Data Center Cooling revenue predicted to double by 2016 in Southeast Asia

Frost and Sullivan has a press release on a study they conducted.

Frost & Sullivan: New Datacenters and Green Technology to Double PAC Revenues in Southeast Asia

The increasing demand in the telecommunication, industrial and IT sectors are increasing the deployment of Precision air conditioning (PAC) as a viable and cost-effective power solution.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Dec 27, 2010 – Singapore – Precision air conditioning (PAC) is gaining ground due to the increasing demand from the telecommunication, industrial, and IT sectors. Development in these industries is driving new installations and commissioning of datacenters, data communication, and power equipment. The resulting uptake of blade servers and high-power servers translates to higher heat dissipation, which can affect electronic and electrical systems. Deploying PAC systems can help suppress the rising average operating temperature in datacenters.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.energy.frost.com), Southeast Asian and Australasian Precision Air Conditioning (PAC) Market, finds that the PAC market in these regions earned revenues of $217.7 million in 2009 and estimates this to reach $415.7 million in 2016.

The Green (energy-efficiency) aspect is part of their study.

“Technological evolvement has led to energy-efficient PAC systems with sophisticated architecture or structural orientation such as rack or row cooling methods,” says Frost & Sullivan Analyst Teoh Chew Yew. “With its ability to efficiently manage and regulate working environmental conditions like temperature and humidity, PAC is gaining market traction in the IT and telecom industry as a viable and cost-effective power solution.”
However, competition and environmental concerns are putting pressure on power systems and equipment to perform effectively and meet stringent requirements and specifications. As research and development emphasizes on energy and system efficiency, average power density and heat dissipation per power system is anticipated to decline. This, in turn, can eventually erode the demand for PAC.

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Worldwide Interexchange Exchange Points, Peering Points for Data Centers WW

As part of green data center strategy you look for where to put data centers for renewable energy sources, but you can run into issues with the locations can many times not be the ideal locations for data center connectivity.  All the big players have a large list of peering sites at Internet Exchange Points to improve their cost and performance of delivery.

Here is a list of Worldwide Internet Exchange Points that will help give you an idea of where the exchanges are.  I've included only the last entries from UK on to show you.

UK Scotland, Edinburgh WorldIX Internet Exchange WorldIX
UK United Kingdom, London London Internet Exchange LINX
UK United Kingdom, London London Internet Providers Exchange LIPEX
UK United Kingdom, London London Network Access Point LoNAP
UK United Kingdom, London/other PacketExchange ---
UK United Kingdom, Manchester Manchester Network Access Point MaNAP
US Hawaii, Honolulu Hawaii Internet Exchange HIX
US United States, Albuquerque New Mexico Internet Exchange NMIX
US United States, Billings Yellowstone Regional Internet Exchange YRIX
US United States, Boston/other Boston Metropolitan Exchange Point BMXP
US United States, Champaign The Science, Technology, And Research Transit Access Point STAR TAP
US United States, Chicago Chicago Ameritech NAP ---
US United States, Columbus Columbus Internet Exchange CMH-IX
US United States, Los Angeles Los Angeles International Internet Exchange LAIIX
US United States, Los Angeles One Wilshire Any2 Neutral Internet and VoIP Exchange Any2
US United States, Medford Southern Oregon Access Exchange SOAX
US United States, Miami/other TerreMark NAP of the Americas TerreNAP
US United States, New York New York International Internet Exchange NYIIX
US United States, New York The Big Apple Peering Exchange BIG APE
US United States, New York/other Equinix Internet Business Exchange IBX
US United States, Palo Alto/other Switch and Data Neutral Internet Exchange Point PAIX
US United States, Philadelphia MAGPI Research and Educational Internet Exchange MAGPI
US United States, Philadelphia Philadelphia Internet Exchange PHILAIX
US United States, Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Internet Exchange PITX
US United States, Portland Northwest Access Exchange NWAX
US United States, San Diego San Diego Network Access Point SD-NAP
US United States, Seattle Seattle Internet Exchange SIX
US United States, Utah Utah REP Internet Exchange Point Utah REP
US United States, major cities Verizon MAE Services & Facilities MAE
VN Vietnam, Hanoi Vietnam Internet Exchange VNIX
ZA South Africa, Grahamstown Grahamstown Internet Exchange GINX
ZA South Africa, Johannesburg Johannesburg Internet Exchange JINX

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Apple iPad vs. Kindle

This Xmas our family received an iPad from Grandma.  Grandma has been given our kids iPod Touches, and it seemed the right time to get the kids an iPad.  I have been hesitant to use an iPad as I view it mainly as a consuming device, not a creative device.  It’s been 1 1/2 weeks since I wrote a blog post, and the process of getting my dual displays back in front of me with one screen vertical and the other horizontal, I can get back into researching.

As much as the iPad is a fun device to play with,  I like having two 1920 x 1280 displays to think.

This holiday season was a battle between iPad and Kindles.  the Register comments.

"We're seeing that many of the people who are buying Kindles also own an LCD tablet," said Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in a canned statement.

Although Bezos didn't refer to the iPad by name – it still being the holidays, direct "in yo' face" trash talking remains rudely unseasonable – it is unlikely that he had the Dell Streak or even the Samsung Galaxy Tab on his mind.

