Schneider Electric's Media Event, a great time to learn, network, and test new image gear

September 29, 2010 Dave Ohara

I just spent a day at Schneider Electric's media event in Chicago. Reflecting on what I got out of the event I'll just dump a stream of what comes to mind.

I was looking forward to connecting with Kevin Heslin with Mission Critical Magazine and Rich Miller with DataCenteKnowledge as any significant data center event has both of them there. Between the three of us creating content on data centers, Kevin made the point how much content would be loss if for some reason something happened to all three of us at the event. I don't put myself in the same category as Kevin and Rich who are professional media people, but I do get media status with my blogging so I enjoy the benefits of seeing how things are presented to the media.

As part of getting ready for Schneider's event, Data Center Dynamics, and AFCOM Data Center World (where by the way I'll see Rich and Kevin again), I decided to upgrade my media capabilities. I am a Canon user which can be just as religious an issue vs. Nikon. After much thought I decided to get a Canon 7D.

EOS 7D
EOS Digital SLR Cameras

Maximum resolution for any application.

The EOS 7D features a Canon-designed 18.0 Megapixel APS-C size CMOS sensor that captures such a high level of resolution it's easy to crop images for enlargement without concern of losing detail. A major factor in reducing noise, the CMOS sensor assures that images shot at highest sensitivity will be remarkably smooth. Dual DIGIC 4 Image Processors ensure that images are captured, processed and saved with remarkable speed. The EOS 7D's ability to capture and process data of images shot at 18.0 Megapixels at 8 fps, as well as Face Detection Live Mode, Full HD video recording, Auto Lighting Optimizer and Lens Peripheral optimization are all possible thanks to the Dual DIGIC 4 Image Processors.

One of the features I was playing with is to tether the Canon 7D to my laptop to allow quick transfer of images to my PC which I actually got a bunch of comments from other media people asking about my setup at the event. My Lenovo X200 Tablet worked well capturing images and video while tethering transferring images in seconds.

I couldn't find an exact video of what I was doing on YouTube, but here is a Canon 5D Mark II connected to a Mac. This worked extremely well and I am looking forward to try the setup at other events to enable live blogging with better quality images and video.

What did I get out of the event for content? I met Kevin Brown and his presentation on Infrastruxure.

APC by Schneider Electric unveiled the next generation InfraStruxure architecture, a high performance, scalable and adaptable data center architecture. InfraStruxure integrates power, cooling, racks, security and management in a modular form factor and is a building block of Schneider Electric’s comprehensive energy management architecture portfolio, EcoStruxure. This new generation of InfraStruxure delivers a 25% increase in power and cooling capacity and a 15% smaller footprint, all while reducing cost by 15%. Holland Computing Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, uses InfraStruxure to run high performance computing for cutting-edge research, including a 21 TFlop supercomputer, shared memory processing, grid computing and development of hadoop-on-demand and other custom implementations.

And spent a bunch of time with software his software subject matter expert Jon Gould diving into details of their modeling and simulation.

APC also introduced new features to the overall InfraStruxure management software portfolio, to better enable IT managers to change the way they monitor, operate, manage and maintain their data centers through the integration of new virtualization capabilities and upgraded energy efficiency and operations software. Enhanced capabilities include:

The new Data Center Lab application within InfraStruxure Capacity - a data center project management tool that enables the design of new data center build-outs or data center upgrades.

InfraStruxure Capacity’s updated Impact Analysis application - provides an instant overview of data center physical infrastructure operations including UPS, power distribution and cooling independent of the types and brands of equipment present in the data center.

InfraStuxure Efficiency 1.1 - IT managers can quickly and easily report on monthly energy consumption of their data center subsystems including CO2 emissions, PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) and DCIE (Data Center Infrastructure Efficiency).

InfraStruxure Capacity Network Management Tool - provides insight into equipment dependencies including mapping and documenting fiber and copper networks from servers, via patch panels, to switches or routers allowing IT managers to document connectivity, manage their network structure and plan and control network usage.

Saw Rick McKay's BMS solution for data center facility operations.

I'll write a blog entry about Aaron Davis's presentation.

Overall I have a much better understanding of the Schneider Electric's portfolio, and met a lot of Schneider/APC people I am sure I will connect with again.

Go Dense, Go Fast, Go Green

September 28, 2010 Dave Ohara

Kevin Brown from APC presented APC's InfraStruxure solution, and I especially liked his tag line. "Go Dense, Go Fast, Go Green"

InfraStruXure

Data centers on demand

InfraStruXure fully integrates power, cooling, rack, management, security and services. This on-demand architecture allows the selection of standardized components to create a solution through modular and mobile configurations. InfraStruXure is available for any IT environment, from wiring closets to large data centers.

For a green data center, the requirements Kevin lists are areas you should look at.

This list as an holistic thinking of the properties in a green the data center vs. the typical, PUE, hot and cold aisle containment, virtualization, etc.

Also, liked the fact that Kevin has a software background.

Kevin BROWN
Vice President, Data Center Global Offer
IT Business
Schneider Electric

Kevin held numerous management roles at APC, including Director, Software Development Group.

Amazon leases data center space while Google and Microsoft build

September 27, 2010 Dave Ohara

DataCenterKnowledge reports on Amazon.com leasing 125,000 sq ft of office/warehouse space and converting it to data center space.

Report: Amazon Leases Space in Virginia
September 28th, 2010 : Rich Miller
Amazon’s expanding cloud computing operation apparently needs room to grow. The commercial real estate news site Globe Street reports that Amazon has leased a building in northern Virginia that will be used to expand its data center operations.

