Top Three Talks for GigaOm Structure Data

Many of the hardcore data center folks don't go to GigaOm Structure Data.  This latest conference was dominated by Big Data presentations.  Chatting with a few of the old timers who have gone to many of the GigaOm conferences, there were three presentations that stood out.  Check these out to get a taste of what is presented.

 Paul Maritz makes a call for leadership for a Data Driven Future.  If you want to read the talk go here.

EMC’s Paul Maritz: it takes leadership to move companies toward a data-driven future

by Eliza Kern

MAR. 20, 2013 - 9:56 AM PDT

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photo: Albert Chau

SUMMARY:

What does it take to move companies toward a data-driven future? EMC chief strategist and Pivotal Initiative leader Paul Maritz spoke at Strucuture:Data in New York on how to move toward the future through human leadership and strategy.

 ...

OM MALIK 08:49

This injection of web-scale ideas and practices into various companies involves a whole different kind of thinking, not just at the IT infrastructure level. It affects thinking at the executive level, at the middle-management level, and all throughout the company. People insist on seeing data as this special thing. I feel that it’s more about the culture of the company. If the company doesn’t have a culture of innovative use of data, there doesn’t seem to be much they can do to adapt.

PAUL MARITZ 09:23

I think it’s tied to business models. These underlying structures allow you to rethink business models, and unfortunately I’ve learnt that it’s very hard for an organization to change its business model. All of us become very comfortable with a business model, it allows you to look into the future, it’s your compass” that allows you to make predictions, and it’s very difficult to let go of that. It’s not so much a matter of technology, it’s the fact of a company coming at you with a very different business model. Amazon for example doesn’t have the same focus on managing brands in the way that a traditional retailer does. They manage a customer relationship. Their whole business model is predicated on getting value out of the customer rather than squeezing value out of brands or products.

Sean Gourley's talk got people to think about solving problems.  Sean's transcript is here.

Data science is not enough. We need data intelligence too

by Stacey Higginbotham

MAR. 20, 2013 - 8:18 AM PDT

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photo: Albert Chau

SUMMARY:

In his talk at Structure: Data, Quid’s Sean Gourley talked about the meaningful differences between “data science” and “data intelligence.” While one is concerned with correlations, the other is concerned about solving problems.

And, our talk on Capacity Planning and Asset Management made the top mentions as one of the top talks.  Our transcript is here.

Want a better/greener/more agile data center? Use the data.

by Stacey Higginbotham

MAR. 21, 2013 - 8:23 AM PDT

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photo: Albert Chau

SUMMARY:

Want to see big data in action? When it comes to planning out data center capacity, data can influence everything from the power usage to planning for disasters.

Disclosure: I work for GigaOm Pro as a freelance analyst and the panel are some of the best people I have encountered in capacity planning and asset management.   

Hong Kong is thinking of going underground for data centers

Register has a post on Hong Kong's investigate of going underground for data centers.

Hong Kong plans cavernous underground data centres

Going underground

By Phil Muncaster • Get more from this author

Posted in Data Center, 22nd March 2013 04:42 GMT

Free whitepaper – EMA advanced performance analytics report

Engineering hurdles

According to Amod Jayawant, director of critical environments at real estate services firm CBRE, digging a data bunker won't be easy.

“It’s a great idea – as you know underground rock formations, caves, caverns etc. maintain an even all year round cool temperature,” he told El Reg. “However, the technical side of this equation is not so pretty. It’s really a bunch of questions, the answers to which are sometimes not feasible or extremely expensive.”

These questions revolve around how to supply power and fit generators; how to vent diesel fumes and get fresh air in; how to get diesel tanks underground; and how to dehumidify the area, he explained.

End of 2013 Ski Season

One of the great things about Winter in Seattle is if you like to ski there are plenty of choices.  Below are a few pictures from todays U12 (under 12) championships that I took.

Apple's 100% greening of its data centers, why? a passion to do the right thing

GigaOm's Katie Fehrenbacher has a post on Apple being 100% renewable powered.

Apple now powering its cloud with solar panels, fuel cells (photos)

by Katie Fehrenbacher

MAR. 21, 2013 - 12:11 PM PDT

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SUMMARY:

Apple’s massive solar panel and fuel cell farm are now live and providing clean power for its huge data center in Maiden, North Carolina. By the end of the year 60 percent of the power for the data center will come from these sources.

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Apple has turned on the first halves of both its massive solar panel farm and adjacent fuel cell farm, and is using the systems to provide power for its $1 billion, 500,000 square-foot data center in Maiden, North Carolina. The clean power projects are some of the largest non-utility owned systems in the world, and they’re part of Apple’s plan to use 100 percent clean power for its data centers. Apple revealed the information in a new environmental report on Thursday.

