Articles from Industry Perspectives

1. Data Centers – Build or Outsource? Explore Data Center Knowledge (20 hours, 49 min ago) Construction , Cloud Computing The data center is a critical facility that houses computer systems and associated components, including backup power, redundant data communications connections, environmental controls and security devices. Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and fire protection systems become critical to system maintenance and recovery. What Are Your Core Value Activities? Any build versus outsource decision could be viewed through the prism of core competence – increasing performance and organizational delivery through a focus on its core value activities. Unfortunately, in the past, multiple extraneous factors often muddied the perspective. The key difference is that when an activity is core and business critical, it will receive top-level attention and focus. An IT team’s time should be dedicated to the activities that provide strategic advantage to the enterprise and allow resources to be focused only on those key areas. (Read Full Article)

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2. The Network’s Role in Data Center Efficiency Explore Data Center Knowledge (Feb 7 2012) Construction , Monitoring , Networking , Servers As the demand for data center efficiency rises along with the demands for higher bandwidth, speed and performance, facility managers worldwide are challenged to conserve available space and energy, and “do more with less.” As a result, data center professionals, IT managers and networking staff are likely to share the burden of conserving energy, as everyone responsible for the IT facility will play a role in reducing operations costs of the ever-evolving data center. (Read Full Article)

   Comment Mentions:   Forrester Research   Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory   Data Center Knowledge

3. 5 Reasons to Own Your Cloud Explore Data Center Knowledge (Feb 2 2012) Cloud Computing Kent Christensen is virtualization practice manager for Datalink, where consults with both Fortune 500 and mid-tier customers on storage consolidation, virtualization, cloud strategies and technologies. He blogs about theses issues. KENT CHRISTENSEN Datalink Cloud computing is gaining popularity. Yet, we know that only about 25% of IT teams are actively involved in cloud computing within their organization. Why the disconnect? Many IT people tell me they are interested, but just don’t have time to explore what cloud computing could mean to their IT organization. The best advice I can give them comes from American Revolutionary Thomas Paine, himself: “Lead, follow or get out of the way.” Now’s the time to move forward with plans for your own internal, private cloud. If you don’t, you may find yourself — and your IT organization — left behind. (Read Full Article)

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4. Beyond Servers: Is Your Data Center Truly Virtualized? Explore Data Center Knowledge (Feb 1 2012) Cloud Computing , Servers , Storage The concept of introducing virtualization into corporate data centers has moved well past the trial phase over the past few years into one of wide acceptance today. The latest virtualization technologies deliver on the promise of increased efficiency, reduced expenses and a smaller overall footprint. But when it comes to a truly virtualized data center, server virtualization, which enables several applications to run independently on a single physical server, is only half of the solution. Storage Demands Continue CIOs today continue to struggle keeping up with the demands for more storage capacity as data continues to grow exponentially. That, in turn, has led them to add storage systems ad-hoc, responding to the needs of a specific deployment, a particular business function, or a geographic area. As such, many organizations have created a complex, inflexible storage infrastructure that has become both difficult and costly to manage. (Read Full Article)

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5. Enhanced Power Reliability for Data Centers Explore Data Center Knowledge (Jan 31 2012) Construction This year I’ve noticed a few big-name data centers lost power for significant amounts of time due to preventable power reliability measures that shouldn’t ever be overlooked. Data center power reliability can be enhanced by employing three measures that work hand in hand: testing, maintenance and modernization. Maintaining a data center is a complex task that requires well-trained professionals to keep operations running smoothly. As complex as maintaining a data center is, the basic maintenance principles parallel those for regular car maintenance. And we can all identify with the need for car care and repair. For instance, 99.99 percent of the time, your car will start when you insert the key into the ignition and turn. Cars are so reliable that we almost always take them for granted – until the day the engine turns over, but fails to start. Then, frustration sets in. The same could be ... (Read Full Article)

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6. Notes from the Road: DCIM User Experience Explore Data Center Knowledge (Jan 26 2012) Construction In the fast-paced sector of Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM), there are dozens of DCIM vendors out there, each with their own products, user interfaces, and claims. For IT executives who are purchasing and using these tools, determining what is truly “usable” can be quite a challenge. (Read Full Article)

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7. 7 Things Your CEO Should Know About the Cloud Explore Data Center Knowledge (Jan 24 2012) Cloud Computing The IT community has identified, discussed and brooded over the challenges of reaching the cloud. We’ve examined and addressed the causes of virtual sprawl and stall, we’ve figured out the importance of automation in private cloud deployment, and we’ve come to an understanding about the value of bringing cloud computing into the enterprise, where end users can gain some autonomy for provisioning and self-service management. The biggest hurdle left to clear will become the most pressing in 2012. IT is still struggling to communicate cloud realities to business leaders. Until the CIO and the CEO see eye to eye on the path to the private cloud, too many companies will fail to reach that goal. (Read Full Article)

