Tuesday, December 10th, 2013

Time	Event
12:00p	SolidFire And The Rise Of Flash Among Cloud Providers A “five stack” unit of SolidFire’s alll-SSD storage units. The adoption of Solid State Drives (SSDs) amongst cloud providers continues to be a major trend. Cloud providers are looking to differentiate from cut-and-dry public clouds, and flash storage allows them to offer better performance. SolidFire, a provider of all-flash storage systems designed for large scale cloud infrastructure, continues to capitalize on this trend, showing great momentum among cloud service providers (CSPs). The company recently announced both Datapipe and Internap as customers, and is adding nine more customers today. SolidFire’s solution allows volume-level Quality of Service (QoS) controls, letting service providers  guarantee storage performance to thousands of applications within a shared infrastructure. This functionality is coupled  with in-line data reduction techniques and system-wide automation, resulting in substantial capital and operating cost savings relative to traditional storage systems, according to the company. The nine new customers are sizeable players that have launched services atop of SolidFire: Clearview International (Dallas, TX): a managed hosting provider with a heavy focus on delivering managed solutions customized to enterprise customers. Codero (Austin, TX): focuses heavily on deep integration and automation to deliver an exceptionally predictable, On-Demand, Enterprise Class hosting experience to its customers. OnRamp (Austin, TX): OnRamp has been quickly expanding. The company offers colocation, cloud computing, high security hosting and disaster recovery services. DRFortress (Honolulu, HI): the largest carrier-neutral colocation and cloud services provider operating in Hawaii chose SolidFire as the block storage to fuel its cloud and managed hosting business. GetCloudServices (Fort Pierce, FL): The hosted IaaS provider touted a go-to-market and positioning exercise it did with SolidFire, which helped it better develop and position its block storage service offering. QuoVadis (Hamilton, BM): one of the earliest IaaS providers in Bermuda. ServInt (Reston, VA): a pioneer in VPS cloud hosting,  it has long offered managed and self-service cloud solutions to its customers. Webhuset (Bergen, Norway): The Norway hoster said it wanted to be able to run multiple tiers of performance and SolidFire was a cost-effective solution. iWeb (Montreal, CA): iWeb was recently acquired by Internap and is already a SolidFire customer, but the company has launched an additional self-service cloud offering supplementing it’s OpenStack-based iWeb  managed cloud platform. “Enterprise use of public, private and hybrid cloud resources are fast becoming one of the hallmarks of the next generation data center,” said SolidFire CEO, Dave Wright. “Our hosting provider customers continue to see an increase in enterprises that are opting away from deploying and managing small on premise flash arrays in exchange for better economics and guaranteed performance in public clouds Fueled by SolidFire.” SolidFire announced its SSD hit a price point where it was cheaper than disk last July, when it raised an additional $31 million. That was somewhat of a turning point for the company, as many cloud providers were beginning to seriously look at SSD for premium cloud offerings with better performance and IOPs control. “The explosive growth in all-flash storage arrays speaks to the demand for storage performance at the right price,” said Philbert Shih, Founder and Managing Director at Structure Research. “As flash media decreases in price, and performance becomes increasingly crucial, end users will start to look to their hosting service providers to offer all flash options. The right balance between cost, performance and capabilities is going to be a critical point of differentiation for hoster and service provider-operated clouds.” (Comment on this)
1:00p	Nominations Sought for AFCOM’s Data Center Manager of the Year Award Do you know someone who is an outstanding professional in the data center management field? AFCOM is seeking nominations for its annual award, the Data Center Manager of the Year, which recognizes outstanding leadership and excellence in the field of data center and facilities management over the course of a career. AFCOM, the association for data center management, is an educational resource for those in the data center field. With thousands of members worldwide, data center and facilities managers use AFCOM’s events and chapter meetings to keep up with new knowledge in the field as well as connect and build relationships with their peers. For more than 30 years, AFCOM has compiled an innovative and comprehensive portfolio of resources for the data center industry. The nominees for this award must exhibit long-standing commitment to excellence, a proven history of innovation, commitment to superior customer service, proven leadership of a positive team environment, and a history of giving back to the overall data center community. Nominations can be submitted online, until February 15, on the Data Center World website. The winner will be honored at the spring Data Center World conference and expo. (Comment on this)
