Discussing Google, Apple and Microsoft OS

It is interesting reading the latest reporting of Google’s OS and where they are going.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Google's dual-pronged operating-system strategy will likely produce a single OS down the road, according to Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

Many Google observers were puzzled when the companyannounced plans for Chrome OS in July, coming amidgrowing acceptance of the company's Android operating-system project as a smartphone and Netbook OS. After all, why design an open-source operating system with the goal of reinventing the personal computing experience when you're currently developing another open-source operating system with the goal of reinventing the mobile computing experience?

Google executives, including CEO Eric Schmidt, have downplayed the conflict ever since, asking for time to let the projects evolve. And a few days after Chrome OS was revealed, Android chief Andy Rubin said device makers "need different technology for different products," explaining that Android has a lot of unique code that makes it suitable for use in a phone and Chrome has unique benefits of its own.

But Brin, speaking informally to reporters after the company's Chrome OS presentation on Thursday, said "Android and Chrome will likely converge over time," citing among other things the common Linux and Webkit code base present in both projects.

As part of my 2 year anniversary writing this blog, I am taking more time to share my background and  perspectives.

I am writing this post on a plane trip from SJ to Seattle, so I have a bit of time to reflect on my latest trip. And, one of the ways I consider myself extremely lucky is to understand different perspectives.

Let me share some ideas of Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT).  And, none of what I am sharing is based on visiting these companies on my latest trip or direct interviews.  Huh?  On my trips to the bay area I try to meet one of my smartest guys I know.  We worked together at Apple and Microsoft, so we have known each other for over 20 years.  We have another mutual friend who we worked with, and we compare perspectives on where things are going.  20 years ago, we were all working on the Mac OS, now we are all working on data center related issues, so we are used to be able have complete control over things at Apple, but now we have smaller parts in a much bigger problem.

Now, when we get together we rapidly bounce from what Apple is doing to Microsoft, then Google, and a bunch of other companies.  Discussing who is working on the most interesting computer technology.

We were talking about how cool it is that Google gets these guys to talk about what they are doing in technologies.  One point I made of why this is good is the act of trying to explain your ideas forces you to simplify and articulate the value of what you are working on. Repeating the presentation forces you to iterate on where the value is and why it is important.  Your audience gains value, but the presenter and its company gains knowledge figuring out what is of value. Valuable content is more viral and spreads.  And, this has a connection to your products.

We briefly discussed Microsoft as we worked together at Microsoft, and discussed the developer community.  We both have worked on the Mac OS and Windows OS, so we are used to discussing new OS technologies and the developer benefit.  Without apps that use the platform, the value of an OS feature is minimal.  Which brings me back to the previous paragraph on sharing ideas.  You can look at OS developer features as the challenge of explaining ideas that are viral and have value.  Those developers who can explain their ideas better, iterating on the explanation, have a higher probability developing features that users want.

Now what has this got to do with the data center.  Well, not much yet.  But, let’s now continue to where the developer community is going.  Windows and Mac OS API developers are in decline.  Java, AJAX, Ruby, and HTML are growing much faster.  And, the platform is the browser -  Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and IE.   As browser apps grow, the cloud is more important which fits in a cloud computing model which has the all the hype.

So, even though I write about data centers on this blog.  There is a bigger plan on how the data centers fit in the changing computing environments.  Data Centers are resources for computing.  It was client-server applications in the past.  Now it is becoming browser-cloud apps.

The Green Data Center is going to be one that doesn’t just have the best PUE, but the one that in the overall system enables the lower resource use.  Shifting computing to be in data center, using less resources to low power devices is more efficient than having high powered clients.  Smart phones and netbooks are the high growth devices, and the utility is growing fast to do more and more of the things you used to need a laptop or desktop.

Not to say efficient power and cooling systems are not important, but they are only one part in a complex systems.  The interaction of all the pieces are not well understood to figure out the most efficient use of resources.  Solving this complex problem is what drives me to keep talking about the subject of green data center.  Constantly iterating on what is of value.  As I figure out what has value, it helps figure out what people should do.  What people should do is what I share on this blog.  And, it helps create better products and services that use less resources.

In my past life, I traveled a lot giving presentations.  With my blog www.greenm3.com ,  I can share more ideas and quicker to a world-wide audience.  Which is a lot greener, saves money, more effective, and better for my family life.

Thanks for continuing to visit my blog.

-Dave Ohara

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Evolution of Data Center – Where is the battle for survival?

Thanks to a connection with Eleanor Wynn at Intel Developer Forum discussing social networking, I was invited as a business guest to Santa Fe Institute Business Network. The theme of this year’s event was evolution.  After two intense days and nights hanging around a bunch of PhD’s and business people who think about complex systems.

