My Inspiration for Networking, my son

March 25, 2010 Dave Ohara

Going to data center events are great ways to network. And, honestly I learn very little from the presentations, other than different ways to present the same material or how slow progress is being made in the data center industry. I learn 10x times more as I talk to others before, during and after the events. I am driven to network to learn.

When I was young, I was one of the smallest and quietest kids in class. I was introverted, and it is easy to go back to an introverted mode as I think and research topics. Thinking of things by myself is easy. But, there is so much more you can do when you work with others. I left Microsoft 4 years ago after 14 years mostly working on Windows. Microsoft has an immense network inside and outside the company. I needed to create a new network to work on some new ideas. I didn't want to start a company with employees, but I like developing innovative solutions.

Some people join other companies right away, but I took a year off to think about what I wanted to do. and started the green data center blog as part of a way to research the topic and socialize ideas.

When I left Microsoft my son was 2, and will be 6 next month. He has a special gift of networking, a talented extrovert. Socializing is natural for him, allowing him to build a large strong network. He can play sports with 3rd graders, the 5th grade girls think he is cool, and he makes high school kids laugh.

How good is he? He is in kindergarten, and he is one of the most popular cool kids at school. Yes, we have had many parents warn us we are going to have interesting challenges given his social skills and popularity.

On his own he wanted to be in the school's talent show. He is in kindergarten and wants to solo perform in front of the school. He has his own idea of what he wants to do, makes up his own dance, and won't listen to any help from his mom who is a talented dancer. He's got his own vision.

How popular is he? He gets applause and people call out his name when he walks on stage, receiving more attention than most get after they perform.

He's been practicing his moves.

His smile is natural and effective.

He knows how to create intensity.

And finishes with a bow, then another, and another as the crowd claps.

I can't even come close to what my 5 year old can do, but I keep on trying to learn from his natural talent to network. :-)

Flaw in Data Center Site Selection, one number vs. range of performance approach

March 24, 2010 Dave Ohara

I was just talking to some folks about data center site selection and the method to create a long list of criteria, create weightings, multiple the numbers, add the scores, then select the highest score as criteria site selection is flawed.

The flaw? Thinking that the weightings are the right numbers and the criteria can be counted as independent factors.

First one, weightings help prioritize those factors that are more important to the business. This creates a single number. Problem is business changes, and not all businesses can be represented by a single number.

Right approach, data center sites should be characterized by a range of performance that support the range of business now and in the future. The sites that should be scored highest are the ones that best suit the range of performance for the business, not the highest score.

The error of a single number view vs. the range can be illustrated by the "Flaw of Averages."

The Flaw of Averages
A common cause of bad planning is an error Dr. Savage calls the Flaw of Averages which may be stated as follows: plans based on average assumptions are wrong on average.
As a sobering example, consider the state of a drunk, wandering around on a busy highway. His average position is the centerline, so...

Second one. The criteria listed are assumed to be independent factors, but most criteria have relationships to other things, and the interaction of criteria creates good and bad conditions that experienced people know, but the site selection so-called gurus think they can solve the problem with enough criteria and weightings.

For the amount of money spent on data centers over the lifecycles, data center models should be built. The trouble is few companies know how to do this as it requires a holistic view,bridging site, data center building, IT hardware, and software. This is problem worth solving.

Green the Data Center with Open and Transparent thinking

March 22, 2010 Dave Ohara

This past week I slowed my blog posting. I wrote 5 posts for the week, and many times I'll write 5 posts in a day as I run across interesting information that is publicly available. I was down in the bay area and had great conversations with technical friends who I have known for 10 - 20 years. And, with the announcement of non profit organization partnership with University of Missouri, I have been thinking more about the approach we will use in the partnership.

I leave in a few hours to get on a plane to Missouri, and one of the people we will meet with is the President of the University of Missouri system, Gary Forsee.