1:30p	More Assets, More Complexity Raise the Bar for DCIM Suvish Viswanathan is the senior analyst, unified IT at ManageEngine, a division of Zoho Corp. You can reach him on LinkedIn or follow his tweets at @suvishv. This is a first part of a three-part series, with this article focusing on “The Evolution of Infrastructure Management.” SUVISH VISWANATHAN ManageEngine Over the years, the challenges associated with data center management have grown at an exponential rate. Once we might have looked out and imagined that the challenge was primarily one of scale: How do you fit all the computing and storage assets into the fixed footprint of the data center itself? Some data center veterans will remember seemingly endless rows of VAX systems and Winchester disks stretching out like the crates in the warehouse at the end of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” But then those big crates were flattened into pizza box-sized things, and we started growing upwards. Suddenly, there were individual cabinets with voluminous racks of servers — and, for a while, it seemed that ability to scale would remain unchecked. But that was just one perspective. The sheer number of computing assets we could now accommodate in the physical data center, including network devices, applications, servers and storage devices, put more pressure on the day-to-day management practicalities. Once, you could slip a disc into a machine, tap a couple of keys and patch a software issue or update an entire application. Disc in, disc out, done. But what soon followed in the amazing expanding data center sent chills up the spines of IT managers: disc in, disc out, done. Repeat. And repeat again. Soon it was clear that we had to come up with whole new ways to manage these highly interdependent assets in the data center. Either it took too long for one person to patch all the machines or it took too many people to do it all in the [arbitrarily defined] amount of time it used to take. Enter the Age of Managing Management The list of “Things To Be Managed” just goes on, evolving in sync with the demand for data and computing resources — firewalls, load balancers, network devices and more. In fact, by this time, we’ve realized that the task of managing the IT assets of the data center is so complex that we need tools to help us manage the management tasks themselves. We need change management tools that can help us keep track of what has to be done, who did what, when it was done and more. We need tools that can enable us to roll back quickly to a prior state if we find something went awry. We need tools that can model the impact of changes and that can monitor the state of this complex environment so that the heartbeat of the data center remains steady and strong. Note, too, that so far we’ve said nothing about managing non-routine maintenance and update issues. This is just day-to-day complexity. Factor in the unexpected failure of a computer or storage device and that can reprioritize every management task we’ve just mentioned. Moving into the Virtual World In some ways, today’s data may seem simpler than its predecessors. The sheer number of physical servers may be lower than it was a decade ago. But each of the servers remaining on the data center floor may be playing host to tens or hundreds of virtual servers, which stretches the management complexity of this environment into whole new realms. Which virtual machine (VM) is running where? Is it at capacity? Overloaded? Underutilized? Even the nature of the data center itself has evolved. The data center may no longer belong to a single company. An independent service provider may own the data center and provide outsourced services to companies from all over the world. Who defines the policies and practices and service level agreements that apply to the assets under management? How are those policies and practices managed, at the machine level, at the VM level, within various private cloud environments that the data center may be hosting? Finally, just to add a little more complexity to the mix (because, clearly, we can never get enough complexity), we now have to spend more and more time thinking about how the assets in a data center are performing relative to other assets and applications over which we have virtually no control. Mobile and social media can place huge and unpredictable demands on IT resources. Hyperconverged applications pose similar problems, yet become more and more the norm (assuming that the government gets the kinks out of healthcare.gov and demonstrates the viability of this modality). We’ll need tools to help us respond quickly and appropriately as demand ebbs and flows in those domains. Rising to the Challenge Thankfully, there are companies that have created IT management tools that are capable of providing the comprehensive support that today’s complex IT environments require. They can facilitate management of the physical, virtual and cloud-based IT infrastructures. They can manage the seemingly innumerable configuration changes in each of these environments. Some management tools even include in-depth analytical tools that can identify root causes and troubleshoot them automatically — and that can alert the right IT resource when encountering an issue that cannot be fixed programmatically. The only problem is, that’s still not enough. In the modern data center, IT management is only half the challenge. The other half of the challenge lies in the management of the data center infrastructure itself. All these IT assets require an enormously sophisticated physical infrastructure, with power considerations, security considerations, cabling considerations and more. Successful delivery of the IT services to the end customers who need it depends entirely on the successful management of the data center infrastructure itself. Traditionally, that’s been handled by another team entirely, using an entirely different set of tools and an entirely different set of management and performance criteria. That’s a problem. It’s a problem we’ve been trying to overcome for some time through awkward alliances between IT management and data center management organizations. We’ve seen the equivalent of celebrity marriages formed between high-profile IT and data center management firms, each promising to work together to solve a client’s data center challenges. But those marriages last as long as most celebrity marriages last, and when the marriage breaks up, it is the client that has depended on that partnership that suffers most. Their data center is left unsupported by one or the other party. Yet, I remain hopeful of a solution to this problem: a truly integrated approach to IT and data center infrastructure management, an approach that enables data center managers to manage both the IT assets and the data center infrastructure assets through a single, integrated tool and enables optimal delivery of services to the customers who rely on the data center. But more on that in my next post. Stay tuned… Industry Perspectives is a content channel at Data Center Knowledge highlighting thought leadership in the data center arena. See our guidelines and submission process for information on participating. View previously published Industry Perspectives in our Knowledge Library. (Comment on this)
