Data Center Design - Deerns

Volume 24 | August 2012

Modular Design for Small Data Centers

Data Center Ready-Mix Just Add Power

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Modular Data Center Design

The shorT answer is “Yes.”It’s not on the drawing board. It’s not a pipe dream. And it’s not

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IT CORNER2 Modular CoMpuTIng:

WhaT Is IT?by Jeffrey R. Clark, Ph.D.The ever-expanding capabilities of mobile devices—particularly small ones like smartphones—inspires the imagination regarding how far portability, mass data storage and processing power can be taken, and what that means for the future of personal (and even corporate) computing. One incarnation with increasing visibility is so-called modular computing: the use of a single, small device as the heart of a computing platform that incorporates a range of devices.

feaTure6 Modular desIgn for

sMall daTa CenTersby Jeffrey R. Clark, Ph.D. Modular data center design is a hot topic, and as companies struggle to meet their IT needs and satisfy stringent budget limitations in a slow economy, any design approach that promises to reduce capital and operational expenses and simplify builds and expansions is fodder for consideration. Wholesale and colocation data center providers have become experts in modular design owing to the market they serve, where “right-sizing” of infrastructure—yet the ability to expand when needed—is a critical part of success.

faCIlITY CORNER

10 daTaCenTer readY-MIx. JusT add poWer.by Jun Yang, PE and Patrick Kenny, PEAs the digital age progressed, significant advancements in information technology were followed by an increased demand for information technology based services. Many datacenter

owners and operators soon faced a rapidly changing consumer environment and an increased demand for space, power and cooling growth at a rate faster than most businesses were prepared to respond to. By the early dot com bubble ages, there was a rush to build to meet the demand.

desIgn CORNER

14 Modular and pre-fabrICaTed daTa CenTer InfrasTruCTureby Gary CudmoreThe data center has been steadily evolving for the past several years and the trend today is to supply modular or prefabricated infrastructure. The reasons data center owners/operators are turning to this approach are numerous, but the main benefits are repeatable design, cost control, quality control, and flexibility.

18 eda Vendor Takes ITs oWn adVICe on daTa CenTer desIgnby David ClarkThe field of data center design has become more complex than ever. The past decade’s tremendous increases in power density (upwards of 500%) in server racks have compounded the cooling challenges, and moving air—both hot and cold—is Job One for data center architects. As a result, thermal and flow simulation tools have become indispensable in the design of modern large-scale data centers.

22 eVolVIng equIpMenT Trends for Modular desIgn by Eric HolzworthThere’s an awful lot of FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) in the market concerning packaging or construction of data center infrastructure components. It’s no wonder – the maximization of efficient capital in deploying new data center space is one of the most difficult decisions a data center manager can make. At the center is the debate surrounding containerized vs. modular solutions. Half-truths and myths abound, creating confusion and preventing many from understanding the benefits of each. The bottom line? Managers really need to do their homework to know what’s right for them.

ITOPS26 solVIng daTa CenTer

CoMplexITY Through a CoMMon IT languageby Constantin DelivanisFor data center managers surveying today’s IT landscape, the view can be daunting. Across a vista dotted with cloud offerings, virtual servers, employee-owned devices, inherited and acquired assets, and disparate systems, IT leaders see a murky horizon, one in which it is increasingly difficult to determine exactly what applications the data center is running and how to manage them. It’s a complex backdrop for any organization, and it requires forward-looking technology professionals to adopt solutions that reduce that complexity.

ITbuSiNESS30 bYod and The IMpaCT on IT

by Ron NunanTrue mobility is bringing about a significant change in the way business gets done. It started with managers, directors, and executives using newer devices they bought themselves and wanted to use in meetings and on the road. Now, any number of individuals across the enterprise can be seen using tablets and a variety of smartphones to conduct business – employees are simply using their own devices. With the rapid expansion and adoption of Internet-based computing – cloud computing, if you will – smart companies are taking advantage of this and are enabling employees to work more efficiently by embracing the mobility trend.

