Articles from eweek.com

Amd, Hp, Others Aim to Use Wind, Solar Power for Data Centers

Explore eweek.com (Aug 1 2011) Solar , Wind , Cloud Computing

AMD and HP are joining with a New York agency and university to determine whether wind and solar power can be used to power data centers. Rate This Article: Poor Best E-mail Print PDF Version Advanced Micro Devices and Hewlett-Packard are teaming with the state of New York and Clarkson University on a research project to figure how best to use renewable energy to power containerized data centers. Specifically, the researchers want to determine not only whether the data centers—such as HP’s PODS (Performance-Optimized Data Centers) can be run solely on wind or solar power, but also whether workloads can be automatically shifted between these energy resources without having to rely on a traditional electrical grid. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Intel   Hewlett Packard   Dell

Dell, Microsoft Tout Data Center 'Microsite' for Bing Maps

Explore eweek.com (Jul 29 2011)

Dell built a high-performance data center "microsite" for Microsoft’s Bing Maps business that uses fresh-air and evaporative-cooling technology to drive up the facility's energy efficiency. Rate This Article: Poor Best E-mail Print PDF Version Dell officials are touting the data center “microsite” they created for Microsoft’s Bing Maps business as an example of what can be done in building a high-performance environment that also is highly efficient. Dell, in conjunction with networking vendor Mellanox Technologies, created the microsite—a modular compartmentalized solution within a data center site created for a specific workload—that offers 100 percent fresh-air and evaporative-cooling technology to drive up the efficiency of the facility and reach a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of 1.03. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Europe   Google   Yahoo

Google Alta Wind Infusion Pushes Clean Energy Funding to $400M

Explore eweek.com (May 25 2011) Wind

Google put $55 million into the Alta Wind Energy Center (AWEC), which will be able to power 450,000 homes and boost California's wind power generation by 30 percent. Google May 24 said it put $55 million into the Alta Wind Energy Center (AWEC), pushing the company's clean power cash infusions to $400 million. Situated in southern California's wind-blown Mojave Desert, AWEC when complete will create 1,550 megawatts (MW) of energy, or enough to power 450,000 homes. AWEC should boost California's wind generation by 30 percent. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Google   Federal Energy Regulatory Commission   Southern California Edison

Why IBM's Hardware Business Is Flying High

Explore eweek.com (Apr 25 2011) Cloud Computing

IBM’s Systems & Technology Group saw its best quarter in a decade based on hardware sales in the first quarter of 2011, and analysts say it is because IBM has the right mix at the right time. Rate This Article: Poor Best E-mail Print PDF Version IBM executives are making all the right moves when it comes to the company's hardware business. IBM’s STG (Systems & Technology Group) showed its best quarter in a decade when the systems giant announced its first-quarter 2011 earnings April 19. During a call with analysts announcing the first quarter earnings, Mark Loughridge, IBM’s chief financial officer, said IBM’s STG roared to its best first quarter in more than a decade—up $4 billion, or 19 percent year-to—year—with double-digit growth in all brands, including System z mainframe, Power, System x, storage and microelectronics. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Sun Microsystems   Gartner   Oracle

10 Best Practices for Power Management in the Latest Data Centers

Explore eweek.com (Feb 23 2011) Cloud Computing , Servers

10 Best Practices for Power Management in the Latest Data CenterseWeekRead those questions in this eWEEK slide show. by Chris Preimesberger PUE (power usage effectiveness) is a metric used to determine the energy efficiency of a data center. This is determined by dividing the amount of power entering a data center by the ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Gartner   Chris Preimesberger

How to Reduce Data Center Waste

Explore eweek.com (Sep 30 2010) Carbon Footprint , Cloud Computing , Servers

It is the silent killer of IT budgets in every industry, for companies of virtually every size: runaway electricity consumption in the data center. Regardless of the ongoing debate about carbon footprints and climate change, Knowledge Center contributor Andy Dominey explains here the most compelling reason for IT executives to pay closer attention to this issue: the opportunity to achieve dramatic and immediate savings by reducing data center waste. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that the computer servers in this country recently consumed 61 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in a single year. That is about1.5 percent of all electricity consumed in the country —a $4.5B expense. The problem is not about to go away, either. Consider that, in 2011, the EPA expects that data centers' electricity consumption could spike up to as high as 100 billion kWh—a $7.4B expense. (Read Full Article)

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ARM Eyes Data Center, New Markets with Cortex-A15 Chip Design

Explore eweek.com (Sep 9 2010) Cloud Computing

ARM officials unveil the Cortex-A15 design, which will have features, including virtualization support, that will help it expand beyond smartphones and possibly into servers. ARM Holdings, whose chip designs already are found in most of the current smartphones, including Apple's iPhone and devices based on Google's Android OS, is now looking to expand its reach into other areas. ARM officials Sept. 9 unveiled their next major chip design, the Cortex-A15, which had been code-named "Eagle." The officials are promising a fivefold improvement in performance in a power envelope similar to current ARM processors. Chips using the design will be able to run at up to 2.5GHz and with two to possibly 16 processing cores. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Apple   Intel   Google