2:00p	RightScale Extends Cloud Management to VMware vSphere Cloud management platform provider RightScale today announced a new on-premises software appliance that integrates VMware vSphere with RightScale’s Cloud Portfolio Management. With the adapter, IT teams can choose whether to deploy workloads to vSphere or any of the public or private clouds already supported by Rightscale, as well as create portable workloads that can move seamlessly between these environments. “Our enterprise customers want to combine public and private cloud resources with their existing vSphere environments to expand cloud adoption,” said Thorsten von Eicken, CTO and co-founder of RightScale. “The RightScale Adapter for VMware vSphere will offer enterprise developers a cloud-centric way to deploy and manage applications on, while allowing VMWare administrators to continue to use familiar vCenter management tools.” Benefits of using the RightScale Adapter for vSphere include: Self-service access across cloud and virtualized environments: vSphere environments have traditionally been controlled, configured and managed by IT. With the RightScale adapter, new types of users, such as application developers, software architects, and DevOps teams will be able to leverage RightScale to deploy and move workloads across cloud and vSphere environments according to policies set up by IT teams. Leveraging vCenter and RightScale in parallel: RightScale does not lock users into one management solution. Users can leverage RightScale Cloud Portfolio Management and VMware vCenter Server in parallel.  For example, developers can leverage RightScale to deploy workloads in vSphere, while VMWare administrators can leverage vCenter. Enhanced vSphere environments with cloud-like capabilities: Cloud environments offer additional capabilities that goes beyond the functionality of virtualized environments like vSphere. The RightScale Adapter adds cloud-like capabilities that expand and streamline access to vSphere. The adapter provides multi-tenancy governance on top of vSphere to allow automated, policy-based sharing of vSphere resources pools by multiple tenants. It also adds standardized instance types to enable developers to quickly pick from a preconfigured set of infrastructure options. Reduced vendor lock-in: RightScale ServerTemplates are dynamic configuration scripts. They provide portability for workloads across vSphere environments and public and private clouds.  Unified reporting and analytics: With RightScale, users can view vSphere usage through RightScale Cloud Analytics, which helps visualize usage and spending across vSphere data centers as well as other clouds.  Cross-environment professional services: RightScale experts can help enterprises deploy and optimize application portfolios across vSphere virtualized environments as well as public and private clouds. (Comment on this)
3:00p	GE Critical Power Gear Supports ViaWest Data Centers The power room at the ViaWest data center. The facility has capacity of 10 megawatts of power, with UPS configuration in a 2(N+1) configuration. (Photo:ViaWest) GE Critical Power is providing power distribution systems to ViaWest in five of their data centers, including the Tier IV design certified Lone Mountain facility in Nevada. The Lone Mountain facility is unique in that it is the first Tier IV multi-tenant data center in North America. ViaWest deployed a range of GE electrical distribution equipment including switchboards, panelboards, transformers and power switching equipment. GE Capital provided flexible financing, allowing ViaWest to match payments on the lease with cash inflows from new customers. “GE’s combination of highly reliable equipment, speed to market and financing options make them an ideal partner to help fuel the growth of our innovative data centers,” said Dave Leonard, chief data center officer, ViaWest. “GE worked closely with our design engineers from the project’s inception to completion to ensure we had best-in-class electrical distribution system solutions to meet our needs.” The Lone Mountain facility employs an adaptable mesh electrical design. It’s powered by two independent medium-voltage utility feeds serving more than 74,000 square feet of raised-floor data center space. Independent electrical paths and compartmentalization ensure that power is never compromised. Lone Mountain’s fully redundant cooling plant features 3,000 tons of fault-tolerant capacity and 100 percent redundant continuous cooling to the raised floor in a hot aisle/cold aisle configuration, which keeps equipment running at peak performance. There’s a quick tour of how ViaWest is using GE Critical Power. The other facilities using GE Critical Power are: the Cornell data center in Denver the Synergy Park data center in Dallas two new data centers under construction in Denver and Minneapolis. (Comment on this)
