What is Google's Data Center plan for Nov 26, 2010 - day of HTC's Chrome OS tablet

I"ve been hearing from a variety sources that Google is getting for its biggest ever advertising campaign.  My speculation is Google is preparing its entertainment device launch where the device will have games, music, and video to compete against the fruit company, Apple.  Google TV was a way for Google launch its entertainment efforts, and it is easy to slide the content over to a Chrome OS tablet.

News is circulating today about the new Google device.

Chrome OS tablet from HTC reported to ship in November

The tablet, with Verizon Wireless as the carrier, would be available by Black Friday

By Matt Hamblen

August 18, 2010 04:25 PM ET

Computerworld - An HTC tablet running Google's Chrome operating system will be sold by Verizon Wireless in late November, according to an unnamed source cited by the blog Downloadsquad.

The blog's source specifically said that the tablet will appear on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. The blog said the tablet would probably be heavily subsidized by Verizon to compete against the Apple iPad.

HTC and Verizon could not be reached for comment.

The blog also speculated that the HTC tablet would have plenty of popular features, in keeping with HTC's Nexus One smartphone tradition. Those include a 1280-by-720 multitouch display for the tablet, 2GB of RAM, and a minimum of 32GB of storage, the blog said.

Google has been building up its HD content with advertising windows on Youtube.  And Google Leanback which is streaming videos in a TV type of experience. 

image

There is Google Music.

image

Google Games.

GDC Europe: Google Details Chrome Web Store Specifics
by Kris Graft

August 18, 2010

GDC Europe: Google Details Chrome Web Store Specifics

Google is looking to make some major changes in the way people pay for, play and receive games.
At GDC Europe in Germany this week, Google game developer advocate Mark DeLoura showed off the progress the search engine giant has made in the gaming space. The company plans on launching an app store for its increasingly popular Chrome web browser in October, and games will be a major focus of the company going forward.
Web-based gaming has a bright future, said DeLoura, who showed declining U.S. video game boxed retail sales numbers versus a burgeoning online social game market.
"If you're at [FarmVille developer] Zynga, you're probably incredibly happy, but for social and casual overall, it's looking much better [than console gaming]," he said, as reported in a 1UP video.

Now do you have a better idea what is building up in Google's data center for Nov 26, 2010?

Read more

Mind-shifting to change Data Center approaches

The Data Center industry is full of many people who are convinced their way is the right way and others are wrong.  They have years of hard work to prove their methods are right and work, emphasizing the strength and speed of what they can get done.

TED conference has a talk given by Lewis Pugh on a mind-shifting experience he went through that has a good lesson to learn from.  If you want to jump to the point where I am referencing it is at 6:25 mark.  The video is only 10 min, but quite enjoyable.

Lewis discusses as a lesson to make a true change for the climate requires a different mind-set.

Lewis starts using the same methods he has successfully used in the past.

And then we got up to this small lake underneath the summit of Mt. Everest, and I prepared myself, the same way as I've always prepared myself, for this swim which was going to be so very difficult. I put on my iPod, I listened to some music, I got myself as aggressive as possible -- but controlled aggression -- and then I hurled myself into that water.

I swam as quickly as I could for the first hundred meters, and then I realized very, very quickly, I had a huge problem on my hands. I could barely breathe. I was gasping for air. I then began to choke, and then it quickly led to me vomiting in the water. And it all happened so quickly I then -- I don't know how it happened -- but I went underwater. And luckily, the water was quite shallow, and I was able to push myself off the bottom of the lake and get up and then take another gasp of air. And then I said, carry on. Carry on. Carry on. I carried on for another five or six strokes, and then I had nothing in my body, and I went down to the bottom of the lake. And I don't where I got it from, but I was able to somehow pull myself up and as quickly as possible get to the side of the lake. I've heard it said that drowning is the most peaceful death that you can have. I have never ever heard such utter bollocks. (Laughter) It is the most frightening and panicky feeling that you can have.

Almost dying gave Lewis a dose of humility.  And his crew gave him a new plan.

