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Thank you for attending the session: DCPP001 Intel® Server Platforms: Delivering Multiple Paths to Datacenter Performance 9/13/2011 10:15:00 AM 

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Attending Data Center Dynamics Chicago, Look for me in Hall 2

I have had a break from data center shows, and getting back to attending I am going to DataCenterDynamics Chicago on Oct 6, 2011.

6

OCT 6

Chicago

Hilton Chicago

Chicago: the Technology Hub of the Midwest

As America’s third largest city, Chicago's reputation as the epicenter of technology has been on the rise. Accelerated by government bills aimed at technological investment and job creation, its location is key to the market drivers creating specific technological demands. It is no wonder that even the start-up community has become more vibrant over the last year.

You can find me in Hall 2 as I will be chairman for those sessions introducing the speakers.

Intelligence community transformed from "need to know" to "responsibility to share," shouldn't data centers follow?

9/11 had many affects on people and organizations.  One of those who has had to change the most is the Intelligence Community as they bear blame for not stopping the 9/11 terrorist attacks. WSJ has an article written by James R. Clapper, Director of National Intelligence.  The part that caught my attention was:

How 9/11 Transformed the Intelligence Community

It's no longer about 'need to know.'

Our guiding principle is 'responsibility to share.'

...

We no longer operate largely on the principle of compartmentalization, that is, sharing information based on "need to know." We now start from the imperative of "responsibility to share," in order to collaborate with and better support our intelligence consumers—from the White House to the foxhole.

How many problems are caused in data centers where the standard operating procedure is "need to know."  If the US intelligence community has shifted to "responsibility to share" to solve their integration problems, maybe others should try the same approach.

Prior to the 9/11 attacks, the community had recognized that reorganization, integration of intelligence activities, and a shift in intelligence culture was necessary to adapt to evolving threats. But progress on these initiatives came slowly—too slowly to impact the events of 9/11.

The intelligence community got the message.

...

We can't know with absolute certainty if any of these changes would have led to a different outcome on 9/11, but the tangible benefits of vertical and horizontal integration are indisputable. Today we are unquestionably better positioned to provide the kind of full-scope information that leaders need to make informed decisions about how to protect our nation.

Google opens Hamina Data center

WSJ reports on Google’s Hamina data center.

Google Inc.'s opening of a €200 million ($273 million) server hall in Hamina, Finland, over the weekend is boosting Scandinavian hopes that other big Internet companies will choose to build data centers in the region, attracted by its cold climate and low electricity prices.

One interesting speculation in the WSJ article is Facebook is looking at a site in Sweden.

Mr. Engman has been active in promoting Luleå as a hot spot for data centers, and he has undoubtedly had some success. An undisclosed major U.S. Internet company, widely believed to be Facebook, is planning to build a giant data center outside the town center, in an investment estimated by local officials at between three billion and five billion Swedish kronor ($459 million to $764 million). Facebook has declined to comment on the matter.

The plan has been delayed by legal action brought by a private individual on concerns the data center may harm wildlife, but should the latest appeal fail, the center will represent the single largest corporate investment—more than three times the size of the nearest contender—ever made in the city.

Mr. Engman, who takes pride in having attracted the U.S. company to Sweden, says there are several reasons other than climate that contributed to its interest in Luleå.

"We've got a unique electricity infrastructure up here. The electricity network is built for [energy intensive users such as] paper mills and the metals industry, and our supply of hydroelectricity means electricity prices here are among the lowest in Europe," Mr. Engman says.

And the folks in Lulea claim they haven’t had a power outage since 1979.

"You can't have a blast furnace shutting down because of electricity shortages. Luleå hasn't had a power outage since 1979. When we informed executives at U.S. software firms about this, they had a hard time believing it," Mr. Engman says.

One of the reasons Sweden and Finland are interesting is proximity to Russia.

But it is not just the cool climate that makes the Nordic countries attractive, supporters say. "There are several factors," says Tomas Sokolnicki, a senior investment adviser at Invest Sweden. "We have political stability, excellent fiber-optic infrastructure, minimal risk for natural disasters and a favourable climate.

"Also the fact that we are geographically close to Russia is important. Many players want to establish data centers close to the growing Russian market, but few dare establish data centers in Russia itself."

Greenpeace updates Google’s Environmental Grade from F to B

Greenpeace has posted its view of Google’s environmental disclosures.

Good news: Google comes clean on energy use

Blogpost by Tom Dowdall - September 8, 2011 at 20:31Add comment

Today Google has finally released information on exactly how much energy it takes to provide searches, email, youtube videos and all other Google services. For years Google has claimed this information was a “trade secret”, despite many competitors having already disclosed the same information. Such a lack of transparency led to much speculation about Google’s energy use from Blackle (remember that?), via much disputed kettle boiling comparisons, to our own recent dirty data report.

Previously Google has “a big fat F” from Greenpeace.

Since 2009 we’ve been pushing Google and all IT companies to be more transparent as part of ourCool IT leaderboard, and in our analysis of the power consumption and energy-source choices of data centers, as part of our Dirty Data report where Google scored a big fat F for transparency.

With Google’s latest extra credit work, Greenpeace would Google a “B”.

If we were giving out new grades based on today’s release, Google would likely earn a low to middle “B”.

…

Until today, silence from the Googleplex on producing meaningful environmental footprint data seriously undermined its standing as a corporate leader on clean energy, and put it out of step with many other IT companies. Publishing this data helps back up Google’s impressive track record on renewable investment (US$700m in the last year) and policy work in support of strong climate targets.

There is a lot of good info that Google has put out today, including more detail on how it can claim to be “carbon neutral”, which we’ll have more to say on that later, but as a customer of Google and other “Cloud” computing companies, we need to see others put their numbers and plans for clean energy on the table, both to help customers make more informed decision about the carbon impact of different online services, and hopefully to spur greater transparency and competition for improved performance that the IT sector is so known for.

Why not an “A”?  Greenpeace objects to site location in areas where coal is the dominant energy generation composition.

Of course a central part of the take home message from Google is that they want you to feel good about using their products, and should maybe be more thinking more about the footprint of the bottle of wine you are drinking than your Gmail account.  However, Google’s data centers in South and North Carolina certainly don’t run on wine yet (78% and 62% coal powered respectively), and going forward we will be taking a deeper look at how Google and other companies are increasing the demand for dirty energy and the pollution that comes with it in many communities in their race to build the cloud, a task that is made slightly easier today with Google’s new commitment to transparency.

Greenpeace goes on to call out for the rest of the data center industry to match Google’s performance.

Google is now disclosing more information than other big IT companies and is one of the first companies after Akamia to release information on how much energy and emissions are generated by its Gmail and Youtube services which are based on distributed servers, known as cloud computing.

And calls out one of those it would like to see join the transparency.

Google’s big step forward leaves Facebook kinda lonesome at the back of the green IT class, failing to say anything about how much energy is consumed and emissions are created by all our millions of Facebook posts, photos and online friendships generate. Its high time Facebook took a step forward by ditching dirty coal power and following Google’s lead by increasing its use of renewable energy.

Ask Facebook to unfriend coal by joining the Unfriend Coal fan-page