RMS Launches its First Data Center - Green with 100% renewable energy

This last week I was in Iceland at a media/analyst event sponsored by RMS, Datapipe, and Verne Global.  Honestly, I spent so much time talking to so many different people, I find it easier to reference the public disclosures than to write on my own. :-)

The #1 topic of interest to me is RMS as a customer choose its first data center to be a green one with 100% renewable with Datapipe in Verne Global's data center.

Here is the press release from the customer, RMS.  This is RMS's first data center, a green one with 100% renewable energy.

RMS Launches First Global Data Center, Taps Verne Global and Datapipe for 100 Percent Green Computing Environment

Verne Global and Datapipe deliver renewably powered high-performance computing for RMS’ revolutionary exposure and risk management environment

KEFLAVIK, Iceland – Sept. 19, 2013 – Verne Global today announced that RMS, the world’s leading catastrophe risk modeling firm, is deploying its RMS Cloud from Verne Global’s data center campus in Iceland. Powered by the RMS Cloud, RMS(one)TM, the insurance industry’s first real-time exposure and risk management environment, will empower insurers and reinsurers to execute risk modeling, underwriting and portfolio management on a single, open platform hosted in a 100 percent green environment. RMS(one) TM will leverage Datapipe’s Stratosphere® high-performance computing (HPC) green cloud platform for peak loads.

“With RMS(one) running on the RMS Cloud we are giving our customers unprecedented freedom, business agility and competitive advantage by allowing them to execute on their entire exposure and risk management strategies,” said Bobby Soni, chief platform and services officer at RMS. “RMS(one) offers the industry’s first secure, reliable and scalable computing platform coupled with big data infrastructure, which streamlines our customers’ modeling, underwriting and portfolio management processes.” 

Here is one post from ZDNet's David Chernicoff.

RMS demonstrates the importance of the private cloud

Summary: Lack of reliability in Amazon EC2 a major motivator in private cloud investment

By David Chernicoff for Five Nines: The Next Gen Datacenter |September 20, 2013 -- 12:51 GMT (05:51 PDT)

 

When RMS looked at deploying the betas of their cutting edge insurance risk management solution,RMSone, to their customers they realized that the cloud-based service would be significantly less valuable if it wasn’t incredibly reliable.

Here in DatacenterKnowledge's post from Rich Miller.

Data Center Customers Warming to Iceland

September 19th, 2013By: Rich Miller

Verne Global CEO Jeff Monroe calls its Iceland-based data center “the ultimate energy hedge” for its ability to provide long-term price visibility through 12 to 20-year contracts. (Photo: Colleen Miller)

and a post from Colleen Miller.

Free Cooling in Iceland: A Closer Look at the Verne Global Data Center

September 19th, 2013By: Colleen Miller

 

•  KEFLAVIK, ICELAND - Verne Global, which announced a cloud launch this week by client Datapipe and its client risk-modeling specialist RMS, is uniquely positioned from a geographical and business perspective. Verne is taking advantage of the geography of Iceland to operate a data center that is run on 100 percent renewable energy sources, and leverages the chilly climate in Iceland, located just below the Arctic Circle. The geography and geology of Iceland allows the local power companies to use natural resources such as hydro power and geothermal resources to produce electricity. Data Center Knowledge took a tour of this unique data center facility this week. Our photo feature gives insight into the facility, which is being deployed with a modular approach, and seeks to draw clients from both the United States and European countries. SeeVerne Global Data Center Leverages Iceland Power, Cooling.

Oops, took a knife in a carry-on

I just got back from Iceland and took my camera gear.  After a few days going through my gear in the hotel I saw one of my folding knives was in the camera bag.  I made it through security once, but I wasn't going to try again so checked one bag with the below knife in it.

 Here is a video of the knife.

Why did I have a knife in my camera bag?  When you have $3,000 worth of camera and lens, and another $3,000 Mac Book Retina it's a bit of insurance to have when walking around with the gear.  Plus its handy to have a good knife.