And there, we sat down, and we did a debrief about what had gone wrong there on Mt. Everest. And my team just gave it to me straight.They said, Lewis, you need to have a radical tactical shift if you want to do this swim. Every single thing which you have learned in the past 23 years of swimming, you must forget. Every single thing which you learned when you were serving in the British army, about speed and aggression,you put that to one side. We want you to walk up the hill in another two days time. Take some time to rest and think about things. We want you to walk up the mountain in two days time, and instead of swimming fast, swim as slowly as possible.Instead of swimming crawl, swim breaststroke.And remember, never ever swim with aggression.This is the time to swim with real humility.

And here are the two big lessons that Lewis relates.

But I learned two very, very important lessons there on Mt. Everest. And I thank my team of Sherpas who taught me this. The first one is that just because something has worked in the past so well, doesn't mean it's going to work in the future. And similarly, now, before I do anything, I ask myself what type of mindset do I require to successfully complete a task. And taking that into the world of climate change, which is, frankly, the Mt. Everest of all problems -- just because we've lived the way we have lived for so long, just because we have consumed the way we have for so long and populated the earth the way we have for so long, doesn't mean that we can carry on the way we are carrying on. The warning signs are all there. When I was born, the world's population was 3.5 billion people. We're now 6.8 billion people, and we're expected to be 9 billion people by 2050.

And then the second lesson, the radical, tactical shift. And I've come here to ask you today: what radical tactical shift can you take in your relationship to the environment, which will ensure that our children and our grandchildren live in a safe world and a secure world, and most importantly, in a sustainable world? And I ask you, please, to go away from here and think about that one radical tactical shift which you could make,which will make that big difference, and then commit a hundred percent to doing it. Blog about it, tweet about it, talk about it, and commit a hundred percent. Because very, very few thingsare impossible to achieve if we really put our whole minds to it.

So thank you very, very much.

(Applause)

Read more

Innovation Powered by Analytics, "The New Know"

Andrew Fanara sent me link about "The New Know: Innovation Powered by Analytics" which fits well in the ideas to think about information systems for data centers.

Product Description

Learn to manage and grow successful analytical teams within your business

Examining analytics-one of the hottest business topics today-The New KNOW argues that analytics is needed by all enterprises in order to be successful. Until now, enterprises have been required to know what happened in the past, but in today's environment, your organization is expected to have a good knowledge of what happens next.

This innovative book covers

  • Where analytics live in the enterprise
  • The value of analytics
  • Relationships betwixt and between
  • Technologies of analytics
  • Markets and marketers of analytics

The New KNOW is a timely, essential resource to staying competitive in your field.

I am amazed at how little design and architecture time is spent in the Building Management Systems (BMS) and other monitoring systems like Andrew's company OSIsoft provides in data centers.

Information publishing is changing and analytics is were it is going.  Amazon gets this.  When I ordered the book, I didn't see it on the Kindle list (but it is), so ordered the hard copy book on Sat morning with 2nd day delivery.  Amazon has me in the system as a frequent buyer for my office supplies and here is the book 2:57p on Monday on my desk.

image

I've discussed the idea of a data center analyst, and if you are interested in this new role, consider reading this book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thornton Makes 2010 the Year of the Analyst, January 13, 2010

By 
W. PERDUE (portland ore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The New Know: Innovation Powered by Analytics (Wiley and SAS Business Series) (Hardcover)

For over 20 years, Thornton has been a consummate advocate for innovation science and the fruition of the role of the CIO in the Fortune 1000. He is an expert in organizational behavior, c-suite engagement and the kind of leadership practices that get the entire organization focused and engaged.
In The New Know Thornton clearly reminds us: it's about the people, people. This text will carry the profession and practice of analytics forward in a way that only Thornton could champion the cause.
Those familiar with Thornton May know that his work puts the capital W in wit, so of course, the book is engaging, charming and full of anthropological anecdotes that will make you chuckle in your plane seat. If you haven't sat next to Thornton, he is the guy with the bow tie that everyone wants to know. He's a futurist that won't give you the answer, but will twist your brain until you take his tools and define your own destiny.
If you're a business leader whose been burned by bad data, got spreadsheets coming out the ying-yang, regularly find your self on the defense about consultation expenses - and still you need better data from the people in the room - take Thornton's course in channeling the organization's inner analyst.
If you make your living as an analyst, for goodness sake, buy the book and make a decision that 2010 will be the year of the analyst. And then make sure you get in a room with Thornton soon. He's on the road over 250 days a year.

