Data Centers, Internet, and Irene what happened to service?

Renesys has a video on the Internet Service areas impact as a result of Irene.

You data center operators probably breathed a sign of relief no data centers were impacted.

Major Data Centers Weather Hurricane Irene

August 29th, 2011 : Rich Miller

Most major data centers appear to have remained online throughout Hurricane Irene, despite leaks and utility outages (Image by likeablerodent via Flickr).

Key East Coast data centers say they weathered Hurricane Irene without any loss of services to customers. In some cases, facilities are operating on generator power after utility outages, while other data centers had to plug minor leaks.

But as the video showed and Renesys discusses in their blog post, there were millions without Internet access during Irene.

Hurricane Irene knocked out power to millions of homes and businesses as it travelled up the US East Coast this weekend. Even as the winds subsided, torrential rains triggered savage flooding throughout Eastern New York state and Vermont, tearing up roads and exposing the telecommunications infrastructure to further risks. The storm's impacts were clearly visible in the Internet's global routing table, as tens of thousands of networks were cut off from the rest of the world.

You can see what happened in NC and DC

And, even though the VA based data centers may be operating. Check out the Internet access for the users in VA.

The author of the post goes on to discuss the importance of Twitter in the emergency situation.

Staying Connected, Preparing to Rebuild

Overall, it seems that the East Coast's power and Internet infrastructure fared pretty well during this storm, with good evidence of restoration after the storm had passed. This is good news, given the important role Twitter now plays in ad hoc rescue coordination, and the importance of the Web for keeping people informed about what they're facing in an emergency situation. I suspect that always-on, ubiquitous Internet access is going to fundamentally change the way people on the ground manage their affairs in the wake of disasters like Irene.

I spent 12 hours picking my way across the ruined roads and bridges of Eastern New York State yesterday, trying to get back to New Hampshire, and I can attest to the fact that the transportation network is now far more vulnerable to disruption by an event of this scale than is the cyber-infrastructure.

As we drove past legions of idle 18-wheeler trucks full of food and fuel, unable to reach their destinations, 3G mobile connectivity kept us connected to the Internet and in touch with the tweets of local emergency management officials and people back home. At one point we were even part of a stream of vehicles heading urgently for higher ground, following a report that the Gilboa Dam had failed. Thanks to Google Maps we knew where to climb to, and thanks to Twitter we knew when it was safe to come down again. You can't eat the Internet, or burn it to keep warm, but compared to the days of the transistor radio and EBS alerts, we've come a long way.

Attending Intel Developer Forum, Sept 13 - 15, 2011

Summer is almost over, and it is time to get back on the road.  My first trip is to Intel Developer Forum.

I last went to IDF 2 years ago, and I know I'll see some great people at the event.

Here are a few of the tracks that look interesting.

Cloud Computing: Evolution of the Data Center

Cloud computing is an important transition and a paradigm shift in IT services delivery–one that promises large gains in efficiency, agility, and flexibility at a time when demands on data centers are growing exponentially. In this track, get the latest insights into Intel’s Cloud 2015 Vision. Hear about advancements in compute, network, and storage for the cloud data center that provides greater security, efficiency, data center simplification, and enabling client-aware clouds. Plus, get the latest on industry-enabling activities, reference architectures, and proven solutions for cloud computing.

Data Center Performance

In today's world of space and power constrained data centers a new class of servers and solutions is emerging that allow users an additional level of flexibility and control over their data centers as well as alleviating many traditional data center concerns.  At the foundation of these new technologies are Intel® server platforms, which fuel the world's businesses while delivering breakthrough levels of performance and efficiency.  In this track we’ll discuss Intel's unique way to address data center performance needs by implementing Intel® technology.

Eco-Technology: Environment and Productivity at its Best with Energy-Efficient Products and Technologies

Getting the best environmental impact, performance, and return from your computer system investment requires consideration of material resources, energy efficiency in design, procurement, asset power management, and deployment. This track offers an overview of Intel’s Eco-Technology strategy. Topics include: developing software that can instrument applications for productivity and efficiency; a case study on designing low-power servers; regulatory issues surrounding energy efficiency; and a look into the future of materials restrictions and positioning strategies.

Intel Labs: Innovating for the Future

Researchers at Intel Labs are innovating today for the new and advanced compute experiences of tomorrow. Learn what our researchers are doing across the computing spectrum to create technology that is more secure, more efficient, and highly adaptive to an ever-changing environment.

Storage Technologies for Tomorrow's Data Center

This track covers data center storage challenges and how Intel® storage technologies enable breakthrough, energy-efficient performance, data protection, and scalability for public and private cloud storage solutions. You'll hear about the key cloud storage usage models and reference rack solutions for the usage models. Also included is Intel's converged storage server technology, including updates on small business/home storage systems and the Intel® Intelligent Storage Acceleration Library (Intel® ISA-L).