"Customers report using their LCD tablets for games, movies, and web browsing and their Kindles for reading sessions," he continued. "They report preferring Kindle for reading because it weighs less, eliminates battery anxiety with its month-long battery life, and ... works outside in direct sunlight, an important consideration especially for vacation reading."

Part of the speculation is how well the Kindle sold.  Amazon throws out its press release.

Third-Generation Kindle Now the Bestselling Product of All Time on Amazon Worldwide

In just five months, new Kindle replaces 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' as best-selling product in Amazon's history

SEATTLE, Dec 27, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) --(NASDAQ: AMZN)--Amazon.com today announced that the third-generation Kindle is now the bestselling product in Amazon's history, eclipsing "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)." The company also announced that on its peak day, Nov. 29, customers ordered more than 13.7 million items worldwide across all product categories, which is a record-breaking 158 items per second.

"We're grateful to the millions of customers who have made the all-new Kindle the bestselling product in the history of Amazon -- surpassing Harry Potter 7," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO. "We're seeing that many of the people who are buying Kindles also own an LCD tablet. Customers report using their LCD tablets for games, movies, and web browsing and their Kindles for reading sessions. They report preferring Kindle for reading because it weighs less, eliminates battery anxiety with its month-long battery life, and has the advanced paper-like Pearl e-ink display that reduces eye-strain, doesn't interfere with sleep patterns at bedtime, and works outside in direct sunlight, an important consideration especially for vacation reading. Kindle's $139 price point is a key factor -- it's low enough that people don't have to choose."

So, how many got Kindle’s for Xmas.  No one knows for sure.  But, I have a hint of the volume.  Look at the uptick in hits to my blog post on the frozen kindle.

image

The traffic is three times higher for Dec 25- 26.  I am still amazed there were 1,300 hits to my blog post on 2 days.  How Kindles were turned on for the first time?  The users frustrated for how many minutes, hours, and then Googled “frozen kindle 3”

If you assume a 0.5 % of the people have a problem with 6,341 page views about 12,000,000 sold.  Seems reasonable.

This battle between Apple and Amazon all play well for less paper and shipping costs.  At some point we can expect more studies on how Kindles and iPads are better for the environment.

Happy Holidays.

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One Role to Rule All Server HW, Facebook's Manager of Supply Chain Operations

I've run some analysis thanks to a variety of contributors on the Facebook Server count and the number is bigger than anybody else I have seen discuss.  Over 100,000 servers.  When server counts get that high managing them takes a different type of person than the purchasing department.

I found this job posting on Facebook for Manager, Supply Chain Operations.  The Facebook guys have identified a Wal-mart type of supply chain manager.

Manager, Supply Chain Operations

Facebook is seeking a seasoned leader to be responsible for managing the Supply Chain Operations organization and supplier/partner strategy for all Facebook server suppliers. This includes strategic direction applied to tools development, supplier performance management, vendor relationships, and business processes. This is a full-time position based at our headquarters in Palo Alto.

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Responsibilities

  • Manages up to ensure executives are informed of a partner performance/development/investment/escalation/negotiation approach

  • Manages a complex supplier, and fully understands the interdependencies and the impact to the business.

  • Responsible for the commercial relationship with the partner

  • Consults and partners with others, offers views and advice that add value and perspective to situations

  • Jointly responsible for supplier sourcing strategy, including risk mitigation

  • Responsible for partner based strategy – including industry understanding and driving competitive advantage for Facebook

  • Responsible for delivering a supplier’s productivity and overall cost performance

  • Responsible for benchmarking a supplier’s costs globally. Delivers and identifies a supplier’s pipeline productivity

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Green IT is most sought after post for new China civil servants

Economist has an article about the number of Chinese graduates applying for gov't jobs.

Aspiring mandarins

Testing time for college graduates

China's civil service

Dec 16th 2010 | BEIJING | from PRINT EDITION

“A HEALTHY society cannot come about when people study not for the purpose of gaining wisdom and knowledge but for the purpose of becoming government officials.” When Ye Shi, a Chinese philosopher, bemoaned this 800 years ago, China had already been choosing officials for hundreds of years on the basis of exams that required rote learning of ancient classics. The exams are different now but Ye would still have much to complain about.

Growing numbers of Chinese graduates aspire to join China’s massive bureaucracy. On December 5th over 1m would-be mandarins spent a Sunday sitting the annual civil-service exam. Many of them had not planned to get a government job when they entered university. But college enrolment in China has boomed in recent years (see chart). New graduates face a brutally tight jobs market.

The competition is fierce.

This year there were 16,000 jobs on offer, one for every 64 test-takers.

And the most sought-after post?  Energy Conservation and Technology Equipment Officer, aka Green IT.

There were nearly 5,000 applications for the most sought-after post, that of “energy conservation and technology equipment officer”.

You may wonder what the selection tests are like.

Jessica Zhang of Beijing Foreign Studies University, who applied for a job this year in the foreign ministry, says she found the multiple-choice general knowledge questions easier than she expected. But she was caught unawares by the written section, which required several essays about management of the Yellow River.

Some worry that the craze for government jobs may be bad for business. But Mr Shu says surprises like the one for Ms Zhang are good tests of bureaucratic talent. He says that civil-service exams, unlike in imperial days, “emphasise thinking and innovation and not just repeating the same old thing”. Some consolation for Ye Shi.

I would feel more comfortable with China's test methodology than the USA's method to select a civil servant for Green IT.

What about you?

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