Read more

$48,000,000 bet on ARM Server Start-up, Smooth-Stone funded

I've been blogging about the concept of a Little Green Server for the data center, and posted in Oct 2009 about Smooth-Stone.  Luckily thanks to some data center insiders I met the Smooth-Stone executive team and had the pleasure of being on a plane flight from SJC to SEA with CEO Barry Evans and posted again in Apr 2010.

After months and months of work the Smooth-Stone team announced their VC funding of $48,000,000 and now I can write a blog entry that Smooth Stone is funded.

Smooth-Stone Secures $48 Million to Complete Development of Semiconductors for Servers, Data Centers

Unique Syndicate of Chip Industry Leaders and Venture Capital Firms Back Smooth-Stone, Help Company Take Data Center Performance to New Heights with Cell Phone-like Power Consumption

Austin, TX, August 16, 2010 – Smooth-Stone today announced it is raising $48 million from a unique syndicate of investors comprising industry leading venture capital firms and semiconductor innovators. The capital will be applied directly to the final development and market delivery of high performance, low power chips that will change the server market and the makeup of data centers. Smooth-Stone funding partners include ARM, Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), Battery Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Highland Capital Partners and Texas Instruments Inc.

“This kind of investment, the amount, and the strength of this syndicate is a strong endorsement
for the innovation we are bringing to market,” said Smooth-Stone CEO Barry Evans. “We look
forward to taking advantage of the insights and know-how of these industry-leading investors.”

Others talk about Power as an issue for servers and Smooth-Stone will attempt to be disruptive.

“This kind of investment, the amount, and the strength of this syndicate is a strong endorsement
for the innovation we are bringing to market,” said Smooth-Stone CEO Barry Evans. “We look
forward to taking advantage of the insights and know-how of these industry-leading investors.”

Power consumption matters more than ever. Smooth-Stone will bring the low-power virtues of mobile phone technology to servers and data centers. Its semiconductors and software will provide a solution for companies where energy consumption by servers has become a constraining and expensive issue by increasing the density of computer resources while significantly conserving energy, cooling and space in the data center. Smooth-Stone customers will have new, unseen options as they plan their future server deployments.

“Our goal is to completely remove power consumption as an issue for the data center. Imagine
that change for companies with a large presence on the Internet,” added Evans. “They all deal
with the reality that as the mass of information grows daily, so does their power consumption.
Every day these companies are thinking about managing their data center sprawl. We want to
make sure that space and power are not constraining their potential.”

“The necessity of finding more energy efficient server solutions for data centers has created an
enormous and truly revolutionary opportunity for the industry,” said Battery Ventures General
Partner, Ken Lawler. “As a firm, we recognized from the beginning that Smooth-Stone had the
innovative technology, the customer value proposition and the engineering and management
capability to disrupt the web server landscape. Working with management, we’ve put together
a unique investment structure and syndicate of both strategic and traditional venture capital
investors that gives the company what it needs to succeed in this highly competitive market.
Smooth-Stone has a very bright future and we’re thrilled to be part of this investment.”

The Little Green Server is now funded and has market attention.

ARM backs server chip start-up

ZDNet UK - David Meyer - ‎52 minutes ago‎

A US start-up chipmaker called Smooth-Stone has raised tens of millions of dollars to develop and sell ...

ARM server chip startup gets big backers

Register - Timothy Prickett Morgan - ‎1 hour ago‎

There are a number of ways to create a power-efficient server chip for hyperscale applications like ...

Smooth-Stone Secures $48 Million to Complete Development of Semiconductors for ...

MarketWatch (press release) - ‎4 hours ago‎

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug 16, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Smooth-Stone today announced it is raising $48 million from a unique syndicate of investors comprising ...