How did I get through security?  With all the camera gear batteries, cables, tablet in the camera backpack it was probably hard to see the knife since it was in a side pocket position like this to the X-ray scanner.

Next time I'll double check the side pockets of my camera bag to make sure I take the knife out. :-)

Time to stop using the word "Cloud"

I was having a dinner conversation discussing a bunch of different topics.  One was about a future SaaS solution that is built in the cloud.  We were discussing the cloud, and then I made the suggestion that it may be best to not use the word "Cloud."

Why?  Everyone wants a Cloud?  No.  Some people want the Cloud.  To some the Cloud means it is not secure, it goes down, and it is not as good as legacy systems.  Thanks to AWS outages, Cloud's are perceived as not as reliable by many.  Microsoft, Google, and Twitter have had outages and the media jumps on it.  Cloud services like LinkedIn have had security breaches.  Perception is reality.

Discussing this idea with another executive who supports the roll out of a SaaS Cloud service, I asked does he spend time in "damage control" mode when a user thinks the Cloud is not secure and unreliable.  Yes, all the time. He has to explain how his Cloud is better than others.  

So, how about just not calling your service a Cloud SaaS.

If users make the leap that your service is like a cloud service and they are positive, then fine say it is a cloud.  Otherwise focus on the business value of your service.  What is the business value of the cloud?  There are plenty of companies, event companies, and companies who have product that many money on the cloud.  Is that what you are, then fine use the word cloud.  If you are not marketing the cloud, then drop the word.

I've convinced myself to stop talking about the cloud in presentations and documents when I can.  It is better to talk about what your service does.  It is highly available, secure, and scales.  The cloud means to many that the service has compromises in security and availability, and leaves a bad aftertaste. 

On site power generation changing the Utilities

WSJ reports on companies adding on site power generation is changing the Utilities behaviors.

Companies Unplug From the Electric Grid, Delivering a Jolt to Utilities

Michal Czerwonka for The Wall Street Journal

At Kroger’s food-distribution center in Compton, Calif., a tank system converts organic waste into biogas to produce electricity used by the facility

On a hill overlooking the Susquehanna River, two big wind turbines crank out electricity for Kroger Co.’s KR +2.19% Turkey Hill Dairy in rural Lancaster County, Pa., allowing it to save 25% on its power bill for the past two years.

Google and Apple are mentioned in the article and their servers in data centers.

Almost overnight, that niche market has gone decidedly mainstream. Six years ago,Google Inc. GOOG -0.19% attracted attention by installing big solar arrays atop its Silicon Valley complex in California. Other tech companies followed suit, worried about ensuring power supplies for energy-hungry server farms and achieving sustainability objectives.

Apple Inc. AAPL +1.14% now gets 16% of its electricity from solar panels and fuel cells that run on biogas. Apple’s data center in Maiden, N.C., makes all the power it consumes, a company spokeswoman said.

Google increases its Renewable Energy 73% which means? more data center capacity?

Google has a blog post on its adding more wind power.  Adding 240MW on top 330MW = 570MW of wind power.  Which means???  possibly Google is adding 73% data center capacity over the next year or so.  Why else would Google who is carbon neutral add another 240MW?  The new wind farm capacity comes on line by end of 2014.  

Another windy day in Texas: a new power purchase agreement

9/17/13 | 9:00:00 AM

(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog)

As part of our quest to power our operations with 100% renewable energy, we’ve agreed to purchase the entire output of the 240 MW Happy Hereford wind farm outside of Amarillo, Texas. This agreement represents our fifth long-term agreement and our largest commitment yet; we’ve now contracted for more than 570 MW of wind energy, which is enough energy to power approximately 170,000 U.S. households.

The Happy Hereford wind farm, which is expected to start producing energy in late 2014, is being developed by Chermac Energy, a small, Native American-owned company based in Oklahoma. The wind farm will provide energy to the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), the regional grid that serves our Mayes County, Okla. data center.