Gary Forsee

Gary D. Forsee became the 22nd president of the four-campus University of Missouri System Feb.18, 2008. He is the chief executive officer of the university with four campuses in Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla and St. Louis. The system’s annual operating budget is approximately $959 million, with total revenues of $2.5 billion and an endowment of $1 billion.

In his first year as president, Forsee established a comprehensive set of performance objectives, surveyed Missourians on their attitudes of public higher education and focused on conveying the university’s distinctive value to the state.

Prior to his appointment as university president, Forsee spent more than 36 years in the telecommunications industry. Most recently, he served as chairman and CEO of Sprint Nextel in Kansas City, Mo. He also served as CEO of Global One, a joint venture of Sprint, Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom; and in various leadership positions at AT&T and Southwestern Bell.

And, this is forcing me think hard to what does it mean to be a green data center. Is it a low PUE? Is it a 100% renewable energy supply? Is it cloud computing?

What is consistently missing from almost all green data center claims is an open and transparent approach to share the knowledge beyond the PR message.

What do I mean by Open and Transparent? Here is an article that does a very good job of explaining.

Openness

If you are open-minded, not closed, you are open to new ideas, to new thoughts, to new people and to new ways of working. When you come across new things you are curious and eager to explore them. You are non-judgmental and you look to engage other people in conversation – not so much in debate, but more in dialogue.

You deliberately go out of your way to discover new things. You are an explorer!

You ask for criticism from people – not praise. You are not afraid when people challenge your ideas – in fact you welcome it. This is how you learn. You are willing to ‘let things in’. People can ‘come in’. Hence the word ‘open’.

Transparency

If you are transparent, you work in a way which naturally enables people to see what you are doing. You publish your activity and your ‘work in progress’ as a by-product of the way that you work. You deliberately go out of your way to try to be honest and open about who you are. There is no façade, no pretense – with you, people get what they see.

You speak in your own voice. You are authentic. Others can see clearly who you are, what you are doing and why you are doing it.

You do not try to hide things out of fear of being seen to make a mistake. You actually want your mistakes to be seen. And you want others to point them out to you – that way you get to learn and to get even better at what you do. You make it easy for people to find you and to connect with you. You ‘let things out’. People can ‘see in’. Hence the word ‘transparent’.

The article finishes with the signs of if you are open and transparent.

Behaviours

Being open and transparent is a state of mind and more about general behaviour than the use of any specific tools. But if you are open, and transparent the more likely you are to blog; to ‘Twitter’; use wikis and other social-networking tools; give talks; publish papers, articles or newsletters; keep your calendar online; have an online presence indicator; and, write regular status reports on your activity and much more besides.

Being open and transparent are not the only traits of an effective knowledge worker, but I do believe they are two of the core behaviours. So do you think openness and transparency are important? If so, just how open and transparent are you and what might you do to improve?

I have now shared the approach I will take in the discussion with President Forsee and others at the University of Missouri.

If green data centers used an open and transparent approach, the adoption of technologies and methods would be faster.

Think about what is holding back people and organizations from using this approach. I am.

InfoWorld writes about Open Source Data Center Initiative

March 5, 2010 Dave Ohara

Mike Manos and I were interviewed by James Niccolai from IDG for an article on the Open Source Data Center Initiative.

Group seeks to open source data-center design

The Open Source Data Center Initiative wants to pool engineering resources that others can build on and implement

By James Niccolai | IDG News Service

A new industry group is trying to apply open-source principles to the design and construction of data centers, which it says could accelerate the use of new technologies and increase competition in the industry.

The Open Source Data Center Initiative, announced this week, will act as a repository and test bed for mechanical and engineering advances in data-center design, which it hopes will be submitted by small engineering firms, graduate students doing research with federal grant money, and others.

One of the points made to counter Mike’s point on engineering firms.

The data center industry is "dominated by a handful of large engineering houses" that are wedded to mechanical and engineering designs that are "largely considered proprietary," he said. Those companies don't have enough incentive to educate their customers about simpler, more standardized alternatives, he said.

