AMD Supercomputer Targets HTML Delivery from Cloud Computing

January 9, 2009 Dave Ohara

At CES AMD announced their Fusion Render Cloud. news.com has an article.

For Advanced Micro Devices, however, CES 2009 was an opportunity to talk about a supercomputer, the sort of high-tech machinery that even today tends to require at least a modest-sized room.

AMD said Thursday that by the second half of the year, it will be ready to go with the massively parallel "Fusion Render Cloud" supercomputer. And where supercomputers typically are used for rather wonky projects in energy research, weather forecasting, and such, the AMD machine is intended to help in the "deployment, development, and delivery" of high-definition content--and this brings us back to CES--to mobile devices.

Think video games and movies. Says AMD:

The system is being designed to enable content providers to deliver video games, PC applications and other graphically-intensive applications through the Internet "cloud" to virtually any type of mobile device with a web browser without making the device rapidly deplete battery life or struggle to process the content. The AMD Fusion Render Cloud will transform movie and gaming experiences through server-side rendering - which stores visually rich content in a compute cloud, compresses it, and streams it in real-time over a wireless or broadband connection to a variety of devices such as smart phones, set-top boxes and ultra-thin notebooks.

What this is showing is what i think you will see more of – special purpose IT equipment. There is lots of talk on how to make the data center more efficient – hot and cold aisles, PUE, virtualization. From a few side conversations I have heard, there is more and more people who are asking the question what happens if we go for special purpose IT equipment instead of general purpose?

AMD is driving an interesting point that could be a future digital rendering data center. Servers typically don’t have much graphics power or graphics chips at all, yet some of the most compelling end user content is video and games, requiring good graphics chips.

What happens if you render the graphics in the data center, then stream over html?

Your audience is now the iPhone and any HTML client.

I would assume if AMD gets this working, it will be trying to sell Digital Rendering supercomputers.

The Fusion Render Cloud will use AMD gear including the Phenom II processors, AMD 790 chipsets, and ATI Radeon HD 4870 graphics processors. It is being designed to break the petaflop processing barrier--in layman's terms, to run with the fastest of the fast supercomputers--and "to process a million compute threads across more than 1,000 graphics processors," AMD said.

20% Planning Complete Transformation of Data Centers

January 8, 2009 Dave Ohara

NetworkWorld references an HP study.

Will data centers transform in 2009?

Enterprise IT shops won't be able to fully overhaul in their data centers in 2009

Network/Systems Management Alert By Denise Dubie , Network World , 01/07/2009

Despite the benefits of virtualization and the compact nature of blade servers, many enterprise IT shops won't be able to fully overhaul in their data centers in 2009. A recent HP commissioned survey found that some 20% of 600 technology decision makers plan to initiate a "complete transformation" of their data centers. The remaining 80% intend to implement individual transformation projects including automation (64%), green IT (60%), operations management (59%), virtualization (59%) and business continuity (58%).

The author makes it seem bad only 20% are planning a complete transformation. I think that is good. And, in the remaining 80%, 60% plan Green IT projects.

Microsoft’s Newest President Runs His Own Home Data Center

January 7, 2009 Dave Ohara

Bob Muglia’s newest president has a data center in his home.

Mr. Muglia spends weekends and evenings tinkering on Microsoft products in a data center he built at his home in the Seattle suburbs. The air-conditioned room holds racks of powerful server computers that run both Microsoft software and competitors' products. Among other functions, the server room controls a music system that can be controlled by touch-screen panels built into the walls of his home.

WSJ continues with more background as I have below. But better is a tour of his home data center. One of the things Bob recently did was push his exchange and sharepoint sites to Microsoft’s hosted services, and he has was able to shave his electric bill.

Bob Muglia: Shows us His Tech

More technical details are here.

