Mike Walker's Blog

Interview w/ Intel’s Security Architect on Data Centers

Interesting webcast from the security architect from Intel. While security isn’t talked about in depth, there are some nuggets that are interesting aspects on disaster recovery, technology assessments and green-ish things that Intel is doing with their data centers.Very high level and a bit all over the map.

Check out the video here:

http://video.intel.com/?fr_story=88b2b2774e2c6bbb09464903b9a4a95f2bb41718&rf=sitemap

Technorati Tags: Green IT,Enterprise Architecture,Security

Microsoft Green Computing Commitment

There has been some really great announcements coming from Microsoft in terms of Green IT and Sustainability here in recent months. One big one is the Environmental Sustainability Dashboard.

Watch Environmental Sustainability Dashboard Demo

Top down support is coming from Steve Ballmer as today he sent out a corporate responsibility letter to the company outlining all that we are doing in this space. He says,

"Addressing global warming is a responsibility we take very seriously at Microsoft." – Steve Ballmer

You can find the details of this on a new site on Microsoft.com called Innovating to Improve the Planet. there you will find what Microsoft is doing to be Green and help customers be Green.

There are additional activities that are happening at Microsoft to help with this problem. For one, my team. In my team, Lewis Curtis is focusing on Green IT and Virtualization. He has provided insights into this problem a bit:

• Providing insights on his blog, Thoughts from the raised floor
• His contributions to the Architecture Journal 18 focused on Green Computing, Environmentally Sustainable Infrastructure Design
• Predictions on Green IT Trends
• Two upcoming TechEd Presentations entitled:
  • Understanding environmental compliance, policy and regulation
  • The reality and impact of virtualization

The Software Enabled Earth blog is another great Green IT / Sustainability resource for news and activities from Microsoft.

Technorati Tags: Green IT

Taking the Data Center to Sea

A interesting post from Michael Bullock talks about Google’s new patient approach to put data centers on ships. This was also covered in Time as one of the best inventions of 2008.

Like Michael, I think that this is somewhat problematic. We will have to see if this actually becomes a reality.

Briefly, I see the three primary concerns:

• Physical Security – While we are not in a Disney movie, modern day Pirates are real. This maybe a lucrative proposition for criminals to steal data.
• Environment – Storms and turbulent waters can cause significant issues I wonder how these will be addressed.
• Latency – I have worked and spoken with companies that have a shipping component to their IT. Most all of them talk about challenges with network latency. This could be a deal breaker for Google.

Besides giving us insight into Google’s ambitious plans to go to sea, Michael provides a great started list of considerations that you should take into account when looking at datacenters in general:

1. Power Density – What type of systems do you expect to house in the new facility?  If you’re expecting to support high density systems (like blade servers requiring 10kW per rack or more), how much room will you need? And if you’re planning to move into an area that only supports 150 W/SF, you will need to space out your racks accordingly  (for proper airflow), increasing the amount of raised floor space you thought you needed by a factor of 4.
   Power Availability – Is there sufficient power available in the grid to supply the site? If not, be prepared to foot the bill for power company infrastructure upgrades which may take 18-24 months to complete.
2. Power Redundancy – Is the space serviced by a redundant substation with independent power feeds to your location (or maybe even multiple substations)?  You want that unless you’re prepared to deal with downtime.
3. Power Backup – If you’re looking at an existing facility, you have to ask if it has backup power to cover the center’s full load. It’s also wise to find out if there’s a clear plan in place to increase capacity as you grow. If you’re looking at a new facility, you have to find out if there’s sufficient space for backup power generators and their fuel storage tanks.  And are there any zoning issues which may cause delays or add to your costs when you try to install these backup systems?
4. Cooling – Is there sufficient cooling capacity to maintain a proper operating temperature in the facility even when it’s operating on backup power?  Is there sufficient floor to ceiling clearance to allow for adequate cool air supply and the removal of hot air exhaust?  Quick test: If you’re moving into a facility with 200 W / SQ ft. capacity, are there at least 36-inches of raised floor space to assure adequate airflow for system cooling?  If you’re planning on 400 W/SQ FT? Look for a floor raised 4 feet or more.  Lack of sufficient height is one of several reasons why conventional office space is suboptimal for anything more than 100W / SQ ft.
5. Network Access – Ideally there should be multiple WAN providers capable of serving your facility, each with redundant fiber / network connections.  This will assure long term competition on price and an alternative if one provider’s price or service levels become an issue.
6. Geographic Considerations – Are you planning on putting your data center someplace where earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis or floods occur from time to time?  I wouldn’t. Will planes flyover it making their approach to a nearby airport? I’d think about that. Will it be easy to deliver replacement parts and get professionals there for needed repairs or maintenance? Is the location safe from terrorism or desperate profiteers like Somali pirates?

Technorati Tags: Data Center

Microsoft's Generation 4 Data Center Vision - the Architects' Perspective

I ran across an interesting post and interview on the MS Data Center Blog on the infrastructure architecture aspects of the new Microsoft datacenters. If you are in the infrastructure world, it is worth a read.

The goal of Gen 4 is to modularize not only the server and storage components, which a number of companies are already doing, but also to modularize the infrastructure, namely the electrical and mechanical systems.  The real innovation is around the commonality, manufacturing, supply chain and integration of these modules to provide a plug-and-play infrastructure along with modularized server environments.  In addition, it is focused on scaling the infrastructure with the business demands, smoothing capital investment, and driving costs down as shown by the following chart.

More on MS Data Center Blog:

http://blogs.technet.com/msdatacenters/archive/2008/12/08/microsoft-s-generation-4-data-center-vision-the-architects-perspective.aspx

 

Technorati Tags: Infrastructure Architecture,Data Center