Green Data Center Timeline from Greenpeace

Green Data Centers have come along way since i started blogging on the subject in 2007.

Greenpeace has a timeline from their perspective on the green data center here.

Here are some of their early entries.

“September, 2011: Google increases transparency on its data center energy use

Google releases information on exactly how much energy it takes to provide searches, email, youtube videos and all other Google services, as well as its energy mix.

December, 2011: Facebook to renewable energy siting policy for data centers

Facebook commits to a siting policy with a stated preference to locate data centers in areas with renewable energy available, bringing to a close the 20-month Greenpeace Unfriend Coal campaign.

May, 2012: Apple commits to 100 % renewable energy for iCloud

Apple announces a doubling of its solar installation at its North Carolina data center, along with a commitment that all of its data centers will be powered by 100 % renewable energy.

June, 2012: eBay quits the coal grid for its Utah data center

eBay installs fuel cells for its Utah data center, setting them up in a way that allows the facility to run independently from the electricity grid, which is heavily powered by coal there.”
— http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/A-Green-Internet/Green-Internet-Timeline/



Open Compute 2015 Registration is Open

I've registered for Open Compute 2015.  You can at this link https://www.eventbrite.com/e/open-compute-us-summit-2015-march-10-11-details-below-registration-12528804993

ocp us summit 2015
Registration Now Open!
We are pleased to announce the dates for the next OCP U.S. Summit on Tuesday, March 10 and Wednesday, March 11, 2015 at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, CA.

The upcoming Summit offers you the chance to showcase your products and services, generate quality leads, meet with business partners, and network with OCP customers, contributors, and executives.

At the most recent summit, attendees came from the technology sector in addition to finance, government, and consulting. These attendees represented executive-level roles of vice president or higher as well as IT directors and managers.

Here is a video of last January's event!

Here are the videos from the OCP EU Summit from October 2014.

Thinking Differently about Data Centers

Apple is famous for the "Think Different" ad.

And here is a video of Steve Jobs explaining the ideas of "Think Different"

It has been said that Think Different, should have been said "Think Differently" for correct grammar.

I have been spending a lot of time thinking differently about data centers.  What are changes that are needed to promote innovation.  Thanks to clients who have pushed for tough problems to be solved I've been able to start to see a different way. 

Part of thinking differently is to think what aligns with a company's business model.  The flaw in so much is to take a commodity approach and apply it to take any situation.  Think of how many presentations you have seen that are selling you commodity approaches that apply to anyone.

What is innovative is figuring out how to solve problems that work for a company to give it an advantage over others.

Peaking behind the Scenes of Failed The Data Centers LLC

Sometimes you can learn from mistakes. If you are an engineer, so much of what you know works is from the things that didn't.  Delawarenonline reports on the suit filed between executives at The Data Centers LLC.

“Five months after the hotly debated development was shelved, the former president of The Data Centers LLC in West Chester, Pa., is lashing out against the company’s chief executive, Earl Eugene “Gene” Kern, saying Kern froze him out of business affairs then ran up millions of dollars in debt the company had no ability to pay.

Robert Krizman, a well-known technical expert, alleges Kern wooed him away from an executive job at a major company with promises Krizman would be president of a company developing the data storage and management center, according to court papers. The two became members in the limited liability company with Kern having a larger ownership interest, the complaint says.”
— http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2014/12/31/suit-offers-glimpse-behind-doomed-data-center-venture/21135533/

Some of the vendors have unpaid invoices.

“Two companies have filed lawsuits for unpaid invoices totaling $1.3 million, plus interest, costs and attorneys’ fees. Duffield Associates engineering firm has sued the company for $619,000 debt, while Constructure Management Inc. construction management firm has sued for more than $772,000 in unpaid invoices, according to legal documents.”