Capturing Utility Rebates for Data Centers

A growing number of electric utilities are offering incentive programs that provide rebates for companies that improve the efficiency of their data centers. Bluestone Energy Services helps data center operators navigate the rebate process, conducting data center audits and working with the company and utility to capture savings and rebates. In this video from this month’s AFCOM Data Center World conference, Bluestone’s Adam Fairchild and Coy Stine discuss the market for utility incentives for data centers, and how their company works with its data center clients. This video runs about 10 minutes.

For additional video, check out our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.

A Closer Look at Power Loft’s Design

Power Loft @ Innovation is a 225,000 square foot data center that just opened in Prince William County, Virginia. The facility was built with a two-floor design that physically separates the server rooms from the power and cooling infrastructure, allowing clients to run power densities of up to 300 watts a square foot in the equipment space. In this video from last week’s opening, Michael Armm from Power Loft and Jason Chartrand from T5 Partners provided an overview of the innovative two-story design. This video runs about 6 minutes, 30 seconds. NOTE: We’re having some trouble with YouTube … if you get a message that the video is private, please try again in a few minutes.

For more on this topic, see our Data Center Design Channel. For additional video, check out our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.

Third-Party Staffing for Data Centers

At last week’s AFCOM Data Center World expo in Nashville, we spoke with John Lee, the chairman and CEO of Lee Technologies, a leading player in the business of supplying third-party staff to manage corporate data centers. Lee spoke with us about how the factors influencing companies to consider staffing specialists, along with the company’s growing focus on providing staffing for public sector data centers. Lee Technologies’ public sector business experienced strong growth in 2009, boosted by a multi-million dollar contract with the U.S. Department of Defense. This video runs about 5 minutes.

For additional video, check out our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.

A Closer Look at Emerson’s SmartAisle

This week at Data Center World, Emerson Network Power introduced the SmartAisle, a system that combines cold-aisle containment, in-row cooling and management tools to provide data center managers with more control over the temperature and energy use in their environments. In this video from the Data Center World expo, Emerson’s Fred Stack provides an overview of the SmartAisle using a demonstration unit on the expo floor. This video runs about 3 minutes, 30 seconds.

For more on this topic, see our Data Center Cooling Channel. For additional video, check out our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.

Data Center Tour on Microsoft Surface

Here’s a new way to present a data center tour and facility information: using Surface, the Microsoft table-top presentation platform. At the recent Waste Management Phoenix open, sponsor i/o Data Centers had a Surface demo running in its Corporate Village tent, which was loaded with photos and video of the company’s Phoenix ONE data center. In this video, we give the Surface a test drive, with a little guidance from app designer Michael Mazzola.

For additional video, check out our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.

Rackspace’s Lew Moorman on ‘Cloud Fatigue’

Can cloud computing survive the hype? As the buzz surrounding cloud computing gets ever louder, how can customers locate the signal amidst the noise?  In this presentation, Lew Moorman of Rackspace begins by addressing the hype. ”I think everyone is tired of the cloud,” says Moorman, President, Cloud and Chief Strategy Officer at Rackspace. “I think there’s some cloud fatigue going on. Some people are attaching cloud to their brand and services where it doesn’t belong. But I think it is absolutely the new reality, and here’s why: It’s cheaper, better and more reliable.” This video runs about 9 minutes.

Check out our Cloud Computing Channel for other perspectives on these topics. For additional video, check out our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.

Cloud Computing & the ‘Roof Rack Problem’

Alistair Croll says cloud providers and buyers of cloud computing services need to sort out what’s built in versus what’s an accessory in the cloud. Croll, the chair of the upcoming Cloud Connect conference, calls this the  ”roof rack” problem. Cloud Connect is scheduled for March 16-18 in Santa Clara, Calif. This video runs about 2 minutes.

For additional video, check out our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.

Roundup: ReliaCloud, enStratus, HP, Intel

Here’s a roundup of some of some of this week’s headlines from the data center and hosting industry:

ReliaCloud Offers enStratus Management Platform.  Cloud provider ReliaCloud announced a new partnership with enStratus, a national cloud management platform that delivers governance for enterprise applications in the cloud. ReliaCloud is a product of Minnesota managed hosting and data center provider VISI. ReliaCloud customers now have access to a suite of software management tools from enStratus that are also used with Amazon Web Services, Rackspace and Microsoft Azure platforms. ”The highly regarded management platform and experience in cloud security and availability management at enStratus is invaluable to regulation-heavy businesses or enterprises that are concerned about reliability and business continuity,” said Jason Baker, chief technology officer for ReliaCloud.  ReliaCloud and enStratus will be hosting the Minneapolis CloudCamp on Tuesday, March 2nd.

HP on Data Center Efficiency. Last week Hewlett Packard announced a range of services for small to midsize data center operations that help improve efficiency, increase flexibility of IT budgets and ensure service-level commitments.  HP services aim to simplify the management of multivendor environments and maximize return on investment.  Ron Silliman, Gartner principal research analyst said “organizations should take a whole-environment approach to operational efficiency to reduce risk and drive better business outcomes.” ZDNet reported that HP will launch its Singapore research hub, focusing on data center architecture, cloud computing services and sustainable processes and practices. Prith Banerjee, director of HP labs said that the Singapore site will aim to “lower total cost of ownership by 75 percent in data centers and halve the carbon footprint.”  The lab will support cloud research at other HP Labs sites that will then funnel into Cirious, HP’s enterprise cloud software platform.

Punked in the Data Center

How would you react if a visitor to your data center took out a pair of scissors and cut through an Ethernet cable? Even better: How would your company’s director of engineering react? The folks at Isilon Systems teamed with magician Scott Tokar to have some sport with Kiran Bhageshpur, Isilon’s director of engineering, who thinks he’s making a video promoting network attached storage. Watch this video for the drama and then check out the explanation of how the trick was executed. This video runs about 2 minutes, 20 seconds.

For additional video, check out our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.