the red-hot topic for 2009, smart grids, that will summarize the industry news for the year and everything that is happening with smart grid technologies. Stay tuned.
Microsoft Chicago Data Center Photo Tour
Although originally reported over a month ago at Data Center Knowledge --- CNet has a photo tour (follow-up or re-hash story) of the new Microsoft data center in Chicago today.
I am still hopeful that the data center Microsoft is planning for Des Moines will be their generation 4 data center model. I am extremely curious to see that in action. I've analyzed the video and pictures that they published last December a few thousand times trying to figure out each component and exactly how the containers are integrated and supported.
Hey Microsoft -- are you ready to build in Des Moines yet??!!?
I am still hopeful that the data center Microsoft is planning for Des Moines will be their generation 4 data center model. I am extremely curious to see that in action. I've analyzed the video and pictures that they published last December a few thousand times trying to figure out each component and exactly how the containers are integrated and supported.
Hey Microsoft -- are you ready to build in Des Moines yet??!!?
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Merger and Acquisition Targets
Mergers and acquisitions are always fun to speculate on. In this industry it seems like a week doesn't go by where some M&A activity is happening. With the recent Equinix acquisition of Switch and Data I have to wonder if more data center industry acquisitions will happen before the end of the year. Both Google and Cisco have said that shopping sprees will continue to gain speed in 2010.
thedeal.com had a Barron's article summary that intrigued me today about M&A speculation. The article points to 10 technology companies that are potential takeover candidates, including several that I have thought of:
thedeal.com had a Barron's article summary that intrigued me today about M&A speculation. The article points to 10 technology companies that are potential takeover candidates, including several that I have thought of:
- Riverbed (RVBD | $1.53B market cap): major competitor to Cisco's WAN Optimization and Application Acceleration products. I've always thought Cisco would buy them, but perhaps HP is better suited.
- NetApp (NTAP | $9.63B market cap): another possible target for Cisco. Otherwise maybe HP or Dell?
- F5 Networks (FFIV | $3.73B market cap): No idea; maybe HP or EMC
- Brocade (BRCD | $3.69B market cap): seems like HP is the lead candidate... if not, maybe EMC or IBM
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Switch and Data Shareholder Investigation
There was an interesting development in the Equinix acquisition of Switch and Data late this last week. Kendall Law Group announced a shareholder investigation into Switch and Data Board of Directors in connection with the proposed acquisition by Equinix.
Their release states:
The law offices of Howard G. Smith are apparently investigating as well.
Their release states:
"Kendall Law Group’s investigation concerns whether the consideration to be paid to shareholders below the fair or inherent value of the Company and whether the directors and may have breached their fiduciary duties by not acting in the shareholders’ best interests in connection with the sale process."Kendall is a national law firm and are either very large, or sue-happy, because there were 8 other investigation or class-action lawsuits announced last week according to their site.
The law offices of Howard G. Smith are apparently investigating as well.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Iowa Now Second Largest Wind Producer
The Wall Street Journal reports that Iowa has become the second largest producer of wind power in the U.S.. Tax breaks, cost recovery assurance and few zoning regulations for wind turbines are cited as reasons for the ranking.
At the end of the second quarter of 2009, Iowa had 3,043 megawatts of total wind capacity, compared with 8,361 megawatts in Texas and 2,787 megawatts in California, according to the wind-energy association. The article continues by saying that Iowa is flat landscape and lies in an enviable position on the grid - close to load centers like Chicago and Milwaukee.
Power transmission is now the road block to continued success in Iowa. Roya Stanley, Director of the Iowa Office of Energy Independence said "While we still have some room on the grid in the state, it will be critical to have agreement regionally for further transmission build-out."
The WSJ also has a very interesting article on Five Technologies that Could Change the Energy Picture. It discusses space-based solar power, advanced car batteries, utility storage, carbon capture and storage, and next-generation biofuels.
At the end of the second quarter of 2009, Iowa had 3,043 megawatts of total wind capacity, compared with 8,361 megawatts in Texas and 2,787 megawatts in California, according to the wind-energy association. The article continues by saying that Iowa is flat landscape and lies in an enviable position on the grid - close to load centers like Chicago and Milwaukee.
Power transmission is now the road block to continued success in Iowa. Roya Stanley, Director of the Iowa Office of Energy Independence said "While we still have some room on the grid in the state, it will be critical to have agreement regionally for further transmission build-out."
The WSJ also has a very interesting article on Five Technologies that Could Change the Energy Picture. It discusses space-based solar power, advanced car batteries, utility storage, carbon capture and storage, and next-generation biofuels.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Waves, BIG Waves and Outage Explanation
Quite the news day this Tuesday, September 29, 2009
1. Google Wave will send out 100,000 invitations to Google Wave tomorrow. This is shaping up to be 'the' killer app of the year/decade. With the hype machine in full swing we'll see if it lives up to the promise. I have my request in for an invite!
2. BIG wave : after a magnitude 8.0 earth quake was recorded near American Samoa, a Tsunami warning for the South Pacific was issued. A Tsunami advisory was apparently issued for Northern California.
