Where is the Growth Mindset in the Data Center Industry?

There are a type of people in the data center industry I gravitate more than others.  One characteristic is those who have a "growth mindset" vs. "fixed mindset.  I had posted on this topic before.

If you want more detail on the growth mindset here is a google talk.

"You're so talented!", "You are gifted - a natural!", "You're doing so well in school, you must be really smart!" - children receive these messages (or their negative counterparts), along with many other messages on a daily basis from their peers, parents and teachers. Are these just words or do they mean more?

if you want the polished quick pitch here is a TED talk.

Carol Dweck researches "growth mindset" - the idea that we can grow our brain's capacity to learn and to solve problems. In this talk, she describes two ways to think about a problem that's slightly too hard for you to solve. Are you not smart enough to solve it ...


Kiva Systems -> Amazon Robotics, Amazon's Automation Research Group

Amazon acquired Kiva Systems in 2012, then went dark.  No new customers mentioned.  Sales staff was let go.  Now in August 2015 www.kivasystems.com will point to Amazon Robotics https://www.amazonrobotics.com/#/

A recruitment video is here.  https://www.amazonrobotics.com/#/vision

Here are the current open positions.  Sorry for the formatting, but too much time to clean this up.  You get the idea of the hiring amazon is doing.  https://www.amazonrobotics.com/#/careers#open

Google, Facebook, Apple, and so many of the other high tech companies with huge data centers have robotics efforts.  A huge data center behind robotics makes so much sense.

Mystery of Why 4 Technical Leaders have left Digital Realty over 5 years

Jim Smith and David Schirmacher have left Digital Realty Trust.

“Jim Smith, who has been the data center provider’s CTO since its founding more than a decade ago, is leaving the company, a Digital spokesman said.
...
Another major departure from Digital announced Tuesday was David Schirmacher’s. After more than 3.5 years as senior VP of operations, Schirmacher was appointed to lead design and construction in January of this year.”

I would always chat with Jim and David when I saw them at data center events.  Then, I thought about Chris Crosby another person I would enjoy chatting with left in 2011.

““During his tenure, Chris tirelessly focused on growing our business and played a key role in developing our data center products and most recently new market opportunities,” said Michael Foust, Chief Executive Officer, in the company’s press release. ”

Then I thought of Mike Manos leaving Digital in 2010.

All four of these data center executives are tops in technical and operational skills to build and run data centers.  When you go through the list of people Digital is hiring you don't see someone with these skills.

This is a mystery to me.  As the largest data center provider you would think having the top data center talent is a priority.  So what is the top priority for Digital?  In the announcement of Jim and David leaving is the hiring of Chris Sharp from Equinix where he focused on the Cloud.  But, some of the biggest tenants of Digital run some of the biggest Clouds.  Does Digital want to compete against its Cloud customers?  If youwant to build data centers specific for the Cloud you would keep the data center executives so its not that.

I don't have a clear answer to this mystery.

Story of Wood Stone Oven - why cooks love the oven

I use my Wood Stone over 2-3 times a week, cooking salmon and chicken so much more than pizza.  Bacon comes out the best, but means I need to need get up early to heat up the oven before I cook.  I have cooked many meals for my friends and family.

To give an idea of the oven check out this video.

Perhaps you have heard our story...... In 1989, challenged with the task of finding a wood-fired stone hearth oven or "brick oven" that could withstand the intense rigors of the restaurant world, Keith Carpenter set out for perfection. Inspired to create a better wood-fired oven, Carpenter pitched some ideas to Harry Hegarty, an experienced builder of large-scale, high-temperature ceramic incinerators.


Facebook Changes from buyer of Cheap Coal Power to Pushing for Renewable Energy

Wired's Cade Metz has a post on Facebook's frustrated efforts to buy renewable energy for its data centers.

“FACEBOOK’S NEW DATA center will run entirely on wind power. This means three of the five massive computing facilities that will drive the company’s worldwide social network in the years to come will run use only renewable energy. But Peter Freed, who helps oversee renewable energy efforts at Facebook, isn’t entirely pleased. Buying clean energy, he says, remains far too difficult.

“It should be easier to get these kinds of things done,” he says, “and we’re seeing an increasing number of companies that want to do them.””

Facebook has come a long way from when it built its first data center in Prineville, Oregon, choosing coal power in Oregon.  Why coal?  Because coal power was more abundant, therefore lower cost than hydropower.  The attention from this event covered by Matt Stansbery and then others helped to make Facebook the target of Greenpeace.

Now Facebook is considered part of the renewable data center leaders - Apple and Google are the other two.

And others play catch up like Amazon.

“On Monday, in the wake of Facebook unveiling its latest data center site in Texas, Amazon announced that it will open a 670.000 MWh wind farm in North Carolina. The turbines are set to start turning in December of next year.”