YourtuRN34 eMCWorld 2012: TrusT

and MarkeTIng, Can TheY CoexIsT? by Greg Schultz

CalendarVendor Index

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The shorT answer is “Yes.”It’s not on the drawing board. It’s not a pipe dream. And it’s not

tomorrow’s next big thing. STARLINE® DC Solutions’ proven

380 Volt DC power technology is ready for your data center

today. And it’s ready to deliver a 200% increase in reliability, as

well as dramatic savings in operating and capital expenditures

while taking up 33% less space in your data center. To learn

more about installing this ground-breaking direct current

system in your data center, visit StarlinePower.com

is 380 VolT DC power aVailable for mY DaTa CenTer?

2 | THE DATA CENTER JOURNAL www.datacenterjournal.com

it Corner

The iPhone is a high-profile candidate for leading a modular-computing revolution—should such ever take off. Although predicting the success or failure

of a particular technology or approach is difficult, a brief look at the current state of computing, as well as consumer demand, can provide some insight.

The AppeAl of MobiliTy

If you have a desktop, laptop, tablet and smartphone (and possibly some other gadgets above, below or in between these devices), then you may have experienced some frustration in moving important data from one device to another (or syncing data among devices), in an inability to per-

form certain tasks on certain devices (pos-sibly owing to lack of software compatibil-ity) or simply in a lack of accessibility (say, to your desktop computer) when you’re on the go. What if you could centralize your computing capabilities in a single device that connects to and powers all your other devices? In essence, you’d have a comput-ing “core” that you connect to a screen and peripherals in your home or office to serve as a desktop computer and to a tablet-like screen (possibly with a keyboard) to server as a tablet or laptop computer on the go. In addition, this core (or computing “mod-ule”) could have its own screen along with all the functions of a smartphone. In fact, such a device sounds a lot like a beefed-up iPhone. This is the heart of modular com-puting: a hybrid of computing power and

mobility, along with maximum compat-ibility among devices and a minimal need for syncing data or transporting unneeded peripheral equipment.

As the current champion of smart-phones, the iPhone is touted as the leading candidate for use as the heart of a modular-computing platform. Some industry ob-servers believe the iPhone’s dock connector could be part of what makes this device amenable to use in modular computing (“Why the iPhone Has a Head Start on the Future of Personal Computing”), but Apple may eventually dump this connec-tor (“Apple iPhone dock connector to ‘be ditched’”). Considering, however, that the capabilities of a modular-computing device would need to be significantly greater than those of the current iPhone, other compa-

Modular Computing: What is it?

by jeffrey r. clArk, phd

The ever-expanding capabilities of mobile devices—particularly small ones like smartphones—inspires the imagination regarding how far portability, mass data storage and processing power can be taken, and what that means for the future of personal (and even corporate) computing. One incarnation with increasing

visibility is so-called modular computing: the use of a single, small device as the heart of a computing platform that incorporates a range of devices.

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nies could sneak in with their own offering, were a modular-computing market see some measure of success.

ModulAr coMpuTing ScenArioS

It’s fairly easy to come up with a number of scenarios in which modular computing could be a tempting alternative to traditional computing using desktops, laptops and so on. Such scenarios might include the following.

n Instead of keeping copies of data on multiple devices—requiring you to sync data across devices periodically or whenever a critical change is made—you would maintain a single copy of that data in a central location: the computer module. Whenever you connect the module to a docking device with a screen, you have ac-cess to all your data, and changes need not be synced.

n Rather than pay for processing power in each device, you would pay for a single processing core that provides the capabilities you need for whatever device you’re using at the time. You’d still have a range of interface devices, such as laptop/tablet- and desktop-style docks, but you wouldn’t need to buy processing power for each one.

n Software compatibility is guaranteed across devices. If you’re working with an expensive proprietary software package, you may not be able to (or you may not want to) purchase licenses for use on dif-ferent devices/computers or even operating systems. Your software is available wher-ever your computer module is. So, if you’re working on graphics in Photoshop, you need not install (or purchase a license for) a copy on each device. Your work is ready for you to continue wherever you go.

n If you’re on the road and don’t have a laptop-style dock available, you could still use a docking station provided by someone else. As long as you have access to a dock-able screen with appropriate input devices (a keyboard and mouse, if necessary, or

a touchscreen), you have access to all the computing capabilities you use at home or in the office.