Quincy Data Center Diesel Generator Count is up to 132 with Dell and Sabey most recent addition

Wenatchee World has an article on the diesel generators permitted by the Washington Dept of Ecology.

Ecology issues more generator permits

By K.C. Mehaffey
World staff writer

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

QUINCY — The state Department of Ecology on Friday issued an air quality permit to Sabey Corp., allowing the company to install 44 backup generators for a 520,000-square-foot Intergate-Quincy Data Center in case of a power outage.

On Aug. 5, Ecology approved 28 backup generators for the Dell Data Center in Quincy. Last year, Microsoft won approval to expand its diesel generators to 37, and early this year, Yahoo! was granted permission to increase its generators to 23.

This brings the total diesel generators permitted to 132.

That brings the total number of approved backup generators in Quincy to 132.

The state agency evaluated the potential health risks from that much diesel exhaust, which has several toxic pollutants.

Open Compute Project heads to NYC Oct 27, 2011 Registration is open on Sept 9

Open Compute Project had its West Coast event on June 17, 2011.  And the next OCP event will be in NYC Oct 27.  Registration will be open on Sept 9 at http://opencompute.org/

Luckily I was planning a trip with some data center executives that week and I have registered myself and others for the event.

Here is a summary of the last OCP event in Palo Alto.

Reflections on the Open Compute Summit

by Yael Maguire on Wednesday, June 22, 2011 at 2:24pm

Facebook hosted the first Open Compute Summit last Friday to grow the community forming around the Open Compute Project.

More than 200 people traveled from around the world to participate in the event, representing many of the great technology and finance companies. After morning presentations, the group broke into a series of smaller discussions focused on a variety of topics ranging from server design to management software to how the ecosystem is evolving.

Doubling the Compute Density

Amir Michael, Facebook’s hardware design manager, introduced our new initiatives in server hardware, presenting new AMD and Intel motherboard designs that double the compute density relative to our original designs.

Instead of placing a single motherboard in each chassis, we’re now building servers with two narrow motherboards sitting next to each other. These motherboards support the next generation of Intel processors and AMD’s Interlagos. To enable these new designs, we’ve also modified the server chassis, power supply (700W output from 450W), server cabinet, and battery backup cabinet.

The Battles won with a Team, Hollywood changing to tell the story of teams - Navy Seal Movie

The following is a bunch of ideas that I find interesting in that it illustrates a point that “the team” is more important than individuals.  And, the data center teams that will beat the others are the ones who operate better as a team.  A better data center team will enable businesses to beat others.

WSJ has an article about Hollywood’s change in battle plan in creating military movies.  Here is a video that introduces the concept.

After 10 years of the same story, Hollywood realize they have a problem telling the war story.

Ten years after the Sept. 11 attacks opened an ongoing chapter of U.S. military action, Hollywood’s long history of depicting fighters at war is entering a new phase. The grinding wars in Afghanistan and Iraq spawned films that highlighted characters in uniform who were disillusioned with their missions and scarred in their homecomings. With the conflicted protagonists of movies such as “Green Zone” and “Stop-Loss,” filmmakers tried to tap into the public’s ambivalence about the conflicts, but their movies mostly sank at the box office. Now that deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq are tapering down, filmmakers are homing in on the more clear-cut job of battling terrorists. And they’re finding heroes in the elite—and now famous—special-operations forces leading the hunt. Projects in the pipeline focus on the armed heroics, high-tech tactics and teamwork involved in getting the bad guys.

The US Navy was changing their tune as well.

Courtesy of ‘Act of Valor’

Director Scott Waugh films the SEALs.

In 2008, Navy Special Warfare invited a handful of production companies to submit proposals for a film project, possibly a documentary, that would flesh out the role of the SEALs. The goals: bolster recruiting efforts, honor fallen team members and offer a corrective to misleading fare such as “Navy Seals,” the 1990 shoot-em-up starring Charlie Sheen as a cocky lone wolf. “In the SEAL ethos, the superman myth does not apply. It’s a lifestyle of teamwork, hard work and academic discipline,” said Capt. Duncan Smith, a SEAL who initiated the project and essentially served as producer within the military.

A reoccurring theme is “the team.”

After they made a group decision to participate, deciding the project served the SEALs’ greater good, the Navy made the film a formal task for the sailors, who were between deployments. Their names won’t appear in the “Act of Valor” credits; instead, the film will list Naval Special Warfare members killed since Sept. 11.

And what happens when the studio focuses on the team?  The action is better than they have ever shot.

By contrast, in the movie’s many battle scenes, the sailors move with a fluid precision that makes typical Hollywood action movies look bogus. When the SEALs picked off enemies and moved through buildings in a tight snaking column, some footage was captured by helmet-mounted cameras. Certain plot points were based on true stories from the field, including a scene in which a sailor takes a rocket-propelled grenade to the chest at close range and lives.