"When you think of all the great things we've been talking about at data center conferences, about moving to greener designs and driving efficiency with new technologies -- a lot of that innovation is being held back because competition for those ideas is not out there," Manos said.

is from an engineering firm.

Not surprisingly, large engineering firms reject the idea that they are holding back the industry. Bruce Edwards, president of CCG Facilities Integration, one of the largest engineering companies, said data centers have seen significant innovation in the last 10 years, in areas such as electrical power delivery and cooling.

"It's not like we're sitting there parceling out the work; we're at each others throats," he said.

He also questioned the need for another industry group. "The idea that a nonprofit, collaborative, noncompetitive model will be a powerful engine to drive innovation -- I'm not convinced of it at this point," Edwards said.

In the short term since we have made the announcement on Mar 2 and Mike wrote his blog post on Mar 3, I’ve been contacted by multiple interested parties, Mike has a list, and the ARG Investment group has a list. Part of our strategy has been how to viral, and we need to start small and grow.

One of the other points James Niccolai makes which is right on mark is the educational focus of what we are doing.

The group will also play an educational role, he said. It will publish real-world data about the cost of implementing projects, such as a fresh-air cooling system, so that customers have "more transparency" when making decisions.

The discussion with James has helped us clarify the educational aspect. We need to go back to Mizzou and discuss the education models in more detail and how we can optimize the educational aspect of what we are doing.

I would personally like to thank James for taking the time to explain what we are doing on the Open Source Data Center Initiative, and I look forward to his asking of more tough questions.

“Study, reflect, be inspired, act and enjoy!”

Mike, I and the rest of team are having a blast, and we have a list of people ready to join the effort.

Disclosure: My wife was an IDG VP, and she left IDG 10 years ago. James and my wife had no connection as she was in Sales and he is in editorial, and overlapped maybe one year in 1999. One of her jobs was working on advertorials for InfoWorld, and she takes pride in the InfoWorld publication. Currently, my wife and I have no business relationships with IDG. And, she’ll kick me for letting it be known she was a VP. :-) One of the advantages I have is a supportive spouse who worked on the high tech executive viewpoints and will listen to my crazy ideas on how to change the IT world.

GreenM3 partners with University of Missouri, 400 MW Data Center Site with Mike Manos on advisor’s list

March 1, 2010 Dave Ohara

This is the beginning of a change in what I write about on this blog. I’ll keep commenting on various things in the data center industry that help you go green. But, it was becoming clear that there was more I could do.

On March 1, 2010 the University of Missouri signed a Statement of Support for GreenM3, Enginuity, and ARG Investments. The document is here Download University of Missouri Statement of Support.

The following are excerpts of this 6 page document that describe the partnership and the role of GreenM3.

In the early discussions with the University of Missouri, there was a clear role for a NPO, Not For Profit Organization, and one of suggestions that stuck is why don’t turn GreenM3 into a NPO. So, thanks to some volunteers, we are in the process of getting 501(c ) (3) status for GreenM3.

WHEREAS, the Greentech Research Foundation, Inc (GreenM3), Non-Profit Organization (NPO) is established as an independent and objective source that will contribute to the step change advancement of data center and ancillary services operations that strives to provide a platform for stable, secure, efficient and sustainable state-of-the-art operations that can be replicated world-wide, accomplished through public/private investment and;

The partnerships started based on the idea data center innovation requires public private partnerships.

WHEREAS, the disruptive and transformative nature of computer driven communications and commerce is little understood and creates an environment of extreme risk and opportunity, the harnessing, of which, can only be accomplished through applied research from a consortium of successful market operators and research specialists; there is a common need shared within the industry for a clearing-house or central hub of research needed to advance data center operation

To be innovative we needed a different model of operation where ideas could easily develop and can be evaluated. The Open Source Software model made sense given the data center focus.

