I built my datacenter in 5 minutes sticker

I blogged about the Amazon Web Services stickers AWS is offering, and I had an envelope full of stickers when I returned from my trip to DCD SF.

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I took the "I built my datacenter in 5 minutes" sticker and put it on my laptop along with "work hard. have fun. make history."

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Can your company compete against a bunch of start-ups who are building data center capacity in 5 minutes leveraging Amazon's purchasing power?

Sometimes it is speed of action that wins.

Being able to quickly add and remove capacity is a strategy to green a data center.  This method allows AWS to resell the capacity you don't need which is more efficient, cost effective, and lowers the environmental impact of compute resources.  What does your company do with its idle compute resources?

At DCD SF there was a cloud computing discussion that would have been interesting to get Amazon Web Services as a presenter.

Executive Roundtable: Game Changers – The Impact of the Cloud, Unified Computing and Applications
Managing the Scale of Data Processing, Applications, Content Storage, Data Communications, Risk, Compliance, and Governance
Wael Diab, Technical Director, Broadcom
Tom Mornini, CTO and Co-founder - Engine Yard
James Hughes, Principal Architect – Core Network Product Line – Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd (USA)
Stephen Worn, CTO & Managing Director - DatacenterDynamics

I'll see if the AWS folks would be interested in participating in a DCD event.

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I built my datacenter in 5 minutes - AWS sticker

AWS has a trade offer for AWS fans. 

Amazon will send you the following stickers in exchange for.

  • Some stickers from your company or group.
  • A picture of your team, perhaps enhanced with your company or product logo.
  • An interesting piece of SWAG.
  • A blog post detailing the ways in which your company puts AWS to use, complete with an architecture diagram.

    • If you'd like some stickers, send us your offering and include a self-addressed envelope (we'll take care of the postage) to the following address:

    Amazon Web Services
    Attn: AWS Stickers
    P.O. Box 81226
    Seattle, WA
    98108-1300

    Hopefully, by writing this blog entry one of my AWS friends can get me some stickers. :-)  I want the datacenter one.

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    Amazon Web Services Status May 2010 - 166 Jobs & latest presentations

    I was in Home Depot yesterday and saw one of my ex-Microsoft friends who joined Amazon Web Services 4 years ago when people weren't familiar with the term Cloud Computing.  We had a quick catch-up in between Grill Aisle and Lawn Mowers.  I told him how I blogged about AWS having 100 job openings. Curious I checked today and there were 147 US jobs and 19 Int'l jobs for AWS.

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    Think about it if you assume AWS is staffing up and the open headcount represents 20% of the job positions, there are 664 AWS current employees. 

    Here are the latest presentations that AWS team uses.

    From Amazon

    From Our Customers

    I need to make a point of visiting Amazon Web Services in its new building.  It's much easier to visit by public transit than the current HQ.

    Amazon.com Begins Moving Into New SLU Headquarters

    By Lora

    ( report abuse ) ( add your comment )

    South Lake Union’s newest neighbor has arrived!  After much anticipation, Amazon.com employees began moving into the first phase of their new headquarters this week.   The entire headquarters will be opening in phases until 2013, and Amazon’s total footprint in SLU is about 2 million square feet. 

    Many of you who live and work in the area have likely seen the first buildings taking shape along Terry Avenue, with more buildings still under construction.  The first phase that was just completed includes three new buildings plus the historic Van Vorst Building (which in its past life used to serve as a stable for delivery-wagon horses).  The public plaza also features a striking piece of mosaic artwork created by local artist Ann Gardner.

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    Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Nokia, Digital Realty Trust, Dupont Fabros vs. ASHRAE standard 90.1 requirement for economizers limits innovation - comment to be heard

    Google's Public Policy blog has a post with some of the most innovative data center operators.

    Chris Crosby, Senior Vice President, Digital Realty Trust
    Hossein Fateh, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dupont Fabros Technology
    James Hamilton, Vice President and Distinguished Engineer, Amazon
    Urs Hoelzle, Senior Vice President, Operations and Google Fellow, Google
    Mike Manos, Vice President, Service Operations, Nokia
    Kevin Timmons, General Manager, Datacenter Services, Microsoft

    This collection and probably many others are appealing to ASHRAE to change the requirement for economizers.

