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The Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) has developed data center management software and is in talks with large data center users about the new tools, according to Greentech Media. The software evolved from Xerox tools to manage complex printing tasks, which coordinated activity of different parts of the printer system. An excerpt: Using the same reasoning, PARC has developed software that can reduce servers’ energy usage by 30 percent (or, more likely, allow data centers to provide 30 percent more service using the same energy), he said. The software basically predicts demand, allowing data centers to prioritize and manage jobs more efficiently, he said. Similar control software could be used to monitor and control electricity demand on the grid or in buildings, he said, but the first application is likely to be increasing data-center efficiency.As background, PARC has developed many major technology innovations, including laser printing, distributed computing and Ethernet, the graphical user interface (GUI), object-oriented programming, and ubiquitous computing. PARC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Xerox Corporation.
Last week we noted reports from the IBM Business Partners Conference that Google (GOOG) and IBM would team up on an enterprise cloud computing initiative. Here's a video of Google CEO Eric Schmidt's presentation at the event in which he spoke about cloud computing. "We're on the edge of a truly great breakthrough," said Schmidt. "It's the story of our lifetime." The video runs about 49 minutes. Thanks to Will Runyon at The Raised Floor for the link. Check out our DCK video archive for more viewing, as well as our Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.
In the latest sign of growth for regional data center companies, Peak 10 has arranged $60 million in funding to support its continued expansion. RBC Capital Markets arranged the credit facility through a bank syndicate including GE Capital Corporation and CIT. Peak 10 says it will use the funding to build new data centers or possibly acquire other providers. "Our expanded credit facility coupled with Peak 10’s strong internally generated cash flow fully funds our business plan," said Brian Noonan, chief financial officer of Peak 10. "Our history of consistent quarterly growth and strong balance sheet management has enabled us to obtain debt on attractive terms with an expanded group of lenders. We are well positioned to pursue in-market and new market expansions, including acquisitions." Peak 10 was founded in 2001 and has focused on local markets in the southeastern U.S. IN addition to its own building program, Peak 10 acquired established data center companies in Louisville, Nashville and Richmond. Last fall the company opened a greenfield data center in Atlanta, and expanded into Cincinnati in December 2007. Peak 10 currently has construction underway on facilities in Nashville, Louisville, Raleigh, Tampa and Charlotte, and plans additional construction later this year and in 2009.
Internap Network Services (INAP) will add approximately 15,000 square feet of colocation to meet strong customer demand for space, the company said today. Internap's new space is located in a stand-alone 45,000 square foot facility adjacent to its existing Boston data center, and will come online in the fourth quarter of this year. "This initiative is part of our strategic plan to enhance data center offerings in key markets," said James DeBlasio, chief executive officer of Internap. "With this expansion in Boston, Internap now has its ninth owned facility and a total of 43 colocation service points, demonstrating our commitment to serving our customer’s growth requirements now and in the future."
Plans for a huge data center campus in Old Bridge, New Jersey continue to move ahead. This week the developers of the planned 1.4 million square foot Deep Run Corporate Campus cleared another hurdle in the local planning process, moving the project closer to a final approval in June. The developers, Deep Run Corporate Campus LLC, want to build four 350,000 square foot data centers on 300 acres of land within the Crossroads property, which is owned by Old Bridge township. The huge project hopes to attract Wall Street financial firms seeking backup data centers for storage and disaster recovery.
The "data center in a box" approach to container computing has been controversial from the start. The merits and drawbacks of packing servers into shipping containers have been vigorously debated from day one (see Sun's Blackbox: Game Changer or Niche Product? from October 2006). Some of the industry's largest players are embracing the concept, especially Microsoft (MSFT). But the skeptics remain many, and their critiques are summarized by ComputerWorld, which outlines six reasons containers won't work. Eric Lai interviewed data center professionals and consultants, and reports that they "were individually impressed with some parts of Microsoft's plan, (but) also expressed skepticism that the idea will work in the long term."
Data center demand is likely to surge in the second half of 2008, as U.S. enterprise companies indicate they will be increasing both the number and size of their data center projects in the next 12 months, according to new research by Digital Realty Trust. The research findings, coming on the heels of a strong first quarter, were among the factors cited as Digital Realty increased its revenue projections for 2008. "I think we're going to see strong demand for the next 24 to 36 months," said Digital Realty CEO Mike Foust. "By all indicators, these data centers are not discretionary, they're required by these companies for continued profitability. We're also seeing a pretty significant shortfall of supply." Foust said that the company's internal research suggests that in some key markets new supply will be adequate to meet just 50 percent of the expected demand. Digital Realty (DLR) became the third data center specialist to raise its revenue guidance in recent weeks, following the lead of colocation providers Equinix (EQIX) and Switch and Data (SDXC).
The server thefts are getting out of hand. The latest incident didn't involve a data center, but involved an HSBC server in Hong Kong that contained transaction records for 159,000 customer accounts. The bank said it had lost track of the server during renovation work at a Kwun Tong district branch in east Kowloon on April 26. Police are investigating and say the server was stolen. The data stored on the server included account numbers, customer names, transaction amounts and transaction types, but not any customer PINS, passwords or user IDs, the company said in a statement. "The server is protected by multiple layers of security. The risk of data leakage and fraudulent transactions resulting from the loss of the server is deemed to be low," the statement added. Let's hope so, as the downside could be more serious than Peter Gabriel's web site being offline for a couple days.
In our never-ending quest for data center news, I've checked out most of the hot social media sites. Since Data Center Knowledge keeps me busy, it's hard to find the time to be meaningfully active in more than one or two at a time. One I've stuck with is Digg, which was co-founded by a data center veteran (Jay Adelson of Equinix). If you're a Digg user and Data Center Knowledge reader, check out our Digg profile and add us to your friends list. I'm interested in seeing what our DCK readers are Digging.
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Posted by Rich Miller 
May 09, 2008 |