Open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials—typically, their source code.^[1] Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology. Before the term open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; open source gained hold with the rise of a public, worldwide, computer-network system called the Internet, and the attendant need for massive retooling of the computing source code. Opening the source code enabled a self-enhancing diversity of production models, communication paths, and interactive communities. ^[2] Subsequently, a new, three-word phrase "open source software" was born to describe the environment that the new copyright, licensing, domain, and consumer issues created.

We accept the fact that there are multiple agendas and embrace the idea to drive different designs vs a centralized approach.

The open source model includes the concept of concurrent yet different agendas and differing approaches in production, in contrast with more centralized models of development such as those typically used in commercial software companies. ^[3] A main principle and practice of open sourcesoftware development is peer production by bartering and collaboration, with the end-product (and source-material) available at no cost to the public.

As a demonstration, ARG Investments is a private company ready to implement ideas at the Ewing Industry Park from the GreenM3 team. Individuals who want to accelerate changes in data center industry are the ideal members, and one of the first industry advisors for GreenM3’s new role is Mike Manos. Mike and I have had numerous conversations and we can now work together to implement some disruptive data center ideas. There are about another 5 – 10 individuals lined up going through the various approvals to be an advisor to the NPO, and I’ll blog about each as they can formalize their commitment.

Facilitating Data Center Advancement: With not-for-profit partner, GreenM3, a nonprofit organization, the team is dedicated to developing and sharing best practices for total sustainability, to reduce the carbon impact and water use in power generation, building, data center operations, and education. Collaboration with members of the Industry Advisory Council, led by Michael J. Manos of Nokia, will be facilitated by GreenM3 and EnginuityWorldwide LLC, an innovation-based business.

One of the main purposes of the GreenM3 blog is to share ideas for a greener data center. With University of Missouri Resources and a data center

Facilitating Data Center Advancement:

With not-for-profit partner, GreenM3, a nonprofit organization, the team is dedicated to developing and sharing best practices for total sustainability, to reduce the carbon impact and water use in power generation, building, data center operations, and education. Collaboration with members of the Industry Advisory Council, led by Michael J. Manos of Nokia, will be facilitated by GreenM3 and Enginuity Worldwide LLC, an innovation-based business.

To test the ideas there is the partnership with Ewing Industrial Park and ARG Investments.

WHEREAS, ARG Investments LLC, a Missouri based company, (ARG) desires to build a technology campus and innovation-led development at Ewing Business Park, Columbia, Missouri as well as foster improvement in the global data center and cloud-computing space through its not-for-profit partner Greentech Research Foundation, Inc (GreenM3), including the following actions and initiatives:

Implementing the Best and Most Compelling Innovation: Data Centers can be at the nexus of cloud computing, mobile devices, and renewable energy with the right team of people. Based on business model frameworks, and by using an operating business park as the vessel for technology implementation, the technology improvements are more likely to uncover step-change advances and facilitate industry adoption.

And what do we get out of University of Missouri? Executive support from the University.

I. SINGLE POINT OF CONTACT AND CORPORATE OFFICE

University of Missouri will make available the Vice Provost of Economic Development, or his designee, as single point of contact for ARG & GreenM3 through its Office of Economic Development and can provide meeting space for ARG & GreenM3 with on-campus contacts.

II. UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI TEAM

University of Missouri can establish a high-level administrative response team to assure responsiveness and delivery of requested services and programs.

The team can consist of the appropriate administrators or their designees from the list below:

Chancellor

Provost

Vice Provost for Economic Development

Vice Chancellor for Research

Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services

Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies

Vice Provost and Director of Cooperative Extension

Dean from various MU Colleges and Schools

Key Center Directors

Other Administrative or Technical Staff as needed

This team can meet periodically with ARG & GreenM3 administrators to further the success of the relationship and provide a continuous communication network.

Educational resources and centers of innovation are of course included.

This is the beginning of an exciting changes for GreenM3, and part of what this blog will do is share a new way to partner with a data center developer (ARG Investments) and University (Mizzou) to green the data center.