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8. Notes from Gartner: The Value of Monitoring Explore Data Center Knowledge (Jan 10 2012) Monitoring James Sivis is VP, Sales & Marketing, Circonus, and has served as a senior executive in high-tech sales, marketing and business development. James has 25 years of experience with firms including Alcatel and Bellcore/Telcordia/SAIC. JAMES SIVIS Circonus Last month, I attended the Gartner Data Center Conference in Las Vegas and I wanted to share with you some of my impressions and insights from the event. First, I have to say that I have seldom seen a group of more conscientious conference attendees. Networking breakfasts were busy, sessions were well attended, and both lunch and topic-specific networking gatherings had lively discussions. Each of the Solution Center hours, going well into the evening, were full of people voraciously soaking up information from the various exhibitors. Even in hallways during the day, there was a steady exchange of opinions and information. Attendees at the conference were very serious about learning from the ... (Read Full Article)

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9. Bandwidth Management, Cloud & the 405 Freeway Explore Data Center Knowledge (Jan 6 2012) Cloud Computing Like so many people around the world, you may have visited Los Angeles at some point – if only for the weather, especially this time of year. Whether your visit was for business or pleasure, you likely drove on what we Californians call The 405 (also known as the San Diego Freeway). Separating greater Los Angeles from beach communities like Malibu, Santa Monica and Redondo Beach, The 405 is among the top five most congested freeways in the U.S. With its last upgrade completed in 1969, The 405 just wasn’t designed to accommodate today’s traffic flow. While you can make forward progress (assuming no accidents or obstacles are blocking any of the 12 traffic lanes), you’ll likely go at a pace that is…well, let’s just call it “leisurely.” This may not be a perfect analogy, but navigating through LA on The 405 seems an apt ... (Read Full Article)

   Comment Mentions:   Intel

10. Bringing Global HFT Data Centers Up to Speed Explore Data Center Knowledge (Dec 21 2011) From New York to London to Tokyo, the hot buzz words “High Frequency Trading (HFT)” and “algorithmic trading” have been making their rounds on the world’s largest stock exchanges. They have revolutionized the way deals are made and this fast-growing HFT trend is expected to gain ground in Asia in... (Read Full Article)

    Comment Mentions:   Uptime Institute   Data Center Knowledge   NTT

11. Keeping Cloud Workloads on the Right Flight Path Explore Data Center Knowledge (Dec 20 2011) Billy Cox is a Director of Cloud Software Strategy with Intel’s Data Center Group. Since joining Intel in 2007, Billy – who has 30+ years of industry experience – has been leading the cloud strategy efforts for the Intel Software and Services Group. BILLY COX Intel In the course of my work, I often count on airplanes to get me from city to city, and from country to country. I can fly with confidence on any airplane I board because I know there are mechanisms in place to ensure that all commercial aircraft follow certain policies. I don’t have to stop to verify that the plane has the right set of policies in place—those are all set at a higher level. In addition, the setting of the policies are done by a small group of folks and then propagated to a larger community that actually implement and measure conformance ... (Read Full Article)

    Comment Mentions:   Intel   Data Center Knowledge

12. Is Your Network WAN Optimization Really Helping? Explore Data Center Knowledge (Dec 16 2011) When considering WAN optimization solutions, the two most common metrics for measuring effectiveness are the data reduction rate, which looks at data compression on the network, and throughput, which looks the rate of successive packet delivery. Both metrics are excellent for point-in-time analysis, and they provide clear numbers that are easy to understand and compare. WAN Optimization’s Compound Effect There is a third metric, however, that is often overlooked. It is the compound effect, a measure of the combined effects of both reduction and acceleration. The ideal vantage point for observing the compound effect is at the endpoints generating the WAN traffic being optimized. Given both reduction and improved throughput, a solution’s real value is its impact on endpoint performance and whether it helps the organization achieve the lowest possible RTOs (Recovery Time Objectives) and RPOs (Recovery Point Objectives) , and thus meet or improve their BCDR (Business Continuity ... (Read Full Article)

