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• Microsoft-HP Cloud Pact: How Big A Deal Is It?

  January 14th, 2010 : Linda Leung

  Microsoft and HP’s $250 million, three-year cloud computing pact announced Wednesday has left some pundits wondering whether this is just another marketing agreement to give the companies their 15 minutes on the cloud computing trending topics list, or a response to a similar tie-up between Cisco, VMware and EMC on private clouds announced in November, or even a response to this week’s announcement of VMware’s acquisition of messaging vendor Zimbra.

  The Microsoft and HP pact – which is non-exclusive – involves the two companies “collaborating on an engineering roadmap” for a range of technologies including data management machines, prepackaged applications, virtualization, and management tools.

  The companies will work to integrate Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL Server applications, and Microsoft Hyper-V Server with HP hardware, storage and networking gear into prepackaged “machines” for specific applications, including data warehouse, business intelligence, and online-transaction processing.

  Customers could hand off the hosting of these systems to a third-party, or they could build private clouds.

  HP already offers so-called Smart Bundles of Microsoft Hyper-V on HP ProLiant Servers for small and midsize organizations, alongside its Smart Bundles of ProLiant with VMware.

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• Roundup: Stratavia, Patriot Act & the Cloud

  January 4th, 2010 : John Rath

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

  • Patriot Act and its Impact on Cloud Computing Adoption. Mike Vizard’s IT Unmasked blog over at IT Business Edge has an interesting article about how the Patriot Act may hamper the adoption of cloud computing. The focus of the article is on email and Sendmail’s CEO Don Massaro’s comments about enterprise data sensitivity. The argument is that enterprises prefer private clouds because they don’t want their data in the hands of cloud providers who, under the Patriot Act, would be required to turn over records and data if asked to to so by the Federal government.
  • Stratavia receives funding. Data center automation software provider Stratavia received $450,000 in debt funding according to CrunchBase. Additional $300,000 and $450,000 amounts in debt funding were received in November as well. In September they obtained two patents for the technology driving its Data Palette platform. Earlier this month Stratavia announced that they signed a definitive agreement with Hostway Corporation to be one of the first partners under its “Automation by Stratavia” program.
  • 3Com and Spirent showcase solutions. Network companies 3Com and Spirent announced a live data center proof of concept demonstration that showcases the industry-leading capabilities of 3Com H3C S12500 and S5820X switches under a host of rigorous next-generation data center scenarios.  Spirent Communications provides enterprise network testing solutions.  The data center switches will be demonstrated in the Spirent Proof of Concept lab through January 2010 allowing data center operators to visualize the design and performance capabilities of a next generation multi-terabit data center.  Visitors to the lab will also witness the H3C Intelligent Resilient Framework, which allows network operators to seamlessly manage thousands of GbE adn 10 GbE ports as single virtual IP address.  3Com was purchased by HP for $2.7 billion in November 2009.
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• The Business Value of Green Data Centers

  November 19th, 2009 : Kevin Normandeau

  Today, policy and business leaders are reaching a consensus that industry must address rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, particularly in the data center. Leading enterprises are now turning to the practical challenge of determining how, how much, and at what cost to reduce emissions. In a recent white paper from IDC many companies are learning that their data center offers a means to both abate GHG and reduce costs with the right incremental capital investments.

  The process of improving information technology and data center efficiency not only reduces GHG emissions but also reduces cost for the enterprise. This means that the savings or business value derived from improvements far outstrips the incremental capital costs of “greening” the datacenter. Green IT means business improvement. Firms that rank highest among the “Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World,” such as Amazon, Toyota, and Nike, have realized that focusing on limiting energy calories in the datacenter and elsewhere pays profitability dividends on the financial side. IDC research indicates that companies reducing their metric tons of carbon per datacenter workload by a factor of 55% also incurred 35% less cost per user session on a server.

