Data Center Pulse: An exclusive group of global datacenter owners, operators and users. The goal of this community is to track the pulse of the industry and influence the future of the datacenter through discussion and debate.

Harnessing the Data Center Design Community Power!

Posted Wed, 09/01/2010 - 01:46 by geekism

 

The eBay modular Data Center RFP finalists are announced.

 

I'm stoked! Seven weeks ago, we released the Phoenix Modular Data Center RFP to the industry. The intent was to encourage companies to participate in the RFP, level the playing field and spark some real innovation. In the past we created a list of vendors that we believed were qualified to design and deliver a data center for us. We also told them how we want to build it. But this time, we just gave the parameters that we wanted to achieve. It was up to them to come back with the most creative, flexible and cost effective design they could. We truly leveleraged the talent and ingenuity of the vendors, engineerings, architects and others in the data center community.

The repsonse was even more than I had hoped for. We approved 37 company requests to participate in the RFP. That is almost 30 more than our original list. Regrettably, we had to turn away another 15 companies because they missed the window to participate. But not to worry, this is the beginning of future projects that they will be able to participate in.

DCP to keynote @ (EU) DataCentre Expo 2010

DCE 2010

Data Center Pulse (DCP) has partnered with the Datacentre Expo for one of Europe’s largest datacenter events in 2010. The Datacentre Expo and conference will be held September 16th and 17th 2010, Dusseldorf, Germany. 

DCP will be exhibiting at the conference and several DCP board members (Mark Thiele, Jan Wiersma) will give presentations at the conference. Mark will keynote at the second day (17th).

Let the Modularity Battle Begin

Posted Thu, 07/08/2010 - 16:53 by geekism

Today my team released an RFP for a small, but dense eBay data center design project in Phoenix Arizona.  I am really excited about this RFP for two reasons.  First, this is an ambitious project that will not only challenge the engineering and design firms but the hardware manufacturers as well.

9 months ago, I was in sunny Phoenix at the 7x24 conference.  A group of about 40 DCP end users gathered on a Sunday morning for a 5 hour brainstorming session on next generation solutions.  We discussed the Top 10 list, the stack, the current Chill Off 2 testing, modular data center design concepts and what the future could and should look like.  At the end of the session we had our updated top 10 list and a direction decided for the Chill Off 3.  The Chill Off 3 would be broken into two parts.  The first part is a highly flexible, modular, high-temp data center design that would allow solutions from today and tomorrow to snap in like legos. The infrastructure would also scale as needed rather than building out everything from day one. The second, was the compute load itself and how we could maximize performance not only in the power and cooling systems, but in the actual work being performed. We would look at the entire system performance rather than the components by themselves.  More on the compute load part in a future blog posting.

A Local Uprising!

Posted Tue, 07/06/2010 - 15:00 by geekism

 

Today we added Eddie Schutter from AT&T to the Data Center Pulse board of the directors.  You can see the press release here.  But for this blog entry, I wanted to give a bit more information and perspective on Eddie and our expansion into local chapters.

I have worked closely with Eddie on emerging technology opportunities and industry efforts for almost three years. The most recent was with the Green Grid where we both sit on the Advisory Council with a great group of End Users.  In February, 2010 Eddie and I co-presented at the Green Grid Technical Conference in San Jose, California.  The presentation was focused on the GG birds of a feather session and the DCP top 10. This was a result of the collaboration agreement between DCP and the Green Grid established in early 2010.

in April, 2010 the DCP Board decided that it was time for us to harness the interest and capabilities of local end users by establishing DCP chapter groups. We started informal chapters in Utah and Arizona because of the activities and interest in those two states. The first meetings were great, but we realized very quickly that we needed someone to focus on developing this program from the ground up.  The Utah end users that we knew of represented over 200MW of current future consumption in the state.  The Arizona end users represented over 50MW and that was just scratching the surface.  Eddie came to mind immediately to help lead this effort.  As mentioned in the press release, Eddie has been active in many different industry groups including the Green Grid, Uptime Institute and 7x24 Exchange in which he helped start the Lone Star Chapter in Austin, Texas.  Eddie's day job is the Sr Technical Director of Data Center Architecture and Planning for AT&T.  Over the years we have shared best practices, debated on technological approaches and generally brainstormed on what is possible. One of the most memorable was the Data Center Pulse working session at the 7x24 Exchange in Phoenix, Arizona in November of 2009.  Eddie, along with the majority of the DCP board, Olivier Sanche and other end user leaders met following the session and decided on a strategy to push for next generation cooling/compute solutions.  Stay tuned for more blog updates on recent updates that were spawned from that great session.

