Drug Companies Put Cloud Computing to the Test

Traditionally characterized as "late adopters" when it comes to their use of information technology (IT), major pharmaceutical companies are now setting their sights on cloud computing. Rick Mullin at Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) explores how Pfizer, Eli Lilly & Co., Johnson & Johnson, Genentech and other big drug firms are now starting to push data storage and processing onto...

Data Center Professionals Network

The other day I stumbled across the Data Center Professionals Network, a free online community for professionals from around the world who represent a cross section of the industry. Members include data center executives, engineering specialists, equipment suppliers, training companies, real-estate and building companies, colocation and wholesale businesses, and industry analysts. The recently launched...

How Big Should Large Screen Displays Be In Your Command & Control Room?

Many A/V planners are challenged with how big large screen displays should be in their command & control rooms. There are actually some fairly complicated calculations that can be done which will help you determine what the minimum character size (sometimes referred to as 'x' size) should be under a given circumstance. This 'x-size' is defined as being the height of the smallest coherent element...

Should New York Stock Exchange be hiding the location of its new Data Center?

I find it interesting that major financial institutions & government agencies attempt to hide the locations of their Data Centers. How effective can this non-disclosure aspect of security really be in today's media frenzy world? Obviously not too effective since NYSE's new Data Center build is already being talked about in Data Center Knowledge & The Bergen Record. http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2009/05/04/financial-data-center-hiding-in-plain-sight/comment-page-1/#comment-3718Even...

Free Data Center Assessment Tools from the Department of Energy.

It certainly shows where we are at in this country when the Government is creating free tools to help us access our efficiency and giving us guidance on how to improve our Data Center Efficiency. What choice does the DoE have with the rising demand for power from our Data Centers expected to be 10% of the total US demand for power by 2011 while we have a growing need to reduce our carbon footprint...

How important is it to consider the Grid for my back-up data center & DR Plan?

It has been several years since the August 2003 Blackout, but I can't help thinking that we are all being lulled to sleep on the next major grid issue. There are only 3 main power grids in the US so if I have my primary Data Center on the Eastern Interconnect then should my DR requirement be to locate my back-up site in TX on the ERCOT Grid or in the west on the WSCC Grid. Or is there any benefit...

Going Green with Data Center Storage

Just saw an interesting article in Enterprise Strategies about the use of magnetic tape as an energy-efficient storage solution. In “Tape’s Role in the Green Data Center,” Mark Ferelli discusses how tape technology is making a comeback by helping to keep the data center green as utility bills rise. He explains:The efficient use of disk can help with data center greening when a user reads and writes...

Google Unveils Server with Built-in Battery Design

For the first time on Wednesday, Google opened up about the innovative design of its custom-built servers. The timing of the reveal, which coincided with April Fool’s Day, left some wondering if the earth shattering news was a prank. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, right? Not so in this case. In the interest of furthering energy efficiency in the industry, Google divulged that...

Can The Container Approach Fit Your Data Center Plans?

Conventional Data Center Facilities have now had a long history of difficulties in keeping up with the increasing demands of new server & network hardware so organizations are now looking for solutions that upgrade the facility with the technology upgrade, rather than continuing to invest millions in engineering & construction upgrades to support higher densities, the expense of having to...

Data Center Power Drain [Video]

Click here to watch a recent news report from CBS5.com on what's being done to make San Francisco's data centers more energy efficient.In the "On the Greenbeat" segment, reporter Jeffrey Schaub talks to Mark Breamfitt at PG&E and Miles Kelley at 365 Main about how utilities companies and the IT industry are working to reduce overall energy consumption. According to the report, each of 365 Main’s...