Weak Bolts suspend operations of 3 Korean Submarines, lesson in managing the supply chain

Mike Manos has his blog at http://loosebolts.wordpress.com/, and I found this article interesting on how weak bolts have suspended the operations of three Korean Submarines.  Many of the data center industry professionals have had duty on a submarine.  Can you imagine how pissed off the operations crew would be at this problem?

For the first 1,800-ton submarine Sohn Won-il, a total of 20 bolts came loose on six occasions between 2006 and 2009.
For the second submarine Jeong Ji, its bolts were broken or loosened on six occasions between 2009 and 2010 while for the third submarine Ahn Jung-geun, its bolts were broken and came loose on three occasions during the same period.
The 214-class submarines, which were designed by German’s Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft AG, or HDW, and built by Hyundai Heavy Industries, are the primary naval assets for underwater operations.
The military investigated and found that a local subcontractor produced and provided bolts which were weaker than what the German firm required in its design of the submarines, sources said.

I've been having some interesting discussions on supply chain issues in the data center and the need for a Bill of Materials (BOM) approach.  I've tested the idea with some experienced people who understand the approach.  But, to be successful we need an executive sponsor.

Can you think of other data center problems caused by supply chain issues where substandard parts are installed?  I can.

Google takes available space at 111 8th in NYC off the market

DatacenterDynamics reports on Google's move to remove 111 8th ave data center space off the market.

Google takes all available space at key NYC carrier hotel off market

Future of data center providers at 111 8th Ave. uncertain

Published 20th May, 2011 by Yevgeniy Sverdlik

Following its acquisition of one of East Coast’s largest carrier hotels at 111 8th Ave. in New York City, Googlehas taken all the space that was available in the building off the market. The building is home to a number of commercial data center providers, including Digital Realty Trust, Telx and Internap, among others.

I speculated that Google could use the space in 111 8th for carrier negotiations.

Google now owns a premium networking access point in NYC, the biggest concentration of money in the USA with the financials, stock exchanges, and other businesses.

As Google negotiates carrier access in various markets, it can offer a presence in 111 Eighth Ave.  This can change price points, and guarantees of service and access.

If Emerging Market Telecom sets up a relationship with Google, and agrees to a presence in 111 Eighth Ave, then the more the Emerging Market Telecom needs the location due to a variety of economic and technical reasons, the value works for Google.

Did Google just buy one the biggest bargaining chips it could have to negotiate access to WW Telcos?

With Centurylink's purchase of Savvis and Verizon's purchase of Terramark could they do what Google is thinking?  It is interesting to think one building is more valuable that Savvis or Terramark.

Data Center Dynamics Seattle, another great time with data center people

It is interesting to contrast Uptime Institute Symposium vs. DatacenterDynamics especially when I attend the conferences back to back.  Both of the conferences are good.

Here is CEO Martin McCarthy, CEO of the 451 Group with some passion.

Here is Stephen Worn CTO and CEO of North America, DatacenterDynamics with "talk to the hand" gesture.  Actually I don't remember what Stephen was saying.

I hope you get a good laugh looking at this candid picture of Stephen Worn during his presentation.  This picture was good for a few laughs from the DatacenterDynamics crew.

I've gone to 3 of the last 4 Uptime, but with all the DatacenterDynamics events around the country, I've had good times with the attendees and the DatacenterDynamics crew in SF, Seattle, Chicago, NY, and London.  I typically attended as press, but about 2 years ago I wrote a blog entry about heading to DCD SF and I was going to spend most of my time talking to attendees and not going to sessions.  In response to my post, Stephen Worn calls me in 30 minutes and tells me he is going to put me to work and be a hall chairman.

Part of the fun I have with DCD is going out to dinner with the crew after an event and we chat about all kinds of things.  Part of the fun is making the new employees play the role of the Birthday person at the dinner table until a new employee comes on board to take their place.  Ashley on the left had her first birthday dinner in Chicago, and Anabel had her first birthday dinner in Seattle a year ago.

But, this year it was actually Justin's Birthday, and it was opening day for Copper River Salmon in Seattle, so we headed to the Salmon House for a Birthday dinner.

I did have a bit of fun at Uptime Symposium with this picture when I caught Raging Wire's Jim Kennedy with a little nose scratch, and sent the high res 5184x3456 pixels to Raging Wire's VP of Marketing Doug Adams.

Both Uptime Symposium and DatacenterDynamics are great places to meet people.  But, as you can tell I have much more fun with the DatacenterDynamics crew.  I'll be at DCD SF next on June 30.