Apple’s Renewable Energy Projects at Maiden

In 2012, we built the nation’s largest end user–owned, onsite solar photovoltaic array on land surrounding the data center. This 100-acre, 20-megawatt (MW) facility has an annual production capacity of 42 million kWh of clean, low-carbon, renewable energy.

Late last year, we decided to double our capacity by beginning construction on a second 20-MW solar photovoltaic facility nearby that should be operational near the end of 2013.

In 2012, we also worked with the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) to develop state-specific rules under which fuel cells supplied by biogas from landfills and other renewable sources can be used to generate renewable energy. Consistent with these rules, we built an onsite 4.8-MW fuel cell installation fueled by landfill biogas that provides more than 40 million kWh of 24/7 baseload renewable energy annually.

In early 2013, we expanded this installation to 10 MW, which makes it the largest non-utility fuel cell installation operating anywhere in the country, supplying more than 83 million kWh annually. 

Including a video that shows the site.

What gave me a good laugh is reading DatacenterKnowledge's coverage of the 100% green Apple data center speculating that Greenpeace is the cause of Apple's efforts.

In the wake of pressure from the environmental group Greenpeace, Apple said Thursday that it has achieved 100 percent renewable energy at all of its data centers, including facilities in North Carolina, Oregon, California and Nevada.

The author goes on to reference other Greenpeace efforts and press releases.

Gary Cook, senior IT analyst at Greenpeace called Apple out at an Uptime Symposium saying that it and Facebook should  “wield (its) power to alter the energy paradigm.” Apple has since stepped up in a big way. Since 2010, it has achieved a 114 percent increase in the usage of renewable energy at corporate facilities worldwide, up to 70 percent overall from 35 percent.

“Apple’s announcement shows that it has made real progress in its commitment to lead the way to a clean energy future,” Cook said in a statement Thursday. “Apple’s increased level of disclosure about its energy sources helps customers know that their iCloud will be powered by clean energy sources, not coal.”

Long before Greenpeace was going after the data center industry Olivier was passionate about green data centers at eBay 5 years ago and he most likely took that same passion to Apple.  

And, we could count on Olivier to be ready with a passionate view on doing the right thing for the environment, adding issues about water consumption, eWaste, and other environmental concerns beyond simply the power consumed.

Here is Olivier speaking at a Google event 4 years ago.

At Google’s Efficient Data Center Summit, there was a panel discussion on Best Practices. Panel members left to right: Ken Brill, James Hamilton, William Tschudi, and Olivier Sanche.

One of the questions for the panel members was on subject of green and sustainability.

Ken Brill gave a practical view of show me the money. Green is overhyped and a clear ROI needs to be established for projects.

Olivier Sanche starts by telling the story of his child telling him how the polar bears are drowning, then he thinks he is potentially building a data center that will have a bigger impact to global warming than any other action he has as an individual.  Olivier tells his team we need to do the right thing, and how we impact the environment is part of the equation.

If Apple was following Ken Brill's advice from above that Green is overhyped, then you could more easily believe that Greenpeace got them to change their mind. 

You could argue that DCK was correct in saying Greenpeace was an influence, but compared to what Olivier did inside Apple I would say Olivier was 1,000 times more influential for the direction of Apple's green data center efforts than Greenpeace.  The benefit Greenpeace has is they still have a voice and they have the incentive to tell their supporters that they can change the industry.  "Look we got Apple to change its direction."  Olivier is no longer with us, and I am sure he would screaming loudly that this is BS.  We greened our data centers because it is the right thing to do, not because an environmental group has chosen to target the company.

Apple achieving this public statement of being 100% renewable in its data center is an achievement of OIivier Sanche, not Greenpeace.

Disclosure:  Olivier Sanche was one of my closest data center friends, and I still keep in touch with his family. I work with GigaOm as an analyst, so I know Katie Fehrenbacher and how she writes.  If Katie writes something I don't agree with I'll tell her where she needs to correct her facts.  GigaOm hires me for my independent opinion and industry expertise.

Green A Data Center with Data

GigaOm's Stacey Higginbotham posts on the panel discussion I moderated at GigaOm Structure Data.

I want to thank Tamara Budec (Goldman Sachs), Heather Marquez (Facebook) and Amaya Souarez (Microsoft) for joining me on a great topic to discuss.

Want a better/greener/more agile data center? Use the data.

by Stacey Higginbotham

1 HOUR AGO

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photo: Albert Chau

SUMMARY:

Want to see big data in action? When it comes to planning out data center capacity, data can influence everything from the power usage to planning for disasters.

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Stacey does a great job of summarizing the talk.

If you want to see the video you can see it here.