Bob Muglia - Senior VP by day, IT Pro by night

Bob Muglia is the Senior Vice President of our Server and Tools division - that makes him 'kind of a big deal' around here. A little while ago, I got to attend a meeting with Bob and one of the product teams he looks after, and he mentioned in passing some of the, let's say, 'challenges' he'd had getting certain things configured on his home network. A VP that does his own network administration? I was interested enough that I asked Bob if we could talk about that, and he found time in his busy schedule for us to meet.
In addition to the 9 server infrastructure that runs Bob's house, we talk about the various roles he's had in his 20 years at Microsoft, why he's excited about Server 2008, and how his team went about creating Windows Home Server - the solution for those who would rather leave their IT Pro activities at work.

WSJ article about Microsoft’s newest president Bob Muglia.

Microsoft Promotes Server Chief

Executive's Comeback Highlights Success of Less Glamorous Business

By NICK WINGFIELD and ROBERT A. GUTH

In a comeback that highlights one of Microsoft Corp.'s fastest-growing businesses, Bob Muglia -- who seven years ago was demoted -- is entering an elite tier of executives at the software company.

Microsoft said Monday it promoted Mr. Muglia to president of the company's server and tools business, making him one of only four divisional presidents at Microsoft. The move is in part seen as an effort to raise the profile of a booming, profitable business at the company, at a time when more glamorous, money-losing units like the Internet business get more attention.

Bob Muglia

During Microsoft's last fiscal year, Mr. Muglia's division -- which makes most of its money from the Windows Server operating system that runs back-office computers and SQL database software -- had $13.17 billion in revenue, about 22% of the $60.42 billion in total company revenue. The group has reported 25 consecutive quarters of double-digit revenue growth.

"Server and tools is one of the unsung success stories of Microsoft," says Bill Whyman, an analyst at investment research firm ISI Group Inc. "If it was a stand-alone software company, it would be one of the biggest software companies on the planet."

Besides being a personal turnaround story.

The promotion of Mr. Muglia, 49 years old, is part of a seven-year ascent following a decision by Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer to demote him in 2001. At the time, Mr. Muglia was heading Microsoft's Internet business and spear-heading an ambitious project to build an online service called Hailstorm. The service, which required people to entrust certain personal information to Microsoft, proved a lightening rod for criticism from privacy advocates.

And, now Steve Ballmer absolutely needs Bob Muglia

In an email to Microsoft employees on Monday, Mr. Ballmer said, "Bob has built a culture of getting things done and done right. He has championed some of our most important initiatives and helped us successfully face some of our most important competitive challenges."

Green Travel is Dead, Being Green is a Requirement

January 5, 2009 Dave Ohara

MSNBC.com has an article about Green travel. The point is people don’t want to pay extra for Green, they expect companies to be green. Being Green is a requirement.

Maybe it is easy being green

Environmentally-conscious travelers want companies to follow suit

Many hotels and resorts have touted their environmental credentials in an effort to cash in on the "eco" tag. But columnist Christopher Elliott says environmentally-conscious travelers want companies to be green without the pricetag that usually comes along with it.

Christopher Elliott

Travel columnist

Green travel is dead.

I arrived at this unlikely conclusion while talking with Mike Ragsdale, the “town evangelist” for a seaside community in Northwest Florida called Alys Beach. “People think being green means making sacrifices or paying more,” he told me. “That’s not necessarily true.”

Is it a waste to market Green features?

No one is saying that being environmentally responsible is irrelevant when you travel. On the contrary, it’s that being green is so important that it shouldn’t become another marketing gimmick. It should be a part of what you do every day — part of every travel company’s DNA.

That’s why green travel as we know it, with the hotel touting its use of recycled water, the airline bragging about its use of alternative fuels or theme park buzzing about its new lightbulbs, is well on its way to becoming history.

Where are things going?

Personally, I’ll be happy to travel in a greenlightened world. Hotels won’t be able to monetize my environmental sensibilities. Airlines will strive for a long-term positive environmental record instead of scoring a few fleeting points with treehuggers. Same for cruise lines and car rental companies.