3:30p	DreamHost Closes $30M in Financing from Goldman Sachs This article originally appeared on TheWHIR. DreamHost announced last week that it has closed $30 million in financing from Goldman Sachs Bank, advised by DH Capital. The financing, which closed on Nov. 27, will go towards buying back the stake of a founder, paying down equipment financing, and cash for growth and working capital. The new financing is structured as a $25 million term loan and $5 million revolver. “When we made the decision to raise capital in a globally competitive market, we knew that having an advisory firm with deep industry expertise, strong financial acumen, and high integrity and trust with investors, was an essential element for success,” DreamHost CEO Simon Anderson said. “We chose DH Capital for all these reasons, and the experience and sound advice they brought to our first major financing proves that we made a very wise choice. We’re excited that DH Capital helped us find Goldman Sachs, and look forward to accelerating growth of the DreamHost platform.” This news comes shortly after DreamHost updated its DreamCompute cloud service with OpenStack Havana support. DreamHost also recently updated the pricing and available features on its cloud storage packages. “It has been our pleasure to assist Simon and the DreamHost team with this financing from Goldman Sachs. DreamHost’s Web hosting and cloud services offering continues to lead the industry,” Townsend Devereux, partner of DH Capital said. “The credit facility from Goldman Sachs will allow DreamHost to continue to accelerate customer growth, further build upon its existing, world-class capabilities and rollout new services.” According to the announcement, DH Capital has advised hosting companies on 51 transactions with a combined value in excess of $7.6 billion. Original article published at: http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/dreamhost-closes-30m-financing-goldman-sachs (Comment on this)
4:00p	Data Center Resources: Top Data Center Industry Groups Here’s our look at some of the leading data center industry groups. Data center industry groups provide critical connections and resources for busy professionals, offering opportunities for peer networking, professional education and the advancement of best practices. Here’s a look at some of the leading groups providing thought leadership for the data center industry: AFCOM With a 30 year history, AFCOM is the oldest data center group. It’s best known for running local chapters, mainly in North America, but it has a few International chapters. The chapter system is a great way to meet local, like-minded professionals in your area. A list of chapters is available here. The group runs several local symposiums as well as the Data Center World series of conferences. Founded in 1982, AFCOM was the first major association of data center and facilities management professionals. In addition to local chapters, it provides publications and research tools. Individual membership is $300 while Site Membership (three memberships within the same company and location) is $690 per year. 7×24 Exchange The 7×24 Exchange International is best known for a series of top notch conferences, holding several events each year. These events are well-attended by top data center professionals. 7×24 is a place to congregate for those that design, build, operate and maintain mission-critical enterprise information infrastructures.  7×24 Exchange runs a series of 7×24 Exchange conferences and has several international and state chapters. The group also produces a magazine available digitally. National dues are $300 for end user companies, and $1000 for Consulting and Vendor organizations. The Uptime Institute The Uptime Institute is best known for its Tier Certifications, which are standards that determine fault tolerance and sustainability of a facility. These standards have not been made public. Founded 1993, Uptime Institute is focused on improving data center performance and efficiency through collaboration and innovation. It is best known for data center Tier Certifications, but provides education, publications, consulting, conferences and seminars. It’s an independent division of The 451 Group.  The Green Grid The Green Grid is on the forefront of defining metrics in the data center. Perhaps the most well-know Green Grid metric is PUE – Power Usage Effectiveness, which has been a measuring stick for facility efficiency. The Green Grid has expanded into several other metrics in order to help data centers define and improve efficiency. The Green Grid seeks to unite global industry efforts, create a common set of metrics, and develop technical resources and educational tools to further its goals. It’s a non-profit, open industry consortium of end users, policy makers, technology providers, facility architects, and utility companies. Company memberships range from $950 – $25,000, while individual memberships are $400  ASHRAE (TC9.9) Cooling is critical for data centers, and The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning (ASHRAE) is the leading organization in this field. ASHRAE Technical Committee 9.9 looks to be the unbiased engineering leader in HVAC and an effective provider of technical information for the datacom industry. TC 9.9 is concerned with design, operations, maintenance and efficient energy usage of modern data centers and technology spaces. The organization provides several white papers on standards and general management. Meeting minutes are also available by year. The Open Data Center Alliance  The ODCA has a rich library around usage models and best practices for enterprise cloud, available to non-members for free. It’s a great resource to delve deep into cloud best practices. The ODCA’s  mission is to speed the migration to cloud computing by enabling the solution and service ecosystem to address IT requirements with the highest level of interoperability and standards. Founded in 2010 by a consortium of leading global IT organizations, the ODCA publishes several reports on its findings, defining usage models for  requirements based on open, industry-standard, multi-vendor solutions that support a vision of secure federation, automation, common management, and transparency. Membership dues range from $1,000 up, subject to approval by the Steering Committee comprised of board members from leading enterprises. Data Center Pulse Data Center Pulse has an end-user focus when it comes to data centers. It’s home to several blogs of industry leaders (Founder and President Mark Thiele, as one example). Formed in 2008, Data Center Pulse is a global group of data center owners, operators and users. The goal of the community is to track the industry and influence the future of the data center through discussion and debate. To join, you must add yourself to the Data Center Pulse LinkedIn group (Comment on this)

<< Previous Day

2013/12/10 [Calendar]

Next Day >>