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13. Tips for Simplifying Your Cloud Network Explore Data Center Knowledge (Dec 14 2011) Cloud Computing , Networking “Ethernet is the backbone of the Cloud. “ Bold statement? Not at all. Any data center, cloud or otherwise, depends on its Ethernet network to allow servers, storage systems and other devices to talk to each other. No network means no data center. Today, as IT departments prepare to deploy internal cloud environments, it’s significant to evaluate how network infrastructure choices will impact the cloud’s ability to meet its service level agreements (SLAs). Terms commonly used to describe cloud-computing capabilities, such as agility; flexibility and scalability should absolutely apply to the underlying network as well. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some recommendations for simplifying a private cloud network. You can consider this post a Cliffs Notes’ version of a white paper Intel completed recently. Consolidate Ports and Cables Most cloud environments are heavily virtualized. So virtualization has been a big driver of increasing server ... (Read Full Article)

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14. Cloud Policy: Where Ideals Meet Reality, Part 2 Explore Data Center Knowledge (Dec 8 2011) Cloud Computing Technology-driven business practices often circumvent government regulations, but legal and government policy standards will dictate the cloud’s success - this is a fundamental truth of cloud computing, according to Bob Deutsche of Intel. He elaborates on major global government cloud policy... (Read Full Article)

    Comment Mentions:   Intel   Data Center Knowledge

15. Going Beyond PUE for Data Center Efficiency, Part II Explore Data Center Knowledge (Dec 1 2011) Cloud Computing , Servers This column is part two of a two-part series on Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE). See Going Beyond PUE for Data Center Efficiency for part one. In today’s data center, what else needs to be measured along with Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE)? PUE is best used for tracking the impact of changes made to the data center infrastructure. But there are other metrics and methods used to reduce power usage. While it is important for an organization to reduce losses in the power system and the power used for the support infrastructure, it is also apparent that the bulk of the power consumption in the data center goes to the IT load itself. If the organization can reduce the IT load, it will reduce the overall power required for the data center. IT Load is depicted on the right-hand side of the graphic below. (Read Full Article)

    Comment Mentions:   Data Center Efficiency   Data Center Knowledge

16. Going Beyond PUE for Data Center Efficiency Explore Data Center Knowledge (Nov 29 2011) Cloud Computing , Servers Today, many organizations are looking for new ways of doing more with less, reducing IT budgets or curtailing the incidental costs associated with data center expansions. And data center managers need to focus on creating efficient operating environments to augment the life of existing data centers. Data center efficiencies can be attained through increasing compute densities, creating cold aisle containment systems or more effective use of outside air, but the key component over time is to have an easily understood metric to gauge data center efficiency, and how much improvement is taking place. Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) is one of the basic and most effective metrics for measuring data center energy efficiency. It is calculated by taking the total power consumed by a data center facility and dividing it by the power consumed by the IT equipment. The resulting ratio provides the effective power overhead for a unit of IT ... (Read Full Article)

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17. Power Utilization Effectiveness: Where’s the Beef? Explore Data Center Knowledge (Nov 22 2011) Mark Thiele of Switch writes that PUE was created to help provide a common, standardized metric for determining the relative “effectiveness” of your use of power across the data center and associated IT systems; however, the use of PUE does come with significant caveats. My Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) is 1.10, so my data center is better than your data center running at a PUE of 1.20? Could be, but not necessarily. As most people in the data center field know today, PUE was created to help provide a common, standardized metric for determining the relative “effectiveness” of your use of power across the data center and associated IT systems. I’m personally a fan, and have used PUE to help me build and manage data centers against a pre-defined goal of cost-of-ownership. However, the use of PUE does come with significant caveats, like the fact that higher ... (Read Full Article)

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18. PUE is DEAD: The Case for Performance Per Watt Explore Data Center Knowledge (Nov 15 2011) Servers Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) has been called “The Holy Grail” of data center energy metrics so often that we actually found it impossible to find out who coined the term. As time, technology and sustainability efforts evolve, the PUE metric is no longer the stopping point for energy efficiency measurement, but it has become just one more piece in the larger picture. What does PUE do? It measures how much of the energy entering a data center facility is used to power the computing devices within, versus the amount used for cooling and overhead of the facility. That’s it. Realities of Measurement In an ideal world, the PUE is 1.0, which means that 100 percent of the energy is used by the computing devices in the data center. Since 1.0 is an impossible-to-achieve ideal, the standard goal for most data centers is a PUE of less than ... (Read Full Article)