And the list goes on. A computer module could connect with any number of other devices—even home appliances—to provide the necessary data and processing power for a virtually limitless array of tasks. The question is not whether one could find practical uses of a modular-computing platform; the question is whether such a platform is itself sufficiently practical to both garner a sizable market and compete with other solutions.

The upSideS And downSideS of ModulAr coMpuTing

As smartphones currently stand, they do not provide sufficient processing power and software compatibility to serve as the heart of a full-fledged desktop or laptop computer. Processors for mobile devices, particularly mobile phones, focus heavily on maximizing battery life (after all, who wants to recharge their devices every two to four hours?); hence they do not offer com-parable processing capabilities—although they are not all that far behind. New multi-core processor architectures that incorpo-rate both low-power and high-power cores might find a fitting application in modular computing, however. The low-power core could be used to operate the module as a smartphone (or, at least, for those func-tions that only require a low-power core), whereas the high-power core or cores could perform heavier-duty smartphone processing and could serve as the proces-sor for a desktop, for instance. In a docked application (like a desktop), power is not a concern as it is on the go—hence, the module could run its high-power processor cores at full steam.

Several trends might work against this approach. First, for whatever reason, many consumers like to change smartphones quite regularly. When it’s just a phone, pos-sibly with some throwaway pictures stored within, it doesn’t have the investment of,

say, a laptop computer. Trading phones is less of a big deal in many cases. But if your phone is also your central computing source, that change is more complicated—and more expensive. Sure, consumer habits could simply adjust to the new reality. Then again, consumers might simply reject the modular approach as simply too much of an investment. Second, tech-savvy users might wish to upgrade certain capabili-ties of their computers, like the amount of RAM, the graphics unit and so on. For these users, there may be no replacing the traditional desktop, with its easy access to the innards of the system. For mobile devices, the smaller they are, the harder it is to make any internal changes.

A central data-storage device has obvious appeal, but it is less of a stand-out solution now compared with 5 to 10 years ago. Cloud storage enables central-ized storage—albeit remotely—that can be accessed anywhere there’s an Internet connection. Sure, that imposes some limits that modular computing would be able to work around, but those minor limits may be insufficient to make the storage aspect a significant plus for modular computing. Furthermore, cloud-based storage avoids the problem of a device loss or theft (the chances of which grow with shrinking size and increasing mobility), possibly giving it a slight edge. And syncing devices is be-coming less and less of a chore, even when the cloud is not involved.

Also, cramming large amounts of compute power in an iPhone-style profile is challenging—even when a sufficient power supply (beyond batteries) is present, cooling is still an issue. With Moore’s Law constantly pushing down the cost of pro-cessing power, the savings of using a single, central, multi-purpose processor instead of several processors tailored for different ap-plications may not be as great as one might expect.

Perhaps one unmatched benefit of modular computing would be software compatibility. Your phone, laptop/tab-let and desktop would all have the same

With Moore’s Law constantly pushing down the cost of processing power, the savings of using a single, central, multi-purpose processor instead of several processors

tailored for different applications may not be as great as one might expect.

THE DATA CENTER JOURNAL | 5 www.datacenterjournal.com

software, eliminating the need to install multiple instances of software packages. All of your devices would run the same operat-ing system (which would need to be able to handle multiple interface styles, including standard screens, touchscreens and small screens). But even here, cloud computing offers a comparable alternative. Again, it requires an Internet connection, but it does not require you to have or carry your own computer equipment—even if it’s just the size of an iPhone.

doeS ModulAr coMpuTing hAve A fuTure?