Dell’s Carbon Neutral Claims Draw Negative Press

December 31, 2008 Dave Ohara

WSJ goes into detail on Dell’s Carbon Neutral claims.

Green Goal of 'Carbon Neutrality' Hits Limit

By JEFFREY BALL

ROUND ROCK, Texas -- Computer giant Dell Inc. said this summer that it has become "carbon neutral," the latest step in its quest to be "the greenest technology company on the planet."

What that means, and what it doesn't, may surprise Dell customers and other consumers who have been bombarded with bold environmental promises from major corporations.

The negative issues start.

The amount of emissions Dell has committed to neutralize is known in the environmental industry as the company's "carbon footprint." But there is no universally accepted standard for what a footprint should include, and so every company calculates its differently. Dell counts the emissions produced by its boilers and company-owned cars, its buildings' electricity use, and its employees' business air travel.

In fact, that's only a small fraction of all the emissions associated with Dell. The footprint doesn't include the oil used by Dell's suppliers to make its computer parts, the diesel and jet fuel used to ship those computers around the world, or the coal-fired electricity used to run them.

Dell's announcement that it had achieved carbon neutrality didn't go into these details. But in an interview, Dell officials estimate that the emissions produced by its suppliers and consumers each amount to about 10 times the footprint Dell has defined for itself. That means the company is only neutralizing about 5% of the greenhouse gases that go into the making and use of its products.

Moreover, while Dell is improving its energy efficiency, it is claiming carbon neutrality mostly by purchasing environmental "credits." These are financial instruments that bankroll environmental improvements made by others, such as running wind turbines or planting forests. Dell reasons that these credits cancel out the bulk of its carbon footprint.

Yet some of those improvements would have occurred whether or not Dell invested in them, according to some of the companies involved. That suggests Dell isn't ridding the atmosphere of as much pollution as it claims.

And, other press have picked up on this.

WSJ Slams Dell Over Carbon Neutral Claim
Environmental Leader, CO - 1 hour ago
The Wall Street Journal has slammed Dell over the announcement it made back in August about reaching its carbon neutral goal. The problem, according to WSJ, ...

Dell Carbon Neutral claims exaggerated
TweakTown, Australia - 3 hours ago
If you are a regular watcher of the TV Show Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe you know that not everyone agrees with the new “Green” movement. ...

Wall Street Journal pours cold water on Dell's green claims
Fudzilla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - 8 hours ago
The Wall Street Journal has been taking the mickey out of Dell's claims to be carbon neutral. Dell has been touting its green credentials for some time and ...

Report: Dell’s Claim of Carbon Neutrality Less Green, More PR
RealTechNews, CA - 10 hours ago
By Michael Santo I had my doubts about Dell’s claim of carbon neutrality, when they trumpeted it in August, and it appears I was right. ...

How Carbon Neutral Is Dell, Really?
GigaOm, CA - 20 hours ago
I am highly skeptical when big companies get trendy and start spewing cool. Lately going green has become the new black. Dell in particular has been making ...

Dell's "Carbon Neutrality" Is Really a Bunch of Cow Poop
Gizmodo - 21 hours ago
By matt buchanan , 4:40 PM on Tue Dec 30 2008, 415 views Over the summer, Dell declared that it had become "carbon neutral." You would think that meant, ...

Questions raised about Dell's carbon neutral claim
The Industry Standard, CA - 22 hours ago
In an August announcement, Dell Inc bragged that it had "met its carbon neutral goal," and was no longer contributing to global warming. ...

Carbon neutrality murkier than you’d think
Examiner.com - Dec 30, 2008
Dell has declared itself carbon neutral but good luck defining and auditing what that means exactly.The Wall Street Journal has an interesting story on Dell ...

PR people need to watch out as the greenwash filtering is getting better.

What’s next? Carbon emissions compliance. If you are going to make claims of carbon neutral, you need to have a compliance system in place to prove your claims.