Video Tour: Telecity’s New Paris Data Center

We recently noted an interesting reuse of server waste heat in the new TelecityGroup data center in Paris. The Condorcet data center is Telecity’s third facility in Paris, and offers 3,400 square meters (36,600 square feet) of customer space and 6.4 megawatts of power load. Waste energy from the facility will be used to heat a “Climate Change Arboretum” built on-site, which will recreate the climatic conditions expected to prevail in France in 2050. TelecityGroup has published a video animation that provides a detailed look at the layout and design of the new facility, which is its 23rd data center facility across Europe.

When it comes to data center tours, we’re sometimes wary of animations with cool depictions of data centers, if only because it’s easier to create a cool animation than it is to build a data center facility. So here’ s a companion video of the grand opening ceremony for the Condorcet data center – so you can see some footage of real-world equipment (and some laser effects).

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

Video: Internet Exchanges Made Simple

Ever have difficulty explaining peering and how Internet exchanges work? The folks at the European Internet Exchange Association (Euro-IX) put together this video to provide a simplified explanation of how networks connect to one another to make the Internet work. It runs about 5 minutes.

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

Pixar Animation Chills Out Its Server Room

The server-packed render farms at Pixar Animation Studios have created classic animated films including Toy Story, Ratatouille, Wall-E and Up!. But all that rendering can generate some heat. At the Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s Data Center Energy Efficiency Summit, Pixar IT engineer Jay Weiland provided an overview of a project in which Pixar used a cold aisle containment system from Polargy to address rising heat loads in one of its render farms. The room contained gear using 335 kilowatts of power in a 1,600 square foot space, resulting in density of more than 200 watts per square foot. The containment system solved the room’s hot spot issues, with a payback of less than four months (including a rebate from utility PG&E). “The return was so quick it was ridiculous,” said Weiland. “For us, that was the lowest hanging fruit.” 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.

A Closer Look at CloudSwitch

We’ve previously written about CloudSwitch, a Boston-area startup that has raised $15 million to develop a software appliance to simplify the deployment of cloud computing applications. CloudSwitch says its technology provides enterprise IT users with the ability to migrate existing applications to the cloud without re-architecting the application or changing management tools and policies. The company is starting to share more information about its offerng as it prepares for a public beta. Here’s a 3-minute video overview the company posted to YouTube earlier today.

For more news about cloud computing, see our Cloud Computing Channel. For additional video, check out our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.

Video: Inside IBM’s North Carolina Data Center

IBM has published a video offering a closer look at the operations of its $360 million data center at IBM’s Research Triangle Park (RTP) campus in North Carolina, where Big Blue has implemented its latest energy efficient design features. IBM, which owns or operates more than 450 data centers worldwide, has submitted the facility for Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. This video runs about 3 minutes.

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

Is Wall Street Ready for Cloud Computing?

Can cloud computing take hold on Wall Street? Not in the current environment, as concerns about compliance prevent most financial services firms from considering moving apps and data to a cloud computing model, according to Senior Analyst Kevin McPartland at The TABB Group, which closely tracks technology trends for the financial industry. But that could change dramatically if financial regulators took a more active role, he said. “If the SEC, CFTC or the proper regulatory body looked at certain cloud environments and was able to certify that they were secure enough for customer data, then we would see a whole new industry within the cloud computing world of financial services-targeted firms, that would be registered with regulators and clients could be assured that their data was secure,” says McPartland. “We think this could be a huge improvement for the industry.”

Also relevant is The Cloud Computing Debate, a discussion between McPartland and TABB colleague Adam Sussman on Cloud Computing. For additional video, check out our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.

The Network Powering the Large Hadron Collider

It takes a robust network to handle the 15 petabytes of data a year that will be generated by the Large Hadron Collider particle physics project at CERN, That huge trove of data won’t be sitting still, either, and will be distributed to 7,000 scientists around the globe. “We’re moving an awful lot of data, from storage to CPU, and from CERN to other institutions around the world,” says David Foster, Network Group Leader at CERN. In this video, CERN technologists discuss the network’s requirements and the role played by Force 10, which supplies the TeraScale E-Series switches that connect 6,000 processors and 2,000 storage devices. The TeraScale supports 672 line-rate Gigabit and 56 line-rate 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports per system, allowing CERN to deploy fewer systems and simplify the architecture of its network.

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

Inside The Tonight Show’s Data Center

You probably thought there wasn’t a data center angle to the brouhaha over NBC’s late night lineup, pitting Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien in a battle for the 11:35 p.m. time slot. At stake: whose digitized images flow into the 80 terabyte storage area network (SAN) deep in the bowels of the NBC Universal lot. Here’s a look at the on-site data center for “The Tonight Show,” which captures video and audio feeds as the show is taped. After some initial fooling around with Tonight Show blogger “Bley,” systems engineer Matthew Cooper provides a tour of the facility. Not much time is spent on the specs, but Cooper’s LinkedIn profile is heavy on Apple Xserve and Xsan administration. The biggest challenge: keeping Bley’s hands off the power button. This video runs about 5 minutes, and may take a moment or two to load. (Link via Ian Beyer).

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

Symantec: Mid-Sized Data Centers Innovating

Symantec today released its 2010 “State of the Data Center” report. Not surprisingly, it highlighted data center complexity and many related challenges addressed by Symantec’s storage management software. The survey, now in its third year, also found that mid-sized enterprises are more likely to adopt cutting-edge technologies than small or large enterprises. This video provides an overview of the survey’s key findings. You can download the 81-page full report (PDF) or visit Symantec’s online press kit for more details. The report’s findings on data center staffing are being discussed over at Slashdot. This video runs about 4 minutes.

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