    Unfortunately, the proposed ASHRAE standard is far too prescriptive. Instead of setting a required level of efficiency for the cooling system as a whole, the standard dictates which types of cooling methods must be used. For example, the standard requires data centers to use economizers — systems that use ambient air for cooling. In many cases, economizers are a great way to cool a data center (in fact, many of our companies' data centers use them extensively), but simply requiring their use doesn’t guarantee an efficient system, and they may not be the best choice. Future cooling methods may achieve the same or better results without the use of economizers altogether. An efficiency standard should not prohibit such innovation.

    I know many of these above people and thanks to a friend they forwarded me this link to Google's blog post, I speculated on what drove the economizer requirement:

    1. Without talking to anyone, one assumption is this group who are active in ASHRAE brought up the energy efficiency issue early on, and ASHRAE stakeholders, most likely vendors who make economizers saw an opportunity to make specific equipment a requirement of energy efficiency data centers.  I could be wrong, but it would explain why an organization who sets standards would choose to specify equipment instead of performance.
    2. In many established data center organizations like financials, economizers are/were unacceptable in data centers a few years back.  So, is the move to establish economizers a reaction to those who refused to use economizers for energy efficient cooling.
    3. The ASHRAE consulting community sees a need for their services to meet ASHRAE's economizer requirement.  For example, if in a given area there are X number of hours a year that are available for running economizers, does the economizer need to be run for a specific %.  Hire an ASHRAE consultant to interpret the standard.  I sure can't.

    The data center group above proposes the following as a better update to the ASHRAE standard.

    Thus, we believe that an overall data center-level cooling system efficiency standard needs to replace the proposed prescriptive approach to allow data center innovation to continue. The standard should set an aggressive target for the maximum amount of energy used by a data center for overhead functions like cooling. In fact, a similar approach is already being adopted in the industry. In a recent statement, data center industry leaders agreed that Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) is the preferred metric for measuring data center efficiency. And the EPA Energy Star program already uses this method for data centers. As leaders in the data center industry, we are committed to aggressive energy efficiency improvements, but we need standards that let us continue to innovate while meeting (and, hopefully, exceeding) a baseline efficiency requirement set by the ASHRAE standard.

    It doesn't make any sense that all data centers built to ASHRAE's standards have to use economizers. If you choose to have a waterfront data center and could use the body of water as a heat sink for your cooling, ASHRAE wouldn't allow it or would they?

    The public comment period is open until April 19.  If you disagree with ASHRAE's economizer requirement comment on this blog or Google's blog post.

    I was able to talk to Google's Chris Malone on this topic after I wrote the above.  The main concern Google has is if you are trying to be innovative in energy efficiency the last thing you want is a barrier saying you have to use a particular technology.

    In other words, the standard should set the required efficiency without prescribing the specific technologies to accomplish that goal. That’s how many efficiency standards work; for example, fuel efficiency standards for cars specify how much gas a car can consume per mile of driving but not what engine to use.

    Imagine if MPG numbers were mandated by use of hybrid, diesel, or turbocharger.  It is obvious that the most innovative MPG is going to come from those who have the freedom to use any technology.

    You should soon see other data center bloggers write on this issue.  If you think this is wrong comment on the Google Blog post or one of the others.

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    GreenPeace targets Cloud Data Centers environmental impact and use of coal power

    I blogged back in July 2009 asking what would be Greenpeace's target for environmental impact of data centers, speculating Apple, Google, Microsoft as a possible target.  Well Greenpeace uses the Apple brand recognition and the iPad announcement to create awareness.

    The announcement of Apple’s iPad has been much
    anticipated by a world with an ever-increasing appetite for
    mobile computing devices as a way to connect, interact,
    learn and work. As rumours circulated – first about its
    existence and then about its capabilities - the iPad
    received more media attention than any other gadget in
    recent memory. Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs
    finally showcased his company’s latest creation before a
    rapt audience in San Francisco. From their smart phones
    and netbooks, the crowd feverishly blogged and tweeted
    real time updates out to a curious world.