Chip startup seeks to lower electric bills in data centers

Computerworld - Dan Nystedt - ‎4 hours ago‎

IDG News Service - A new startup funded by major chip makers and investment firms is taking aim at electricity bills, the biggest cost in ...

Investors help Smooth-Stone chip away at Intel

San Francisco Chronicle - Ashlee Vance - ‎9 hours ago‎

A group of investors, including companies from the United States, Europe and the United Arab Emirates, has formed in a bid to disrupt one of Santa Clara ...

Green chip start-up gets $48 million in funding

CNET - Brooke Crothers - ‎10 hours ago‎

Silicon start-up Smooth-Stone has received $48 million from a syndicate of investors including ARM, Texas Instruments, and Highland ...

Unusual Chip Start-Up Raises $48 Million From Investors

Wall Street Journal - Don Clark - ‎15 hours ago‎

AUSTIN, Texas—Smooth-Stone, a start-up with an unusual plan to target the market for chips used in server systems, said it had raised $48 ...

Smooth Stone to Take ARM Energy Savings to Data Centers

Greentech Media (blog) - ‎19 minutes ago‎

Can a start-up begin to edge out Intel in servers? Historically, it won't be easy. Smooth-Stone, which came out of stealth mode for $48 million dollars from ...

US start-up seeks investors for mobile phone chip for server and data centers

DatacenterDynamics - ‎31 minutes ago‎

US start-up Smooth-Stone said it wants to hit up venture capital firms and semiconductor innovators for $48 million for the final development and market ...

Smooth-Stone Gets $48 Million Funding for ARM Server Chips

Softpedia - Sebastian Pop - ‎56 minutes ago‎

Though ARM chips have mostly stuck to mobile handsets and small electronics so far, it seems like they might soon make it into none other than the server ...

Smooth-Stone Gets $48M For Low-Power Data Centers

Texas Tech Pulse (blog) - ‎1 hour ago‎

Austin-based Smooth-Stone, a developer of semiconductors targeted at the data center and server market, announced today that it has raised $48M in a funding ...

Intel rival Smooth-Stone raises $48M

Bizjournals.com - ‎1 hour ago‎

Smooth-Stone Inc. said on Monday it has received a $48 million Series A round of funding. Austin, Texas-based Smooth-Stone, a developer low-power server ...

Intel's Biggest Rival: ARM Chips in Servers and Smartphones

Fast Company - Kit Eaton - ‎1 hour ago‎

Forget Intel versus AMD--that was a chip-maker battle of yesteryear, played out inside your desktop PC. Now the real CPU war is happening ...

Smooth-Stone, an Austin Technology Incubator Company, Lands $48 Million ...

PR Web (press release) - ‎2 hours ago‎

The Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), a not-for-profit arm of The University of Texas at Austin, congratulates member company Smooth-Stone on its $48 ...

Smooth-Stone ARM server chips get $48m funding to take on Intel

SlashGear (blog) - ‎2 hours ago‎

By Satsuki Then on Monday, Aug 16th 2010 No Comments While ARM processors are generally to be found in ultraportable devices like smartphones, a significant ...

Intel's Franchises Might Be Disrupted by a Group of Investors

LB News - Jamie Harris - ‎2 hours ago‎

The Santa Clara chipmaker, Intel's franchises might be disrupted by a group of investors from different parts of the world. This group of investors actually ...

Mass. VC firms lead $48M data center funding

Mass High Tech - Galen Moore - ‎2 hours ago‎

Three Massachusetts venture capital firms have syndicated to co-lead a $48 million equity investment in Smooth-Stone Inc., a young, Austin, ...

Chip Makers, Investors Gang Up On Intel, Invest $48M In CPU Startup

ChannelWeb - Joseph F. Kovar - ‎3 hours ago‎

A group of chip manufacturers and investors are investing a total of $48 million in chip startup ...

Smooth-Stone wants to beat up Intel in the server chip market

Tech Eye - Andrea Petrou - ‎6 hours ago‎

A chip startup hopes to dent Intel's market share in servers by recruiting investors to help it build ARM based chips. Companies from America, Europe and ...