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• Roundup: IBM, NTT, SC09 demo, PhoenixNAP

  November 17th, 2009 : John Rath

  Here’s a roundup of news announcements from the data center and hosting industry:

  • Key milestone to 100 Gigabit Ethernet demonstrated. At the SC09 conference in Oregon Monday Infinera, Internet2, Juniper Networks and Level 3 demonstrated 100 Gbps data transport between Seattle and the SC09 show floor in Portland.  The 100 Gbps of test data was sent via a single slot on the Juniper T1600 Series Core Router, populated with a new 10×10GbE physical interface card and an Infinera optical system, over Level 3 and Internet2’s fiber-optic network.  An 802.3ba compliant 100GbE router interface was demonstrated by Juniper as well.  The demonstrations follow-up on an initiative announced at the SC08 conference last year between the same partners and the U.S. Department of Energy Sciences Network.  Kanalya Vasani, vice president of product management at Juniper said “with ‘Big Science’ projects like the Large Hadron Collider expected to be generating data flows of 100Gbps as soon as 2010, it’s clear that the world’s scientific research and education community needs to move beyond groups of 10Gbps waves and be ready with 100GbE solutions in the very near term.”
  • IBM selected by LBNL for cloud research. Monday IBM announced that the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has selected an IBM System x iDataPlex server to run the Lab’s program to explore how cloud computing can be used to advance scientific discovery.  The LBNL program is being funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the Department of Energy and will allow scientists to accelerate discoveries in energy efficiency, climate change and genomics.  According to the August 2009 Green500 list, the iDatPlex system is one of the most energy efficient computers in the world.  It also will have the theoretical peak speed of more than 60 teraflops.
  • NTT to Power OpSource Cloud: NTT America, the U.S. subsidiary of NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com), and OpSource today announced their intention to accelerate the adoption of enterprise cloud computing by powering OpSource Cloud, which will use  NTT America’s secure data centers and Tier-1 global IP network. OpSource Cloud is designed to allow IT departments to manage their security as they would within their internal IT infrastructure. OpSource Cloud provides every user with a Virtual Private Cloud within the public cloud, allowing them to determine their own degree of Internet connectivity.
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• HP Expands HPC ‘Scale-Out’ Offerings

  November 17th, 2009 : John Rath

  HP this week launched several new products for high performance computing at the SC09 conference, including servers, storage, software and network products.A new ProLiant BL2×220c G6 blade extends the HP Extreme Scale-out (ExSO) portfolio announced last June. 

  “The ExSO portfolio was created to meet the demanding needs of scale-out as well as high-performance computing customers that require highly efficient and powerful computing infrastructures,” said Steve Cumings, director of Marketing for the Scalable Computing and Infrastructure organization at HP. 

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• Roundup: Analysis of HP-3Com Deal

  November 12th, 2009 : Rich Miller

  There’s lots of reaction around the web to HP’s announcement that it is acquiring network equipment maker 3Com for $2.7 billion in cash. Here’s a roundup of notable commentary and analysis:

  • Larry Dignan at ZDNet reflects on the growing rivalry between Cisco and HP to grab mindshare and market share in converged networking for the data center. “At the Gartner CIO powwow last month, HP CEO Mark Hurd argued that the data center winner will be able to offer a complete portfolio of hardware, software and services. ‘You can’t do any part of the stack as a hobby,’ said Hurd.”
  • As Cisco and HP compete hard for customers, Tim Fitzgerald predicts that “partners are likely to be caught in the cross-fire. Solution providers say this is personal for both HP CEO Mark Hurd and Cisco CEO John Chambers. And its personal for HP and Cisco’s direct sales reps working with partners on account strategy and planning. That means partners that refuse to choose to line up 100 percent behind one or the other are going to face recrimination and payback in the form of favored or unfavored treatment.”
  • In a somewhat unusual move, Cisco issued a statement offering comments on the HP-3Dom deal, stating that “acquisitions in our industry only validate the fact that networking is becoming the platform for all forms of communications and IT.”
  • Sramana Mitra notes the strategic importance of the Asian market as a driver in the deal. “3Com’s China cost-structure has got to be the biggest driver, making it attractive for HP to hit Cisco where it really hurts. HP’s global channel will give 3Com’s products an excellent reach into the heart of enterprise and SME networks, as companies look to reduce total cost of ownership across the board.”
  • Some viewed the HP-3Com deal in terms of what it means for other potential acquisitions. Shares of Brocade Communications (BRCD), which was rumored to be in play, fell in after-market trading as traders perceived a sale as less likely now.
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• HP Buys 3Com in $2.7 Billion Networking Play