    Greenpeace report cover: Cloud Computing and Climate Change
    Whether you actually want an iPad or not, there is no
    doubt that it is a harbinger of things to come. The iPad
    relies upon cloud-based computing to stream video,
    download music and books, and fetch email. Already,
    millions access the ‘cloud’ to make use of online social
    networks, watch streaming video, check email and create
    documents, and store thousands of digital photos online
    on popular web-hosted sites like Flickr and Picasa.


    The term cloud, or cloud computing, used as a metaphor
    for the internet, is based on an infrastructure and business
    model whereby - rather than being stored on your own
    device - data, entertainment, news and other products
    and services are delivered to your device, in real time,
    from the internet. The creation of the cloud has been a
    boon both to the companies hosting it and to consumers
    who now need nothing but a personal computer and
    internet access to fulfill most of their computing needs.

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    Greenpeace has been making noise about Facebook's data center, and now has started the public awareness in this pdf.

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    I know of some companies that have a sigh of relief they are not on the Greenpeace list.

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    Some of you have noticed I made a change last week to the blog title and now have Green (low carbon) data center.

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    Green is such an overloaded term it made sense to clarify a focus on discussing low carbon as a goal of a green data center.  Note the following in the Greenpeace pdf.


    More cloud-computing companies are pursuing design and siting
    strategies that can reduce the energy consumption of their data
    centres, primarily as a cost containment measure. For most
    companies, the environmental benefits of green data design are
    generally of secondary concern.

    Cloud computing infographic
    Facebook’s decision to build its own highly-efficient data centre in
    Oregon that will be substantially powered by coal-fired electricity clearly
    underscores the relative priority for many cloud companies. Increasing
    Key trends that will impact the environmental footprint of the cloud
    the energy efficiency of its servers and reducing the energy footprint
    of the infrastructure of data centres are clearly to be commended, but
    efficiency by itself is not green if you are simply working to maximise
    output from the cheapest and dirtiest energy source available. The US
    EPA will soon be expanding its EnergyStar rating system to apply to
    data centres, but similarly does not factor in the fuel source being used
    to power the data centre in its rating criteria. Unfortunately, as our
    collective demand for computing resources increases, even the most
    efficiently built data centres with the highest utilisation rates serve only
    to mitigate, rather than eliminate, harmful emissions.

    Some people thought the hype about Facebook's coal power was a fad.  No it is a trend and the start of evaluating the carbon impact of data centers.

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    Here is a sampling of other media coverage.

    Coal Fuels Much Of Internet "Cloud", Says Greenpeace

    New York Times - Peter Henderson - ‎5 hours ago‎

    By REUTERS SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The 'cloud' of data which is becoming the heart of the Internet is creating an all too real cloud of pollution as ...

    Greenpeace issues warning about data centre power

    BBC News - ‎7 hours ago‎

    Greenpeace is calling on technology giants like Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo and Facebook to power their data centres with renewable energy sources. ...

    Data clouds called out for dirty energy

    Marketplace (blog) - ‎5 hours ago‎

    Environmental activities are concerned about server farms' use of dirty energy to keep sites like Google and Facebook running. ...

    Greenpeace: Cloud Contributes to Climate Change

    Data Center Knowledge - Rich Miller - ‎5 hours ago‎

    The environmental group Greenpeace says data center builders must become part of the solution to the climate change challenge, rather than part of the ...

    Cloud computing 'fuels climate change'

    PCR-online.biz - Nicky Trup - ‎8 hours ago‎

    The growth of cloud computing could cause a huge increase in greenhouse gas emissions, Greenpeace has warned. ...

    2020: Cloud Computing GHG Emissions To Triple

    Basil & Spice - ‎9 hours ago‎

    San Francisco, United States — As IT industry analysts label 2010 the “Year of the Cloud”, a new report by Greenpeace shows how the launch of quintessential ...

    Greenpeace criticises coal-fuelled internet cloud

    TechRadar UK - Adam Hartley - ‎10 hours ago‎

    Eco-campaigners at Greenpeace have criticised the idea of an internet 'cloud' - with data centres built by the likes of Facebook, Apple, ...

    The iPad, internet, and climate change links in the spotlight

    Greenpeace USA - ‎13 hours ago‎

    International — On the eve of the launch of the iPad, our latest report warns that the growth of internet computing could come with a huge jump in ...

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