Citing an unnamed source, Globe Street says Amazon has leased a 125,000 square foot facility in Sterling, Va. and will invest $60 million in converting the site into a data center. The building, which is owned by a joint venture between Altus Realty Partners and Perseus Realty Partners, features a 90,000 square foot warehouse with 18-foot ceiling clearance that can be converted to data center space. The facility also features about 35,000 square feet of space currently used for offices.

as referenced the Globe Street mentions the shortage of space.

As data center space becomes ever more scarce in the area, a growing number of firms are investing in building out the operations themselves. Microsoft, for example, is investing $499 million in the southern county of Mecklenburg to build a data center. It will be the largest investment here and create 50 jobs, according to Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.

Amazon has an estimated 150,000 plus servers which would have most companies building data centers not leasing them. Amazon is a different breed than other high tech companies thinking like a retailer and driven by a financial discipline. Amazon has only one built data center in Boardman, Oregon.

Will Amazon eventually build big data centers like the rest following Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Facebook?

At many companies the rigors of getting approval a data center construction project approved are from the business units, technical people, and the CFO. I would expect at Amazon.com, everyone wants to see the numbers, and they spend much more time on financial modeling.

Should we lease or build?

What is the best use of Amazon's capital and cash?

What is the overall operating expense of a leased vs. owned facility?

Latest decision in the East Coast. Lease.

Facebook Data Center Summary - buildings, power, servers, and softwar

September 26, 2010 Dave Ohara

DataCenterKnowledge has a great FAQ on Facebook which coincidentally is done 4 days before the opening of "The Social Network".

The Facebook Data Center FAQ
September 27th, 2010 : Rich Miller

With more than 500 million active users, Facebook is the busiest site on the Internet and has built an extensive infrastructure to support this rapid growth. The social networking site was launched in February 2004, initially out of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s dorm room at Harvard University and using a single server. The company’s web servers and storage units are now housed in data centers around the country.

Each data center houses thousands of computer servers, which are networked together and linked to the outside world through fiber optic cables. Every time you share information on Facebook, the servers in these data centers receive the information and distribute it to your network of friends.

The FAQ is 3 pages and has a lot information for the data center curious.

New Energy Resource Management tool coming to the enterprise market

September 24, 2010 Dave Ohara

When I was talking to a VC this week, we were discussing Hara.

Another company he mentioned was C3.

There isn't much out there on C3, but there are job postings.

One of the things I've always thought as a weakness of Hara is what their SW does. But, Hara does have a great VC investment and excellent marketing. Which makes a lot of sense given most of the people who are buying environmental impact solutions aren't technical software people.

But, this leaves the opening for C3 to come in with a SW system for Energy Resource Management. Being a technical guy, I like the C3 job posting list. Compare this to Hara's current technical job posting.

So is Hara really just a reporting system? Vs. C3 is trying to complex energy resource modeling.

Ideas move quickly, and the folks at Hara probably realize their weakness and are thinking of ways to compete vs. C3.

Compare the founder of C3 vs. Hara. Siebel vs. SAP.

Hara founder.

Amit Chatterjee, CEO and Founder

Download image

Amit Chatterjee is CEO and Founder of Hara, the fastest growing provider of environmental and energy management solutions. Mr. Chatterjee has been at the forefront of shaping a new category of business software and has championed the notion of organizational metabolism. Under Chatterjee’s leadership Hara addresses an end-to-end environmental and energy business process from reporting to reduction across an organization and its value chain. Mr.Chatterjee is a thought-leader on green economy innovation, energy independence and entrepreneurship. He has participated in prominent conferences such as the United Nations Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, and has been a featured participant at Fortune Brainstorm Tech, Aspen Institute’s Clean Energy Economic Forum and the Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change Conference. Mr. Chatterjee is a published author ofThe Post Carbon Economy and is on the board of the Corporate Responsibility Officers Association. Prior to founding Hara he led SAP’s fast-growing Governance, Risk and Compliance unit. Mr. Chatterjee developed his strategic and leadership experience while at McKinsey & Co., working with clients such as SAP, Cisco and Oracle. Mr. Chatterjee has B.A. degrees in Political Science and Chemistry from UC Berkeley, with graduate studies at Stanford University.

C3 founder.

Thomas M. Siebel

Founder and Chairman

Mr. Siebel is the Chairman of First Virtual Group, a diversified holding company with interests in investment management, commercial real estate, agribusiness, and philanthropy. Mr. Siebel was the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Siebel Systems. From 1984 through 1990, he was an executive at Oracle Corporation. Mr. Siebel serves on the Board of Advisors of the Stanford University College of Engineering, the University of California, Berkeley College of Engineering, and the University of Illinois College of Engineering. He is the Founder and Chairman of the Meth Project and the Siebel Scholars Foundation. Mr. Siebel is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he received a BA in history, an MBA, and a MS in computer science.

Hara has the market now for environmental monitoring software, but long term I would place bets on C3 for a green data center software solution.

The CEO of C3 is a mechanical engineer.

Edward Abbo

Mr. Abbo is Chief Executive Officer of C3. He was formerly Senior Vice President at Oracle Corporation responsible for Oracle’s application and SaaS products including CRM and ERP & Supply Chain products. Prior to joining Oracle in 2006, he was Senior Vice President of Technology and Chief Technology Officer for Siebel Systems. During his twelve-year tenure at the company, he was a member of the Siebel executive management team, Founder’s Circle of first employees, and led Engineering, Industry Products, and Sales Consulting organizations. Prior to Siebel Systems, he worked in a variety of sales and consulting roles at Oracle Corporation.

Mr. Abbo earned a M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. degree in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University.

There are companies like Sentilla for data center energy, but there is no reason why a well designed solution shouldn't work across the enterprise.