Mike Manos provide background on his Call to Action to stop being Donkeys

I blogged about Mike Manos’s talk at Uptime last week.

Mike Manos keynote question are you Donkey or a Chaos Monkey?

FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2011 AT 5:42AM

Mike Manos gave a keynote at Uptime Institute in his new role at AOL as VP of Technology, and was back with his entertaining presentation style.  Mike's talk was on "Preparing for the Cloud: A Data Center Survival Guide", but Mike wisely changed his presentation to challenge the attendees to stop being Donkeys.

And, Mike just posted his own summary of his observations at Uptime.

Chaos Monkeys, Donkeys and the Innovation of Action

May 19, 2011 by mmanos

Last week I once again had the pleasure of speaking at the Uptime Institute’s Symposium.  As one of the premiere events in the Data Center industry it is definitely one of those conferences that is a must attend to get a view into what’s new, what’s changing, and where we are going as an industry.  Having attended the event numerous times in the past, this year I set out on my adventure with a slightly different agenda.

One of the best parts Mike posts is his observation of the patterns he saw.

By listening the audiences, the hallway conversations, and the multitude of networking opportunities throughout the event a pattern started to emerge,  a pattern that reinforced the belief that I was already coming to in my mind.   Despite a myriad of talk on very cool technology, application, and evolving thought leadership innovations – the most popular and most impactful sessions seemed to center on those folks who actually did something, not with the new bleeding edge technologies, but utilizing those recurring themes that have carried from Symposium to Symposium over the years.   Air Side economization?  Not new.   Someone (outside Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, etc) doing it?  Very New-Very Exciting.  It was what I am calling the Innovation of ACTION.  Actually doing those things we have talked about for so long.

As Mike says.

As you contemplate your own job – whether IT or Data Center professional….Are you a Donkey or Chaos Monkey?

Wine Tasting in Healdsburg - Nalle, Unti, Deux Ami, Collier Falls, and Wattle Creek

Frequently in data center discussions good wine helps gather a group of people.  After Uptime Institute in Santa Clara, a group of us from Seattle got together for a 40th Birthday party at the Birthday girl's parent's house in Healdsburg.

Many of the people flew from Seattle to Sonoma/Santa Rosa airport and our first stop was Wattle Creek winery for a dinner party with one of the owners Kristine Williams as the host.

Christopher and Kristine Williams were living in Arizona when they found the Sonoma County property would change their lives. A rare opportunity to purchase an Alexander Valley vineyard and winery presented itself and the Williams flew to California in 1994 to view the property.

They were captivated with the beauty of the area and the special nature of the hillside property which is bordered by the famed Russian River. Within a day they made the decision to purchase the magical 51 acres that is Wattle Creek Winery. Family and dogs in tow, they relocated permanently to California in 2001 and dedicated themselves to making wine that they would enjoy and share with friends.

Before the Birthday party we wandered around downtown Healdsburg, CA, and visiting some wineries in Dry Creek area, but we were saving our taste buds for the evening.

I visit Healdsburg 2-3 times a year to work on a well water system and look at the IT system for the host of the party.  One of the things I learned is the wine flows more freely and the conversations are much more interesting when I bring up water issues when visiting wine tasting rooms.  Water is critical for winery operations, and any winery operator knows a lot about the local water issues.  If I instead talking about technology - Windows, Mac, or web, the conversations rarely are lengthy or increase the consumption of wine.

At the Birthday party, there were 4 winery tasting tables with most staffed with the owners of the wineries.  It was interesting talking to some of the people who visited Healdsburg for the first time and were a bit overwhelmed with the amount of wine.  I on the other hand sampled every winery, met each of the people pouring, and many times moved to the other side of serving table to have better conversations.

Many wine snobs talk about the wines they own, I much prefer meeting the people who have a passion to make great wine.  All of these wineries have owners who I thoroughly enjoyed meeting, and I'll remember the people much longer than the wine I tasted this past weekend.  Don't get me wrong the wine was awesome.  Meeting the people who made the wine made it more special

Happy 40th Birthday Megan!

Thanks Bob and Marcia for hosting an amazing two days of wine tasting.

Barbara thanks for sharing your home and letting us stay with you for two great days.

http://www.nallewinery.com/

Doug Nalle

http://www.deuxamiswines.com/

Phyllis Zouzounis

http://www.untivineyards.com/

http://www.collierfalls.com/