Eddie Schutter Joins Data Center Pulse Board of Directors



PRESS RELEASE

Eddie Schutter Joins Data Center Pulse Board of Directors

Data Center Pulse expands the board of directors to continue the goal of influencing the datacenter industry through their exclusive, global end user community.

UNION CITY, CA, July 6, 2010 - Today, Data Center Pulse added Eddie Schutter to the Board of Directors as the Local Chapter Strategy & Operational Director responsible for end user community development.

Eddie is currently the Senior Technical Director of Data Center Architecture & Planning for AT&T. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Data Center Pulse board. Over his 15 year IT career he has operated some of the largest data center portfolios in the United States. He has been actively involved in almost every major data center industry group. Currently he is representing AT&T on the Advisory Council of the Green Grid. He is also the co-chair of the Green Grid Data Center Design Guide technical forum.

Eddie was one of our earliest DCP members and has been actively supporting the DCP work for almost two years.", said Dean Nelson, chairman and founder of Data Center Pulse. "We are very pleased to have Eddie join the board. His experience will accelerate our efforts on numerous fronts, including the development of our local chapter strategy.

The Data Center Pulse core membership has reached 1,580 people in 62 countries representing almost 100 different industries. The Data Center Pulse: INDUSTRY group has also broken 1,500 members. The interest level is increasing and the timing is right to focus on local issues and support the groundswell of interest from our membership. In late April we answered the call by establishing our first two local US DCP chapters. One in Salt Lake City, Utah and one in Phoenix, Arizona. 15 different companies attended the initial kickoff meetings for these two chapters and represented over 100 megawatts of current and future Data Center power consumption in those states. These individuals have great economic and ecological responsibilities and are motivated to collaborate and share. Eddie will be responsible for establishing the bylaws, governance and operating models of the local chapters to maximize their effectiveness and their contributions to DCP's global efforts.

Eddie recently articulated his motivation for accepting the DCP board position. "There are plenty of opportunities to join organizations that will entertain you at conferences and present yesterday's 'white paper' news. DC Pulse is different. It is a gathering of end users who want to make a difference in our industry, share their experiences and concerns, and produce relevant solutions and practices that will advance the data center industry. I look forward to participating in the evolution of this organization and the contributions to the industry it will provide."

Data Center Pulse has the ability to reach a significant population of Data Center customers ranging from a single rack to some of the largest Data Centers in the world. DCP continues to search for candidates to fill the remaining board positions as well as participation in the Industry Alignment Board (IAB) and the Technical Advisory Board (TAB). To become a Data Center Pulse Member, click here. For more information on DCP or local chapter interest, please email info@datacenterpulse.org.



Cloud Computing and Huge Data Centers are Killing Our Planet!

Posted Fri, 06/04/2010 - 07:53 by mark.thiele

Planet KillerCloud Computing and Data Centers are killing our planet.  Drive to the hardware store, buy a hammer, chisel and piece of stone and begin writing about it. Put away your computer, turn off your internet connection, un-plug the video game console, iPod and the TV. We must do everything we can to get rid of these giant, energy sucking, pollution generating, and planet killing warehouses of death immediately.  


All kidding aside, it is true that many of our older data centers are in serious need of improvements in their power efficiency.  However, it's also true that data centers contain much of our work effort and play environments. If this work and play was to be distributed in small chunks throughout the business or our households instead of concentrated in data centers they would be considerably more wasteful of our planets resources.


In my 20 plus year career in IT I've always been proud of my ability to bring efficiency to IT, and the business. When Data Center Pulse was founded the driving motivation was to push for the development of power sipping IT equipment designs, combined with more efficient data centers. In parallel we're actively working to persuade owners to implement those new solutions more quickly. We strongly believed that the IT/Data Center industry had a need to focus more attention on effective use of energy. The DCP Leadership team was made up of like minded individuals that each have work history examples of a focus on reducing energy consumption.  So why would I be writing an article about data centers getting a bad rap? It seems like I should be agreeing with those articles, as it seems like I'm contradicting myself.  Well, that couldn't be farther from the truth.

Bullet Proof!