ARM and partners invest in server chip start-up

HEXUS - Scott Bicheno - ‎7 hours ago‎

Smooth-Stone is a start-up founded in January 2008 with lofty ambitions: to take on Intel where it's strongest - servers. Intel pretty much owns this market ...

Tiny ARM-backed Firm Aims To Beat Intel In Servers

ITProPortal - Desire Athow - ‎7 hours ago‎

A little known company, Smooth-stone, is looking to outclass semiconductor giant in the server market by introducing ARM-based microprocessors that can ...

Smooth-Stone to put ARM CPUs into servers

ElectronicsWeekly.com - David Manners - ‎8 hours ago‎

ATIC, the Abu Dhabi investment company backing Globalfoundries, has got together with Texas Instruments, ARM and venture capitalists Highland Capital ...

Another microchip investment from Abu Dhabi

National (blog) - Tom Gara - ‎8 hours ago‎

Can Samson slay Goliath? Taking its cue from the biblical tale of the underdog defeating the giant with a sling of a well-aimed rock, Smooth-Stone, ...

ARM, ATIC, TI invest $48M in server chip startup

EETimes.com - Mark LaPedus - ‎9 hours ago‎

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Startup Smooth-Stone Inc. has raised $48 million from a syndicate of investors, including ARM, Advanced Technology Investment Co. ...

Chip startup Smooth-Stone raises $48M in backing

Austin American-Statesman - James Brosher - ‎11 hours ago‎

Smooth-Stone CEO Barry Evans was involved in Intel's development of the low-power Xscale family of processors — the same Intel that looms as one of ...

An atom bomb aimed at Intel: Smooth-Stone raises $48M for low-power ARM server ...

VentureBeat - Dean Takahashi - ‎13 hours ago‎

Hoping to outdo Intel in the server chip market, Smooth-Stone has raised $48 million to complete development of its ARM-based server chips which consume ...

Smooth-Stone Gets $48M for ARM Servers

GigaOm (blog) - Stacey Higginbotham - ‎15 hours ago‎

Smooth-Stone, an Austin, Texas-based company building servers using the chips found inside cell ...

Read more

Nvidia says its strategy is ARM

With the success of iPhone and Android as a smartphone platform the developer focus has shifted to ARM vs. x86.  Many will scoff at the ARM processor for not being able to do the work in the data center, but when you look at price performance and power performance the ARM chip is competitive.

CNET has an interview with NVidia's CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang.

I also asked Huang about the company's strategy for central processing units, or CPUs, used in smartphones and tablets. Nvidia has been supplying its first-generation Tegra chip to portable music device makers such Microsoft, which used Tegra in the Zune HD. The second-generation Tegra 2 is targeted at smartphones and tablets but has yet to make an appearance in a product from a first-tier device maker. All Tegra chips are based on a design from United Kingdom-based ARM.

"Our CPU strategy is ARM," Huang said, referring to the fact that Nvidia was, unit last year, only a supplier of GPUs. "ARM is the fastest growing processor architecture in the world today. ARM supports (Google's) Android best. And Android is the fastest growing OS in the world today," Huang said.

Huang said that its dual-core Tegra 2 chips currently come in two flavors, the AP20 for smartphones and the T20 for tablets. "And both of them are being designed into products," Huang said.

Smooth-Stone is preparing a product line for data center performance with cell phone power.

Long time ago, x86 processors were laughed at as incapable to run data center IT.  It was a world of mainframes and minis.  Dominated by IBM, Digital, and others.  Where are those companies now in the server business?  Meanwhile Intel was selling tons of x86 processors in desktops and with Microsoft's help, Intel's x86 made inroads into servers.

Why can't ARM processors move from smartphones to the server businesss as well?  HP, Dell, IBM, and the dominant server vendors will help to fuel the anti-ARM server.  Meanwhile the ARM processors growth is fueled by smartphones.

There are technical issues like ARMs not being 64 bit, but people have figured out how to get around this issue.  Note: some supercomputers have  32 bit low power processors to keep their power footprint lower.

Is the future green data center going to have ARM servers?

How can it not?

Read more