An Introduction

The Santa Fe Institute is a private, not-for-profit, independent research and education center founded in 1984, for multidisciplinary collaborations in the physical, biological, computational, and social sciences. Understanding of complex adaptive systems is critical to addressing key environmental, technological, biological, economic, and political challenges.

Renowned scientists and researchers come to Santa Fe Institute from universities, government agencies, research institutes, and private industry to collaborate in attempts to uncover the mechanisms that underlie the deep simplicity present in our complex world.

I have some ideas to write on the evolution of the data center.

Survival of fittest is a common term used in evolution and Darwin, and can be applied to the concept of an artificial system like data centers and IT.  Within an organization there is competition for resources and budget.  Where problems occur is when the competition becomes more internal vs. external resource battles.

Those organizations who fight mostly internal battles for survival with limited budget and resources are fighting for survival within the organization. Those organizations who focus on beating the competition for users/customers with IT services create models of what they should be doing to work together to win the scarce resources of customers and their money.The competition for survival with external competitors vs. internal competitors identifies those who model the effectiveness of their IT organizations efforts to support the business.

A clear focus on the impact to the business and customers, changes the evolution of IT.  Now if you are big enough you can throw enough money at IT so you do get the business benefits, but how much of the budget is going to feed the internal battles?  The internal battles will actually grow disconnected from business growth.  Which could be used to explain why IT budgets growth is a problem, and the answer is to limit the budgets.  This action can limit the growth of business and frustrate business units, but with limited resources in these times it is standard practice.

And who wins?  The companies who can allocate IT resources to win more customers.

It’s too bad we can’t have a PUE (power usage effectiveness) for IT systems.  How much is the total IT spend divided by the valued IT services to users?  I would bet most companies have IT PUE over 2.0. 

And the leaders of  IT PUE are Google and Amazon, because they are fighting battles for end users as a higher percentage vs. internal battles.

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GreenM3 1,000 blog post – We are as gods

This is my 1,000 blog post, and I have been thinking about what to write about.  But, I didn’t get to 1,000 blog posts in 2 years by spending a bunch of time thinking about what to write.

2 years ago I started this blog to discuss the green data center topic and had a goal to get in the top ten of Google search.  Knock on wood, I am #1 on Google search for “green data center” out of 116,000,000.

Google

Web

Results 1 - 10 of about 116,000,000 for green data center. (0.34 seconds)

Search Results

  1. Green Data Center Blog

    Monitoring, Modeling, Managing the Green Data Center.
    www.greenm3.com/ - Cached - Similar -

  2. Apple Recruits eBay Data Center Executive Olivier Sanche, Can ...

    Aug 10, 2009 ... I have been lucky to meet eBay's Sr. Director, Data Center Services & Strategy, Olivier Sanche at a variety of data center events and ...
    www.greenm3.com/.../can-apple-change-data-centers-the-way-they-changed-cell-phone-and-media-players-apple-recruits-ebay-data-center-exec... - Cached -

    Show more results from www.greenm3.com

My most popular post is when Apple recruited eBay’s Data Center Executive Olivier Sanche.  With one post the Mac community knew Apple was serious about data centers, and Olivier became a known to people inside Apple.

Yesterday I saw a presentation by Steward Brand as a welcome presentation at Santa Fe Institute Business Network.  Stewart has a recent book Whole Earth Discipline. One point that struck me as interesting from Stewart’s presentation is. “We are as gods and might as well get good at it.”  This quote is infamous in context of understanding Whole Systems.image

After 2 years of blogging and realizing how popular my Google search results are the consequences of what I write like Olivier’s move to Apple can have impact beyond my blog. Just like the quote above I need to keep on figuring how to “get good at it.”  There are a bunch of data center innovators out there, and this is simple test they all pass, they are figuring out how to “get good at it.”

Thanks for reading as I keep on figuring out how to write about Green Data Centers.

-Dave Ohara

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Triple Pundit launches green data center series

One of the organizations I have started to discussions with is www.triplepundit.com regarding green data centers.  Here is background on 3p.

Welcome to 3p

about-logo3pTriple Pundit is an innovative new-media company that brings clarity to the triple bottom line impact of business, by providing intelligent, balanced analysis of new business initiatives, startups, corporate titans and cube-dwelling change agents.

We are critical optimists who write about the creation and development of sustainable organizations, brands, and business cultures- innovative solutions that make business better. We strive to bring solutions to the forefront, but we don’t have all the answers. You can help us shape the future of 3P – and conscious business – by joining in the conversation and sharing your ideas.

And 3p’s intro post for the topic.