Federal Data Center Consolidation a Virtually Impossible Task

Explore eweek.com (Jul 6 2010) Cloud Computing

In his article in eWEEK’s sister publication, Smarter Technology, Dennis McCafferty reports on the results of a study that shows that White House efforts at consolidating federal data centers to save money and improve operational and energy efficiency will be a tough nut to crack. As McCafferty points out, the agencies are territorial, they don’t want to use private vendors, and relatively few federal IT managers believe in the process. The article references a MeriTalk survey that reveals that federal managers don’t have the guidance they need to close down unneeded data centers, they don’t have operational guidance about how they’re supposed to consolidate with another agency, and they don’t have any assurance that their needs will be met if another agency is in charge of their data center. But in reality, the problem is a lot worse than the survey indicates. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Department of Homeland Security   Department of Defense

IBM Offers Green IT Advice

Explore eweek.com (Jun 21 2010) Carbon Footprint , Cloud Computing , Servers

In an interview with eWEEK, IBM's resident green IT expert, Steven Sams, talks about Big Blue's efforts to help its customers go green. The explosion of connectivity, online applications and new services has driven the average business to increase its server capacity by six times and storage by 69 times over the last 10 years. The increased demand to keep up with growth and manage rising energy costs, as well as increased concern for the environment, places significant pressure on aging data center infrastructures. Many companies are under pressure to reduce their carbon footprint. While "going green" and growing business appear to be diametrically opposed goals, IBM has pioneered technologies that demonstrate how green IT can actually provide a much more efficient and competitive infrastructure to support emerging business requirements. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   IBM

Verari Restructuring, Lays Off Most Employees

Explore eweek.com (Dec 14 2009) Cloud Computing

Verari Systems, which makes data center equipment, including servers and storage systems, has laid off the bulk of its employees as it looks to restructure its business. The company has been hit by the current credit crunch, according to its CEO. Rumors had been circulating for days that the company had gone under, and Verari employees are using the Internet to stay connected. Server maker Verari Systems is undergoing a restructuring that has led to the layoffs of a large portion of its work force and put into question its future viability. Currently, a number of employees are still working in Verari’s San Diego, Calif., headquarters to deal with a backlog of orders and to develop a plan that will benefit the company’s customers and partners, President and CEO David Wright said in an interview. “We have customer orders we’re working with, and we’re also working ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Cisco   Hewlett Packard   Verari Systems

IBM Building Zero-Emission Data Centers

Explore eweek.com (Nov 6 2009) Power and Cooling , Emissions , Cloud Computing , Servers

IBM is working to deliver technology that could lead to zero-emission data centers, said an IBM researcher at a USENIX conference here Nov. 6. At the USENIX Large Installation System Administration conference, Bruno Michel, manager of Advanced Thermal Packaging at IBM's Zurich Research Laboratory, said his team is working on new ways to reduce emissions and waste in data centers, including methods such as chip stacking and liquid cooling. Michel said, "High-performance liquid cooling allows data centers to operate with coolant temperatures above the free cooling limit in all climates, eliminating the need for chillers and allowing the thermal energy to be reused in cold climates," such as that in Zurich. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   IBM

How to Achieve 40 Percent Energy Savings in Your Data Center

Explore eweek.com (Nov 5 2009) Power and Cooling , Servers

Today's data center managers have many techniques to reduce their data center's energy consumption, but a mixture of techniques is often required to achieve energy saving targets. The key to judging success of any energy reduction strategy is the ability to accurately measure results along each step of the way. Here, Knowledge Center contributor Joe Polastre illustrates how power management technology can be used to achieve up to 40 percent energy savings in your data center. Everyone's talking about how the 35 to 40 percent energy savings promised by so-called green data center initiatives can help MIS operations dramatically reduce both their operating expenses and their environmental impact. But despite the buzz, there is not much being said about the most efficient and cost-effective way to achieve these savings—or how to measure them. Meanwhile, the ambitious claims being made by many hardware and software vendors make ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Google

Unused Servers Cost Businesses $25B Annually: Study

Explore eweek.com (Oct 16 2009) Servers

A survey sponsored by 1E and the Alliance to Save Energy found that one in six servers—about 4.7 million worldwide—are doing nothing useful, costing businesses as much as $25 billion a year. The survey of global IT professionals also found that many are lacking the necessary tools and know-how to find and get rid of unused servers. About one in six servers worldwide are doing nothing useful for their companies, wasting about $25 billion a year, according to a survey of global IT managers. (Read Full Article)

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HP Touts 4 Green Data Centers

Explore eweek.com (Oct 14 2009) Fossil Fuel , Cloud Computing , Servers

With data center power and cooling costs becoming a key issue for businesses, vendors such as Hewlett-Packard are using their expertise to help customers find ways to make their new or existing facilities greener. HP officials point to four data centers that they run or have designed that use everything from reflective roof materials to the icy air of the North Sea to help reduce energy costs. Over the past few years, the issue of power and cooling costs for data centers has moved from being an afterthought to the forefront in the minds of IT administrators. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Hewlett Packard

