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Data Center Migration Goes Awry at ValueWeb
A data center migration at ValueWeb has gone badly, leaving thousands of sites offline, some for as long as three days. The migration involved moving several thousand dedicated servers from Affinity Internet's Miami, Fla. hosting facility to a Hostway data center in Tampa, about 270 miles away. The servers were leased by customers of ValueWeb and Gate.com, two business units of Affinity, which was acquired by Hostway in April.
The move, which began Friday night, was scheduled to take 12 to 15 hours. But by late Sunday night many customers reported that their sites remained offline. A forum post by a Gate.com manager indicates that all servers had been connected and powered on in the new location by 2 pm Sunday, but acknowledged that servers remained offline. Customers posting in a discussion thread at Digg said they were still down early Tuesday morning, more than three days after the migration started.
July 31, 2007
Cogent Leases POP at Digital Realty
Cogent Communications (CCOI) has leased space in a Charlotte, North Carolina facility owned by Digital Realty Trust (DLR), the companies said Monday. Cogent, a provider known for its "brilliantly fast, radically priced" connectivity, will establish a new point of presence in Digital's Turn-Key Datacenter facility.
The building at 125 N. Myers Street in downtown Charlotte is one of 10 sites around the country where Digital Realty built out undeveloped space for its Turn-Key Datacenter program. The strategy was driven by strong demand for "move-in ready" finished space in those 10 markets, which gave Digital the confidence to invest in fit-outs before tenants were finalized.
Posted by Rich Miller 
July 31, 2007 | Permalink | Newsletter
Hosted Solutions Expands in Raleigh
Managed hosting provider Hosted Solutions will add an additional 17,000 square feet of space to its Raleigh, North Carolina data center facility, the company announced last week. The expansion will bring the total size of the company's Raleigh data center to approximately 31,000 square feet.
The Raleigh addition marks the beginning of an "aggressive plan" to expand the company's data center space in existing markets in 2007, according to Rich Lee, founder and CEO of Hosted Solutions. The expansions will provide Hosted Solutions with the ability to support growing customer demand for data center space. "Our strategic, planned growth in space and service offerings gives our customers the personal relationship of a small company and the resources of an enterprise organization," said Lee, who characterized the expansion plan as "strategic, sensible growth."
Posted by Rich Miller July 31, 2007 | Permalink | Newsletter
July 30, 2007
Microsoft Breaks Ground in San Antonio
Microsoft officially broke ground today on its 447,000 square foot data center in San Antonio. The software giant will invest $550 million in the project, which stands on 44 acres in the Westover Hills development. Armed with shovels, local dignitaries and Microsoft officials turned some dirt during a ceremonial event.
"It's massive. It looks like a small town being built here," said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff. The project is scheduled to be completed in Juy 2008, and is expected to create 75 jobs. The San Antonio center is the second major facility being built in the U.S. to support the expansion of Microsoft's Live line of online services, following the construction of a similar data center in Quincy, Washington. Microsoft's commitment was announced in January, and has been followed by the announcements of data center projects by the National Security Agency, Stream Realty and Christus Health Systems.
Posted by Rich Miller July 30, 2007 | Permalink | Newsletter
Hurricane Electric Adds 10GigE Ports
Hurricane Electric has expanded its peering capabilities by adding 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GigE) ports at Switch and Data PAIX peering centers in New York and Palo, Alo, Calif., the two companies said today. The arrangement will provide additional connectivity for European and Asian networks seeking coast-to-coast peering.
"We have been a PAIX client now for more than seven years," said Mike Leber, president of Hurricane Electric. "Switch and Data continues to respond to client needs by providing next generation services such as 10GigE and IPv6 capability on their exchange. This in turn allows us to offer new technology at better rates for our clients."
In addition to providing Internet connection and colocation services to Hurricane Electric in Palo Alto and New York, Switch and Data (SDXC) also provides the company with colocation and connectivity services in its Seattle market.
Posted by Rich Miller July 30, 2007 | Permalink | Newsletter
Rayburn: CDN Market Remains Strong
Dan Rayburn, a veteran observer of the online video market, says that he's been getting a flurry of calls from analysts about the sharp downturn in shares of Akamai. The leader in the content delivery network (CDN) market saw its share price drop from $47 to about $37 after its earnings report disappointed analysts. The big question: does the collapse of Akamai (AKAM) shares represent an erosion in business conditions for CDN providers?