Posted Fri, 05/21/2010 - 15:22 by geekism

EBay’s flagship data center is open for business in Utah


When I joined EBay in September of 2009, I had the privilege of taking on the responsibility of delivering the single largest infrastructure project that the company has ever undertaken. A new data center code named project Topaz. At $287 million, it is also the single largest infrastructure investment the company has ever made.  It is also the most complex construction project we have ever undertaken.  Over 1.2 million man hours of work in just 14 months.  But, the most important component of Topaz isn't the project itself, it is what it will be used for.  It will house EBay’s core businesses - ebay.com, the world’s largest online marketplace with over 90 million buyers and sellers in 32 countries and PayPal.com, one of the leading ways to pay online with 81 million registered accounts available in 190 markets and 24 currencies. In 2009, the total worth of goods sold on eBay was over $60 billion: that’s over $2000 a second. Topaz isn't just a datacenter, it is the home of our business.

Ok, no pressure there...

As you can see, we live and die by the performance of our datacenters. Our buyers and sellers depend on its reliability. Project Topaz is a critical part of the EBay engine. It is the foundation for our business and must be solid, stable, and secure. In a nut shell, it needs to be bullet proof.

DCP Establishes Collaborative Relationship with The Green Grid



PRESS RELEASE

Data Center Pulse Establishes Collaborative Relationship with The Green Grid

Data Center Pulse continues toward their goal of influencing the datacenter industry through their exclusive, global end user community.

UNION CITY, CA, January 15, 2010 - Today, Data Center Pulse entered into an agreement with The Green Grid to further enhance their ability to influence the industry via collaboration on Data Center challenges.

The Green Grid is a global consortium dedicated to developing and promoting energy efficiency for data centers and business computing systems. They have amassed a rich mixture of manufacturers, service providers, and end user members representing over 175 global companies.

Data Center Pulse is a global end user community of Data Center owners and operators focused on influencing the industry through the eyes of the customer. DCP is an exclusive end-user only group with over 1350 members in 55 countries touching over 100 industries. They have the ability to reach a significant population of Data Center customers ranging from single rack to some of the largest Data Centers in the world.

This new relationship will enable The Green Grid to quickly and effectively reach a significant end user population to help validate and direct their overall efficiency and standards work. It will also allow Data Center Pulse members to have a direct conduit into the important work that The Green Grid is leading.

"This relationship allows Data Center Pulse to continue on their mission to influence the industry through the consumers of Data Center products and services while maintaining the anonymity of our members.", said Dean Nelson Chairman and co-founder of DCP. "Our focus is to drive efficiency and performance gains in the Data Center because we are the customers. This relationship will accelerate that agenda, ultimately helping Data Center users and the industry as a whole."

"We are pleased to build the relationship with Data Center Pulse." said Kathrin Winkler, a director of The Green Grid. "When we started exploring the opportunities, we realized that our efforts were complimentary. We expect our relationship to accelerate the work each organization is pursuing and also to strengthen our output with a larger audience of end users participating and validating our energy efficiency efforts."

The Green Grid has an established Advisory Council (AC) made up of end users from eight of their primary member companies. This includes AT&T, eBay, Strato, Tokyo Electric Power Company, ADP, Nationwide, Walt Disney and Verizon. It was established to advise the board of directors on direction and strategy, to actively participate in technical committees, drive greater awareness of the Green Grid within the community, and guide and shape published materials and processes as one unified voice.

"The Advisory Council will be the conduit for the Data Center Pulse relationship", said Jeannie Diefenderfer, AC Chair, "This relationship greatly augments our reach to end users, including non-green grid members. It will help us deliver on the AC charter."

For more information email info@datacenterpulse.org.

  • To learn about becoming a member of Data Center Pulse  (Click Here)
  • To learn about becoming a member of The Green Grid  (Click Here)



The Top Ten


What are the Top Ten challenges/requests for datacenter end-users?

Our goal is to holistically improve the focus and efforts of the industry by providing ongoing visibility into the top end-user challenges. We took an initial global pulse during our summit in February and provided that reading back to the industry for consumption and contemplation. This November we provided the first update of these top challenges giving a current state of the data center.

    The Top Ten Update


  1. Industry Alignment

    2. Goal: Establish a global consortium that acts as an independent, neutral, non-profit organization of customers representing the voice of the customer. Create further alignment between the different audiences (customers, vendors, academia, government, industry groups).

    • Update: Successfully partnered with 7x24 to conduct DCP session at fall conference in Phoenix, AZ.
    • Continuing to explore DCP alignment opportunities with numerous industry organizations, Academia, Research, Regulatory, Government and others –Example: 7x24 inc/local, The Green Grid, Data Center Dynamics, CFRT, SVLG, DOE, EPA, LBNL, and others
  2. Standardized Stack Framework

    3. Goal: Provide a common framework to describe, communicate, and innovate data center thinking between Owner/Operators peers and the Industry.