3p’s Data Center Week: Creating a Context for Green IT

By Ashwin Seshagiri | November 9th, 2009 0 Comments

green data centerFor many of us, the data center is something we all know exists; and as we have been reading more and more, it is something that needs “greening” to improve large corporations’ environmental footprints.

Yet, aside from the select few that work and think about data centers on a day-to-day basis, the majority of the public, business leaders, and even sustainability experts couldn’t explain how data centers work, let alone what it takes to make them more efficient and environmentally friendly.

Over the course of the week, 3p will be showcasing the perspectives of experts and thought leaders in the data center industry, as well trend analysis, in an attempt to create a context for how they fit within the larger economic and environmental bottom lines.

Stay tuned.

The first post I contributed is on data centers as information factories. I wrote my own first draft of the article to this audience and the editor Ashwin Seshagiri helped polish the post for the 3p audience, so this is a repeat of ideas already on my blog.

Data Centers as Information Factories

By 3p Guest Author | November 9th, 2009 0 Comments

green-data-centers-banner

By Dave Ohara, Data Center Consultant and Publisher of GreenM3.com

Information Factory

Photo Courtesy of Google

I have been writing on the Green Data Center topic for more than two years. After more than 1,000 blog posts, one of the things that I have found is the name “data center” doesn’t mean what most people who don’t work on them think they are. In the past, there was one corporate building that was the place where data was housed for the corporation. But now, that no longer is the case.

A data center is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. New technologies and practices were designed to handle the scale and the operational requirements that came with the dot com boom. The standard for Fortune 500 companies now is to have multiple data centers around the world to provide information availability, disaster recovery, and reliability. What does it mean to have multiple centers of data? If you green the data center, what is actually getting greened? And how?

Ashwin has been asking for data center experts he could have discussions with and I have been introducing him to people who can contribute to the green data center topic.  As 3p puts up interesting content that you could use for those are not savvy in data center speak, I’ll reference.

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Consequences of an Inefficient Information Factory aka Data Center

I posted on the concept of data centers being information factories.  Philip Petersen of www.adinfa.com wrote.

But when you mention "companies like Google" - are there really many companies like Google? I don't think so - not today.
Best,
Philip

I’ve actually had a few skype conversations with Philip and last year at Data Center Dynamics London I met Philip. So, I know he is a regular reader.

I agree there are not many companies like Google.  Here are a few things I think Google does that fit the model of an information factory.

  1. Urs Hoelzle as executive and influential in the company running data centers understands the role of Google’s information factories.  Once I asked Urs why he doesn’t shut down idle servers, his response was he would rather think how does he use the servers while they are idle.  And, Urs can think this way given his position and influence in Google.  What Google knows that few do is turning on and off servers, is not reliable enough for a lights-off type of operation. Desktops, laptops, mobile devices, and phones all have this problem as well, but people are pushing the buttons and can try again when turning on fails.
  2. Their focus on PUE accuracy and reporting demonstrates their thinking in process control and statistical accuracy.
  3. Google knows the shell of a building is cheap, and 85% of the costs in data centers is in the power and cooling infrastructure.
  4. The cost of electricity is greater the the cost of a server over a typical 3 year lifespan.
  5. The vendors – data center, server, network are just as silo’d as companies IT organizations and don’t drive for overall system efficiencies.  So, Google designs their own systems, and uses the vendors as subcontractors to their designs.  It may not be totally accurate analogy, but Boeing designs the plane and subcontracts out pieces and components.  There are some pieces that are off the shelf, like engines (for servers processors), but many time parts don’t perform as advertised when integrated.

I could go on, but these are just a few ideas that demonstrates Google runs their data centers as computers, see this paper.  The information factory metaphor communicates the scale, power, and complexity.

image 

 

As Philip says there are not many like Google.  Which means they have inefficient information factories that are a drain on the companies revenue.  And, in this economy cost reduction is a priority.  Do you cut costs by making the system more efficient?  No.  You cut costs by limiting headcount, budgets and capital expenditures which ironically many times will increase your costs long term as you grow and decrease your overall performance per watt.  Right now many companies don’t need the performance so you are removing capacity from the system to cut costs.  Makes sense, but I bet the company executives did not consciously decide to reduce the capacity of their information factory.  How can you not think reducing costs capital and operating expenses reduces capacity?

In this economy Google may reduce the rate of their expansion, but overall their information factory capacity is growing and performance per watt is improving.

Philip asked a good question.  “are there really many companies like Google”? 

No, but there will be more.  Google can do this because the company itself is an information factory.  And, the future successes in internet services will be those who have the most efficient information factories that can produce information at the lowest costs.

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