  November 11th, 2009 : Rich Miller

  The Battle for the Data Center continues to realign the planets in the enterprise IT universe. HP said today that it will acquire network equipment vendor 3Com Corp. (COMS) for $2.7 billion. The deal works out to $7.90 a share for 3Com, a hefty premium to its closing price of $5.69.

  The deal is the latest ripple from the ambitions of networking giant Cisco Systems (CSCO), which has launched a line of blade servers, upping the stakes in the converged networking space. As Cisco pushes into the server space, HP has moved to beef up its ProCurve line of networking gear and both HP and IBM have tightened their relationship with Cisco rival Brocade (BRCD).

  “Companies are looking for ways to break free from the business limitations imposed by a networking paradigm that has been dominated by a single vendor,” said Dave Donatelli, executive vice president and general manager, Enterprise Servers and Networking, HP. “By acquiring 3Com, we are accelerating the execution of our Converged Infrastructure strategy and bringing disruptive change to the networking industry. By combining HP ProCurve offerings with 3Com’s extensive set of solutions, we will enable customers to build a next-generation network infrastructure that supports customer needs from the edge of the network to the heart of the data center.”

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• Roundup: Savvis, Raritan, NaviSite, Active Power

  October 27th, 2009 : John Rath

  Here’s a roundup of news announcements from the data center and hosting industry:

  • Savvis Selected by BATS Global Markets.  Savvis announced Monday that BATS Global Markets is expanding its hosting space in Savvis’ Weehawken data center to support business growth and its second U.S. equities exchange (BYX).  Expansion in the Savvis Docklands data center in London will also take place to support the BATS Europe multilateral trading facility.  BATS is a global financial markets technology company in Kansas City, Missouri and has been a Savvis customer since they were founded in 2005.  Savvis announced major expansion to the NJ2 data center in Weekhawken, New Jersey in July 2009, citing strong customer demand for proximity hosting and low latency connectivity to major financial exchanges.
  • Raritan Introduces Intelligent Inline-meter Rack PDUs. Raritan introduced the new Dominion PX-3000 series Monday to its portfolio of intelligent rack power distribution and energy management products.  The new series of power meters are designed to be used in conjunction with dumb rack PDUs (Power Distribution Units) to provide strip-level metering and environmental monitoring.  The Dominion PX-3000 gathers a variety of power and environmental statistics and this real-time information can been seen with a local display or from a remote graphical user interface via a web browser.
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• Inside HP’s Huge Tulsa Data Center

  September 24th, 2009 : Rich Miller

  Yesterday marked a transition for EDS, which was officially rebranded as HP Enterprise Services. There’s been a lot of coverage of the business and employment impact of the deal. But the acquisition also brought some exceptional data center facilities, including the Service Management Center (SMC) built by EDS in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Earlier this year the Tulsa data center opened an expansion that doubled its size to 179,000 square feet, including 80,000 square feet of raised-floor space that can house more than 12,000 servers. HP has released a video providing a look inside the Tulsa facility. While not a full tour, the video reviews some of the energy efficiency features and offers views of the raised-floor area (check out the chimneys on the high-density cabinets) and water cooling system, including a look inside the cooling towers.

  HP also will benefit from a data center being built by EDS/HP Enterprise in Wynyard, England which features use an unusual architecture for its free cooling system, treating the entire 12-foot high first floor of the facility as a cold air plenum, with the server cabinets housed on the second floor. The 305,000 square foot facility in Wynyard is being called “Eco 2″ for its energy efficiency features.

  Check out our Green Data Center Channel for more on this topic. For additional video, visit our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.
  

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