"The simple answer is no," Dan responds, noting that analysts are focusing on quarter-to-quarter trends within Akamai's earnings that may not reflect progress in the broader market, or even the full mix of services the company is offering. I think it's also likely that analysts are squinting harder at Akamai's financials in the wake of the IPO by Limelight Networks (LLNW) and the entry of Korea's CDNetworks into the U.S. market. Dan writes:
My suggestion: relax. This is not the first time this has happened where a company that provides services in the online video industry has seen a major change in their stock price and it won't be the last time either. The content delivery market is as healthy as ever and the growth of the consumption of online video for longer time, more frequently, at higher bitrates and on multiple devices shows no signs of slowing down.Rayburn also critiques a Barron's article over the weekend that highlights the progress of Internap (INAP) in the CDN market.
Posted by Rich Miller July 30, 2007 | Permalink | Newsletter
Illinois Town Pursues Data Center Project
The town of Rochelle, Illinois has begun buying land for a technology park in the hopes of landing a Fortune 100 company’s data center. Last month, the city bought 20 acres near Interstate 39 and has an option on 140 more acres if it can attract businesses to locate there.
Local officials say they are in talks with a Fortune 100 company about building a 100,000 square foot data center at the site, with an announcement likely in the next two months, according to City Manager Ken Alberts. The project would employ 10 to 15 people to start, with jobs paying between $50,000 and $100,000 a year. Albert said the company is also eyeing locations in Wisconsin and Indiana, and Rochelle officials have offered a five-year tax abatement to stay competitive.
The project reflects two trends we've noted here in recent months - the growing interest by enterprise companies in focusing on affordable locations in Middle America for data centers, and economic development agencies in smaller cities seizing upon that opportunity to try and attract corporate development projects.
Posted by Rich Miller July 30, 2007 | Permalink | Newsletter
Second Look: Cisco's Data Center 3.0
Cisco's unveiling of its Data Center 3.0 initiative last week at its Cisco Networkers conference was a big event for the company. Shortly after Cisco finished its presentations, the attention of a significant chunk of the tech audience was diverted by a data center outage in San Francisco. So in case you missed it, here's a second look at Cisco's announcement and ensuing coverage:
- Data Center 3.0? (Cisco blog): Omar Sultan, Cisco's manager for Data Center Switching writes: "You may be wondering if there is anything to this "Data Center 3.0" thing beyond some clever marketing folks earning their paychecks. Well, clever marketing folks aside, the name was very explicitly chosen, so let's deconstruct it a bit."
- Cisco Sticks Its Foot In The Data Center Door (Information Week): " For the first time, the networking vendor has spelled out the endgame of its virtualization strategy, which looks increasingly like the end of physical servers as we know them."
- Cisco Data Center Play Gains Steam with VMware Stake (eWeek): Cisco Systems, after planting its strategy flag in the fertile data center soil earlier this week, wasted no time in advancing that strategy by announcing on July 27 that it has taken a $150 million stake in VMware.
- Cisco Looks to Put Virtual Stamp On Data Centers (ComputerWorld): " Several attendees at the Networkers at Cisco Live 2007 user conference said the promised benefits hit home with them, although some noted that adopting VFrame DC may not be a simple matter."
Posted by Rich Miller July 30, 2007 | Permalink | Newsletter
July 29, 2007
365 Main IDs Faulty Generator Parts
365 Main has identified faulty components in the systems that regulate the speed of its generators as they start, the company said Sunday in an update on its investigation into the power outage. In Tuesday's outage, which knocked many popular sites offline, four of the facility's 10 diesel generators failed to start properly.
"The digital controller for the diesel engine (know as a DDEC) has proven erratic and a spare DDEC is en route," 365 Main said, adding that its engineers have been able to reproduce failures in the controllers in testing. "While this component is the focus of the investigation, the team continues start/stop testing to rule out other potential contributors to failure." DDEC is an acronym for Detroit Diesel Electronic Controller, a system which monitors a diesel engine's status, and can activate alarms or shut down a generator.
It's clear that the outage is also becoming a priority for Hitec Power Protection, which makes the generators and flywheel UPS systems used by 365 Main. Staffers from Hitec's US operation have been on-site in San Francisco since shortly after the outage. On Saturday, Hitec flew in a senior engineer from its headquarters in the Netherlands to join the investigation, along with a member of the company's board of directors. 365 Main noted Friday that "once a root cause is discovered, we will be introducing a tested fix across all facilities that feature Hitec generators." 365 Main has seven data centers across the country.
Posted by Rich Miller July 29, 2007 | Permalink | Newsletter
July 27, 2007
Cisco Takes $150M Stake in VMware
VMware, Inc. today announced that Cisco Systems (CSCO) will acquire a $150 million equity stake in the company, reinforcing Cisco's focus on virtualization as a critical piece of its "Data Center 3.0" strategy. Cisco becomes the second tech titan to invest in the virtualization specialist prior to its eagerly anticipated IPO. Earlier this month Intel Capital acquired a $218 million position in VMware.