    Comment Mentions:   The Green Grid   Uptime Institute   Data Center Knowledge

19. Green Benefits: Reduced Costs, Carbon Footprint Explore Data Center Knowledge (Nov 10 2011) Carbon Footprint , Cloud Computing , Servers As third-party providers of mission-critical IT infrastructure that guarantees secure, uninterrupted network and critical environment uptime, commercial data centers enable their clients to focus on their core functions. Data center clients, whether in the communications, marketing, manufacturing – truly in most any field – are not in the business of IT. They exist to fulfill their customers’ business needs with assurance, which they’re able to do in part by outsourcing their necessary, although non-revenue-generating IT infrastructure operations. Outsourcing or co-sourcing IT functions and services, requires corporate CTOs and other decision makers to choose data center service providers not only for the facilities’ ability to deliver redundant and reliable critical power, cooling and network services, but also for their ability to do so in ways that minimize environmental impact and carbon footprint. (Read Full Article)

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20. Disaster Recovery Lessons from Hurricane Irene Explore Data Center Knowledge (Nov 3 2011) Can you really know the value of a disaster recovery service before a disaster hits? Irene tells the story. Every time a disaster occurs—whether a natural disaster or equipment failure or site loss—businesses get a not-so-subtle reminder of how important it is to have a tested disaster recovery plan. Irene has finished her dance along the eastern coastline of the United States. In her wake, she left many businesses and their employees and families with huge damage and losses. Whether you were in her destructive path or not, Irene’s impact is a reminder to review your plan and make sure your recovery solution includes guaranteed standby equipment, skilled technical resources to perform the recovery, and a facility in an alternate geographic region. Wind + Water = No Travel Irene was massive. She crossed 4 FEMA regions and 12 states. The storm covered one-third of the U.S. East Coast ... (Read Full Article)

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21. Redesigning the Data Backup Plan Explore Data Center Knowledge (Oct 26 2011) Backup is now required to do more than just “back up.” A data backup plan must provide reliability, recoverability, and value like never before, especially in light of new e-discovery requirements, server virtualization, and tighter budgets. Backup is no longer just an IT function; it involves every department and should be a corporate-wide effort. Backup is also painful, a challenge felt throughout the organization. Despite technological advances, the challenges organizations face continue, especially in regard to optimizing existent and future backup infrastructures. Unabated storage growth, required business continuity and disaster recovery plans, and implementation of server virtualization are challenging IT departments to efficiently ensure data is consistently backed up and protected. (Read Full Article)

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22. Advantages of Disaster Recovery as a Service Explore Data Center Knowledge (Oct 25 2011) Cloud Computing Nitin Mishra of NetMagic writes that choosing to go with a cloud disaster recovery service will be governed purely by the business imperative. If an organization has critical applications that should be available within minutes of downtime, it should consider cloud-based DR. (Read Full Article)

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23. Cloud is More a Verb than a Noun Explore Data Center Knowledge (Oct 20 2011) Let me begin with an admission. Ever since Miss Jacobson’s seventh-grade English class at Lincoln Junior High School, I’ve recognized myself as somewhat challenged in the proper use of commas, adjectives, pronouns, and the general mechanics of the English written word. In fact, my constant companion is the 1971 edition of Practical English Handbook. You’d think that after all this time my command of the mechanics of the English language might have improved—and it has, a little. But I remain thankful for my reviewers (Sally and Cory) who are experts in the mechanics of the written word and often keep me from stumbling. So having admitted one of my darkest secrets, it’s with some irony that I discuss my fifth truth of corporate cloud strategy: Cloud is a verb, not a noun. (Read Full Article)

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24. Green with Envy: Creating a Green Data Center Explore Data Center Knowledge (Oct 13 2011) Fossil Fuel , Solar , Servers The world’s most advanced and sought after data centers not only have to guarantee optimal space, security, power and connectivity but also ensure far superior environmental performance than their predecessors. In the face of an increasingly arduous regulatory landscape, a worldwide financial crisis prompting companies to do more with less, and operators under pressure to deliver optimized energy environments to satisfy demanding environmental expectations from customers, what steps can next-generation data centers take to ensure they benefit from a green infrastructure? The following article offers practical considerations and tips for meeting the standards of today’s sustainable data center. (Read Full Article)

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25. Mitigating Intelligent DDoS Attacks Explore Data Center Knowledge (Oct 11 2011) Networking Whether you’re an ISP, a hosting company, a data center operator offering “cloud services,” or all of the above, you are no doubt facing multiple business challenges. Increasing competition; corporate pressure to expand market share, ARPU and profitability, shrinking staff size, and reduced CAPEX/OPEX budgets. Today’s business environment is clearly tougher than ever. The size, frequency and complexity of DDoS attacks are increasing and to make matters worse, traditional security products such as firewalls or Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) are inadequate when it comes to stopping them. Over the last two years, the term “DDoS attack” has made its way into the public media stream and even folks with no technical background are aware of the existence and potential impact of such attacks. (Read Full Article)

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