Intel Data Center up 11%, PC down 1%, so glad I stopped working on the PC

Windows XP in 2001 was the last time I worked on PC operating systems.  I started working on the PC in 1987 on the Mac products at Apple.  After 14 years I was tired of PC operating systems.  In 2002 I switched over the Server operating systems, then management tools before exiting Microsoft.  Now I focus more on Mobile and Cloud.

Intel announced its numbers and Data Center Group is up 11% and the PC group is down 1%

  • PC Client Group revenue of $7.9 billion, down 1 percent year-over-year
  • Data Center Group revenue of $3.1 billion, up 11 percent year-over-year

Google steadily builds capacity in its Data Centers, $2.35B Q1

Google released its Q1 numbers yesterday, and I waited until GigaOm’s Derrick Harris through up the nice graphic of the quarterly spend.

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Derrick’s post is here.   One nice part I liked is he inserted the CFO’s comments about the infrastructure spend.

Here’s what Google Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette had to say on Wednesday’s earnings call, according to a transcriptpublished by research firm Morningstar:

As it relates to CapEx, listen, you’re right, that we – and I’ve mentioned this in the last couple of quarters, where we have – and just a reminder to everybody, right, if you think of the CapEx categories, right, data centers first and data center construction, then production equipment, then all other facilities is kind of like the hierarchy of needs. In the case of data center construction, we have found that the option value of having more capacity on standby and available to us to grow versus not having it is actually a real strategic issue for the Company. In that sense, if for whatever reason, we had a spike in demand that was really pronounced and sustained for a couple of quarters and we did not have the capacity, it would be a real issue strategically for us relative to the quite low cost of having the infrastructure in place. So that’s why we’re really pushing ahead of the curve, and so it’s with this view of long-term. So, from that perspective, you’re also right that, that’s the mindset we’re applying. And we’ve always said that CapEx was lumpy, so you have a good manifestation of it right now right here.

Google is one the few Cloud companies who can keep up with their demand by building data centers.  Most need to dip into Wholesale providers.  Think about if the big guys can’t anticipate their loads and build everything why should the rest of you?  Google is the exception with a $9bil annual spend. ;-)

DePaul shows their new data center space in Dupont Fabros Chicago Facility

Normally when you see a wholesale data center space like Dupont Fabros you can’t go into the spaces that are occupied.  here is a video of DePaul University sharing their new space in Dupont Fabros’s Chicago Data Center.

Dupont Fabros has more information on the building here.

CH1 - Chicago, IL

Located in the western suburbs of Chicago, CH1 is one of the Midwest’s most sophisticated and efficient data centers. The facility is constructed in two phases of 18.2 MW of Critical Load each; Phase I was delivered in August 2008, with Phase 2 delivered in February 2011. Clients are able to lease one or multiple dedicated computer rooms each with independent redundancy and security. The property has multiple major fiber carriers on site and benefits from some of the country’s most competitive power rates. Customer requiring substantial office space can utilize the adjacent and exclusive 32,000 square foot office building. The facility is currently 100 percent leased.

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How fast is your Connection to Netflix?

There is a lot of news on Comcast Netflix agreement that speeds up streaming video.  ArsTechnica writes on how the speed has increased after the connection agreement.

After Netflix pays Comcast, speeds improve 65%

When Netflix and Comcast customers both pay Comcast, the traffic flows smoothly.

by  - Apr 14 2014, 11:22am PDT

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Netflix's decision to pay Comcast for a direct connection to the Comcast network has resulted in significantly better video streaming performance for customers of the nation's largest broadband provider.

Netflix has bemoaned the payment, asking the government to prevent Comcast from demanding such interconnection "tolls."

Netflix has posted the latest performance results for Mar 2014.

 

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Curious I decided to see how fast my connections are to Netflix.  You can watch a Netflix movie and embedded in your stream is the speed of connection.

Netflix has released a new “test” video that will then report on how fast and at what quality you are getting Netflix content.

Click here to launch

The tool streams a test video and displays the data up in the top corner.

I tried the movie on my MacBook Retina.  Max Resolution is 1280x720 at 3mbps. 

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Went to AppleTv and FireTV and both of their speeds were 5.8mbps at 1920x1080.  I can get the higher speeds because I upgraded my home network to Business Comcast so no usage caps and much higher speed streams. 

Doesn’t it seem kind of sad that you spend all the money on a nice TV and if you watch Netflix and many other streaming services over your home ISP you are lucky to get 720p.  Heck until I switched off of Home Comcast Internet I was like the rest of you stuck at 480p.

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