    • Update: Draft 2 released and under review with end users and industry representatives.
    • Continue dialog and showcase adoption/use of framework in production data centers.
    • Inclusion of stack framework in industry work.
  3. IT Equipment Power Options (New)

    4. Goal: Dramatic increases server and power path efficiency

    • 230-277V & 400-480V auto sensing power supply offerings. Enables global usage at higher voltage and removes transformer losses.
    • Localized IT equipment battery options to eliminate need of expensive UPS installations without sacrificing availability.
    • Unified mother board voltage options
    • Servers should be at the same price point or lower than today
  4. Wire-line Power Network (New)

    5. Goal: Common communication mechanism to monitor all layers of the power delivery system

    • Discovery: Traceroute to validate power pathways from power supply to utility.
    • Metering: Enabling measurement and validation of readings at all levels of distribution and consumption points.
    • Asset Management: Intelligence from PS to dynamically identify physical assets in rack footprints through power network
    • Smart Grid: Extend the smart grid to the server level.
  5. Liquid Cooled IT Equipment (New)

    6. Goal: Increase IT work performance and cooling system efficiency by tuning data center cooling to the hottest components, rather than inefficiently trying to manage air to servers.

    • Update: Migrated from standard cooling interface request to proof of concept of air vs. liquid cooling
    • Not going after PUE, density or efficiency individually –addressing compute performance limits, capital and efficiency optimization and holistic datacenter TCO (facilities & IT)
    • Reduce complexity of support (backend) infrastructure
    • Enable year-round free cooling in >85% of global locations
    • Increase the amount of IT work done per watt.
    • POC: Liquid cooled data center project –Chill Off 3
  6. Simple Top Level Efficiency Metric

    7. Goal: Create a truly inclusive top-level metric that would enable performance comparisons of peer datacenters or industries (e.g. Miles per Gallon (MPG) for cars).

    • Update: No movement in top level metric –focusing on stack framework first.
    • Risk: DOE could impose a metric that does not represent the diverse realities of the data center industry
    • Proposal: A Data Center carbon in -carbon out metric that incorporates all point metrics (PUE, useful work, etc)
  7. Independent Data Center Repository

    8. Goal: A neutral location to house and present data center resource content and voluntary end-user environment reporting.

    • Update: datacenterpulse.org website engine built and capable of becoming the repository.
    • Exploring voluntary member datacenter automated self reporting of telemetry data
    • Exploring potential link to Green Grid PUE repository
  8. Certification

    9. Goal: Establish people, operations, and infrastructure certifications to drive continual industry improvements and controls.

    • Update: DOE Certified Data Center Efficiency Professional (DCEP) -People, not facilities.
    • Needed: Data Center Certification -requires framework (stack) to be defined and implemented to standardize approach
  9. More Products with Modularity

    10. Goal: Enable pro-active, simple expansion or contraction of datacenter capacity without risk or reduction of design availabilities.

    • Update: Not seeing any significant increase in modular product offerings or end user implementations
    • Both vendors and end users need to elevate the discussions to implement current modular solutions to enable future modular products.
  10. Update Tiers to Represent Current Data Center Environments

    11. Goal: Develop 'tier levels' to provide meaningful context and semantics holistically to data center environments. Today tier level definitions are not keeping pace with changes in the datacenter and the ordering of levels are flipped back and forth between IT & Facilities definitions.

    • Update: Tier levels becoming more rigid/proprietary without including new user requirements
    • Include IT system design implications on availability
    • Include modularity: scalable infrastructure
    • Include multi-tier environments
    • Include Mid-tier definitions
    • Risk: Users may move from using tier definitions for their business. Can become irrelevant. 451 group, be aware!

Leveraging the Cloud for Green IT

Optimal Innovations has release a new whitepaper on Leveraging the Cloud for Green IT: Predicting the Energy, Cost and Performance of Cloud Computing. This paper presents an interesting quantitative methodology for evaluating the impact of leveraging the Cloud.

Abstract: Cloud computing is maturing, becoming a viable alternative to classic on-premise IT. Cloud facilitates scalability, promising lower fixed and variable costs while supporting enterprise growth. The scalability benefits and cost savings can be achieved through on-demand infrastructure provisioning and reduced on-premise energy consumption. The benefits are compelling; however, a quantitative analysis is required. This paper describes and demonstrates a methodology for predicting performance, energy and cost for expanding on-premise IT into the Cloud.

     Leveraging the Cloud for Green IT

Syndicate content