3. The Google Apps Sep.24 outage was a result of a high load on Google Contacts. Contacts is an integral part of Google Wave.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Cloud Computing Analysis From Irving Wladawsky-Berger
Just a quick link to an outstanding blog post by Irving Wladawsky-Berger. I've linked to him before, because I thoroughly enjoy his thoughts and analysis. Among the amazing amount of cloud computing hype out there, Irving truly gets it and shows us how clouds and computing have evolved and will continue to.
Check out his August 31 post on The Data Center in the Cambrian Age. He compares cloud computing to the Cambrian Age, a geological period where evolution accelerated rapidly into more complex life forms. He also references an excellent paper done by Google engineers Luis Andre Barroso and Urs Hoelzle on Wharehouse-Scale computers.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Data Centre Stock Index Launched
The Broad Group has announced the "World's first global data centre market performance index". The index is a partnership with Data Centre News and AHV Associated LLP, a corporate finance advisor based in London. The index is a capitalisation-weighted index of large companies in the data center sector from all over the world. The index has shown so far that the U.S. dominates companies in the sector and that the sector is yielding good returns for the leading public companies engaged in data centres.
I of course, MUST protest about the "first data center index" claim of course. :) Just about a year ago I started my own capitalization-weighted index of companies I felt were at the heart of the data center industry. I recently posted an update with the graphs for how it has been doing. I maintain it in Google Spreadsheets, and would be happy to share it if anyone is interested.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
The Internet turns 40
As a follow-up to my post yesterday on BBN -- I found this article at ComputerWorld about the Internet turning 40. September 2, 1969 (very good year) computer scientists at UCLA created the first network connection between two computers. Companies present during this exciting time were GTE Corp., DARPA, Honeywell and Scientific Data Systems.
The article interviews UCLA distinguished Professor of Computer Science Leonard Kleinrock, who was one of the men who enabled the two computers to exchange data. The UCLA web site also has a personal history/biography of Kleinrock: "The Birth of the Internet"
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Raytheon Acquires BBN Technologies
Government contractor Raytheon has acquired BBN Technologies. Most people (I think) won't even recognize the company name BBN Technologies. I've been in IT long enough (barely) that I remember BBN from the very early days of the Internet. BBN is a Massachusetts company known for the development of packet switching, including work for the ARPANET; predecessor to the Internet. They also developed the first TCP protocol for Unix. Wikipedia has the wonderful merger and acquistion history for BBN:
Following the acquisition, BBN Technologies will become part of Raytheon Network Centric Systems.
I had not been to the BBN web site in quite some time ; upon browsing, they have some pretty amazing research projects listed:
BBN was acquired by GTE in 1997 and BBN's ISP division BBN Planet was joined with GTE's national fiber network to became GTE Internetworking, "powered by BBN". When GTE and Bell Atlantic merged to become Verizon in 2000, the ISP portion of BBN was included in assets spun off as Genuity. In March 2004, Verizon sold BBN to a group of private investors. In September 2009 Raytheon entered into an agreement to acquire BBN
Following the acquisition, BBN Technologies will become part of Raytheon Network Centric Systems.
I had not been to the BBN web site in quite some time ; upon browsing, they have some pretty amazing research projects listed:
- Flexible Intra-autonomous-system Routing Environment
- Smart Environment for Network Control, Monitoring and Management
- Density-and Asymmetry-aware wireless Networking
- Proprietary waveforms for wireless networks
- Terabit router traffic engineering
Network World has a very nice article (back in May) on DARPA military research projects. Check this one out (from the Network World article):
DARPA's Quantum Entanglement Science and Technology (QuEST) program is creating new quantum information science technologies, focusing on loss of information due to quantum decoherence, limited communication distance due to signal attenuation, protocols, and larger numbers of quantum bits (Qubits) and their entanglement. Key among the program's challenges is integrating improved single- and entangled-photon and electron sources and detectors into quantum computation and communication networks. Defense applications include highly secure communications, algorithms for optimization in logistics, highly precise measurements of time and position on the earth and in space, and new image and signal processing methods for target tracking.
Now -- I'm off to read patent 7,242,774 : Quantum Cryptography Based on Phase Entangled Photons
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Green Storage, Smart Grids, and Wireless Spectrum for Utility Providers
Earth2tech has an excellent article on smarter storage -- how data storage can account for up to 40 percent of the energy consumed by a data center. GigaOm's Tom Trainer offered data de-duplication and thin provisioning as technologies that were helping the greening efforts. 3Par is a leader in thin provisioning, which is a "mechanism that applies to large-scale centralized computer disk storage systems, SAN's and storage virtualization systems". 3Par recently helped Mary Kay save 50% in storage capacity and 60% administration time with 3PAR Utility Storage and six InServ storage servers.
Last week Vint Cerf had a Google Public Policy blog post titled Where the smart grid meets the Internet. Vint has some awesome insight (as always) into building the smart grid and how it is essentially a nascent energy Internet. He stresses open protocols, open standards and free access to all of the energy information generated.
Finally -- Earth2tech also has an article today about American Electric Power (AEP) telling the FCC that a dedicated licensed spectrum is sorely needed by utilities. AEP is saying that as more smart grid services are rolled out, more and more network bandwidth is needed.
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