Mainframes Continue to Play Key Role in Data Centers, CA Survey Finds

Explore eweek.com (Aug 21 2009) Servers

A CA survey of IBM System z mainframe users, most of whom also run distributed computing environments, finds that the mainframes address key IT infrastructure concerns of IT professionals, such as security, reliability, management and efficiency. The survey is the latest move in CA's Mainframe 2.0 campaign, which touts the effectiveness of the big systems in the modern data center. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Sun Microsystems   Hewlett Packard   Unisys

Intel Online Calculator Measures Server Performance, Efficiency

Explore eweek.com (Jul 31 2009) Servers

On its Website for IT professionals, Intel has introduced a calculator that customers can use to determine the performance and power efficiency of their servers. The calculator takes into account everything from the age of the server to the number of cores on the processor to the energy consumption at both idle and full utilization. Many technology vendors, including Sun, AMD, VMware, HP and Dell, offer online calculators that help businesses measure everything from energy consumption to ROI. Intel has introduced a new calculator on its Website for IT administrators that lets them determine the performance and efficiency of their servers. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Intel   Microsoft Corp

Dell Plans to Move Deeper into Data Center

Explore eweek.com (Jul 14 2009) Cloud Computing

At the annual Dell analyst day, Dell executives say the company is looking to change its product mix, moving more upstream into the data center with a solutions-based approach and away from its heavy reliance on PC sales. The executives, including CEO Michael Dell, say this will be accomplished through a combination of targeted acquisitions, partnerships and organic growth. However, while they say the move away from reliance on PCs is key, it is unclear how easy such a move will be, given that PCs still account for about half of Dell's revenues. Dell also says the company won't offer an all-in-one data center solution, as Cisco and HP have. (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Sun Microsystems   Oracle   Cisco

Juniper to Build Low-Latency Network for NYSE Data Centers

Explore eweek.com (Jun 25 2009) Cloud Computing , Networking

Juniper Networks will lay the technology foundation for two new data centers scheduled to open next year for the NYSE Euronext exchange, which is looking to reduce the number of its global data centers from 10 to four. Juniper will use Data Center Infrastructure Solutions to create a network that will improve performance and scalability, reduce complexity and cut data center costs. It also will offer a latency of 50 microseconds. Juniper Networks is going to be the networking backbone for two new data centers being built by the New York Stock Exchange. Juniper and the NYSE Euronext exchange group announced the partnership June 24 in which Juniper will build the IT infrastructure for the two data centers, one in London and the other in New Jersey, just outside of New York City. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. (Read Full Article)

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Education, Technology Key Drivers in Energy Efficiency Push: Panel

Explore eweek.com (Jun 9 2009)

A panel debating energy management at an event hosted by APC parent company Schneider Electric said technology in place now could save businesses as much as 30 percent on their power costs, but that many companies aren’t adopting them. Educating the companies on what they can do to save money, and giving them the tools to do so, would go a long way in driving the adoption of energy-efficient products and methods, the panel said. And businesses need to start thinking about green IT, because the Obama administration is ready to put money and regulations behind the issue. As an analyst with Gartner, Dave Cappuccio has been in a lot of data centers. What Cappuccio sees is distressing. In many of those data centers, he sees inefficiencies in 40 to 50 percent of the operations, and that by doing things a little differently, those companies could save money. He ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Gartner   Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Blade Network Readies Converged Ethernet Switch

Explore eweek.com (May 14 2009) Cloud Computing , Networking

Comment Mentions:   Cisco   Hewlett Packard   Fibre Channel

Juniper Ethernet Switch Optimized for Cloud Computing

Explore eweek.com (May 12 2009) Cloud Computing , Networking

Comment Mentions:   Cisco   Juniper Networks   IBM

Electricity Savings from Data Center SSDs Could Power an Entire Country, Researcher Says

Explore eweek.com (May 7 2009) Servers

Most people are already aware that solid-state server and storage disks only use a portion—as little as one-half or less—of the electrical power that a spinning hard disk requires, simply because there are no moving parts that need energy to activate them. As SSDs move slowly but surely into the data center, noticeable dribs and drabs of bottom-line power savings are starting to become reality. However, when the full extent of the potential power savings of SSDs is projected a few years out, it's a much different story. Those motionless NAND flash disks promise to provide a staggering amount of power savings. In a report issued May 6, "Leveraging HDD Strength With SSD Potential: Can Collaboration Generate Synergistic Benefits?" SSD market researcher iSuppli said the increased deployment of SSDs could enable the world's data centers to reduce their cumulative electricity consumption by a whopping 166,643 ... (Read Full Article)

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Green IT Service Market to Grow to $4.8 Billion in 2013: Forrester

Explore eweek.com (May 2 2009) Carbon Footprint

Comment Mentions:   Cisco   IBM