Both investments were made by purchasing Class A common shares currently held by EMC Corporation, VMware's parent company. Cisco's position represents 1.6% of the shares of VMware, which will consider the appointment of a Cisco executive to its board of directors.
Cisco said its purchase "is intended to strengthen inter-company collaboration towards accelerating customer adoption of VMware virtualization products with Cisco networking infrastructure and the development of customer solutions that address the intersection of virtualization and networking technologies."
Posted by Rich Miller July 27, 2007 | Permalink | Newsletter
Hedge Fund IT Firm Opens New Data Center
Richard Fleischman & Associates (RFA), which provides IT and disaster recovery services for more than 400 hedge funds, has opened an expanded data center in Purchase, N.Y. The new 50,000 square foot facility provides real-time "hot site" backup to support prompt resumption of operations for investment companies in the event of a disaster.
"Our expanded data center was designed to accommodate our client's demand for growth and to satisfy their evolving technology needs in the event of a crisis," says Richard Fleischman, president of RFA. "RFA's enhanced data center reinforces our commitment to the continued expansion of our organization and furthering our goal to consistently provide our clients with exceptional service."
Posted by Rich Miller July 27, 2007 | Permalink | Newsletter
MORE STORIES FROM THIS MONTH:
- Data Center Migration Goes Awry at ValueWeb
- Cogent Leases POP at Digital Realty
- Hosted Solutions Expands in Raleigh
- Microsoft Breaks Ground in San Antonio
- Hurricane Electric Adds 10GigE Ports
- Rayburn: CDN Market Remains Strong
- Illinois Town Pursues Data Center Project
- Second Look: Cisco's Data Center 3.0
- 365 Main IDs Faulty Generator Parts
- Cisco Takes $150M Stake in VMware
- Hedge Fund IT Firm Opens New Data Center
- Internap to Colo With Quality Technologies
- Cummins Shares Buck Wall Street Tide
- ValleyWag Retracts Report on 365 Main
- Lawsuit Challenges Google N.C. Incentives
- Big Expansion for EDS' Tulsa Data Center
- Sharp Selloff for Akamai Shares
- BladeLogic IPO Priced at $17 a Share
- Generator Failures Caused 365 Main Outage
- Cisco Targets 'Data Center 3.0'
- HSBC Picks Aperture Management Tool
- Peak 10 to Build Nashville Data Center
- Colo Providers Partner on Disaster Recovery
- Level 3 Beefs Up Joost's Network
- Andreessen's Opsware Stake: $138 Million
- Securus Leases Dallas Data Center
- HP Buys Opsware for $1.6 Billion
- Bladelogic IPO Expected This Week
- Google Considering 2nd South Carolina Site
- InfoRelay Colos With Switch & Data
- Internap Opens London CDN Site
- Google: No Major Changes in N.C. Project
- Equinix Raises Bid for IXEurope
- Earthquake-Proofing the Data Center
- CRG West Leases First NY Facility
- Blackbox Comes In For A Landing
- The Data Center As Rock Star
- Sungard to Acquire Vericenter
- Aperture Acquires Advantage Group
- Silicon Valley REIT Mulls $1.8B Deal
- Rackable Starts Eco-Friendly Initiative
- Weekend Reading: Google, Blackbox
- Power Capacity Issues at DreamHost
- IBM Installs Modular Data Center at Bryant
- Korea's CDNetworks Expands in U.S.
- NetFirms Cites DC Power Savings
- Data Center Jobs: Sentinel and Kain MG
- Ask.com Confirms Moses Lake Facility
- APC Offers Cooling Planning Tool
- CyrusOne Bought By Private Equity Firm
- PayPal Plans Austin Developer Center
- Raised Floor vs. Overhead Cooling
- Level 3 Buys Streaming Video Firm Servecast
- ColoServe Expands San Francisco Data Center
- Show Me The (Data Center) Money
- Big Expansion for Google's N.C. Data Center
- NYTimes: Cost of Power Plants is Rising
- Stargate Blogs Its Data Center Buildout
- Generator Sales Boost Cummins Shares
- Akamai Added to S&P 500
- VMware IPO to Raise $741M, Intel Invests
- Limelight to Power GameShadow
- Edmunds.com Leases Digital Realty Space
- Google Hires Oracle Vet for Lenoir Site
- SaaS Provider With No Backup Facility?
- Solar Data Center Hosts Live Earth Site
- AIS Opens New San Diego Data Center