The question, then, is whether the upsides of modular computing provide enough of a benefit over existing platforms to create the kind of ecosystem needed to support it. Part of the key to enabling this approach is standard connectors that allow a single modular device to connect to a wide variety of interfaces. This means that vendors would need to offer displays, tablets, input devices (like keyboards, mice and touchscreens) and so on to enable

use of the computer module’s capabilities. Operating systems would need the ability to work on smart phones, desktops and ev-erything in between, as well as to function in other applications, like automobiles and appliances.

And, of course, companies would need to develop and offer small devices that provide both the mobility and processing power needed to perform all the functions of a modular computer. Resolving the issue of processor performance, power consump-tion and heat dissipation is not the least of the challenges to modular computing’s success. Beyond simply solving the techni-cal challenges and the need for a support-ing ecosystem, vendors that wish to offer modular-computing platforms must prove to consumers (including businesses, if that turns out to be a target market) the superi-ority of this approach. Simply showing that modular computing has benefits probably won’t be enough—clearly, it has some ben-efits. The most important matter is whether this approach is a solution to problems that aren’t equally (or better) solved by other approaches. Cloud computing in particular

offers many of the same advantages that modular computing claims. Each of these approaches has its own peculiar upsides and downsides relative to the other, but given the steam of cloud computing today, modular computing may simply lack the thunder to push it into broad use.

Certainly, expect to see modular-computing products begin to hit the market—these products may be more limited, however, than the vision of a single compute unit for all devices in a home or office. As to whether an iPhone-like device will attain modular computing’s true potential is a matter for which the jury is still out. A safe prediction would be that it will achieve niche status but will lack the punch to give it more-universal appeal. Although, like tablets, modular computers could be viewed as a potential successor to traditional desktop computers, chances are the desktop still has a long life ahead of it. Modular computing must first take the not-so-insignificant step finding its footing in a competitive market before it tries to become the successor to more-traditional computing platforms. n

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ModularDesign

For Small Data Centersby jeffrey r clArk, ph.d

www.datacenterjournal.com6 | THE DATA CENTER JOURNAL

FEAtURE Story


Modular data center design is a hot topic, and as companies struggle to meet their iT needs and satisfy stringent budget limitations in a slow economy, any design approach that promises to reduce capital and operational expenses and simplify builds and expansions is fodder for consideration. wholesale and colocation data center providers have become experts in modular design owing to the market they serve, where “right-sizing” of infrastructure—yet the ability to expand when needed—is a critical part of success. but what about companies looking to build small data centers? by looking at the practices of data center service providers, these companies can learn lessons in modularity that can yield tremendous benefits.


The firST leSSon: ModulAriTy doeS noT neceSSArily MeAn conTAinerS

For whatever reason, modularity has become nearly synonymous with ISO-stan-dard containerized data centers—but that is a very narrow interpretation of modularity. Although data center containers are one particular form of modular design, they are far from the only such manifestation. Mod-ular design, although it might involve large, mobile data-centers-in-a-box, can instead focus on specific systems (IT or facilities) in a traditional data center, and the scale can range from large to small. Rather than being isolated to movable containers, modular-ity is a means of designing and building data centers in a manner that meets or only slightly exceeds current requirements while enabling expansion via relatively simple addition of new infrastructure (as opposed to retrofitting existing infrastructure or con-structing entirely new facilities).

dATA cenTer conTAinerS: The “pArAgon” of ModulAriTy MAy noT be for you

For a company looking to build a small data center, the promises of con-tainerized data centers are tempting. Fast, “plug-and-play” deployment. Lower cost. No need to build a traditional structure (just drop the containers in your company’s parking lot!). Mobility. But the benefits that are often ascribed to containers may not materialize, particularly for a small com-pany (or any company building a small data center facility). According to an EC&M arti-cle (“Modular Data Center Design Trends”), these benefits could well be overstated: “the promise of a lower cost data center hasn’t always come true, especially in comparison with small, early phase traditional data centers. In fact, the cost of the container data centers often reaches the price of a Tier 4-classified center but without the ele-ments offered by that level of data center.” Furthermore, beyond potential issues with reliability and vendor lock-in, “the speed of deployment, described as plug-and-play, is oversimplified. Container designs still require a chilled water supply and a secure site, and, in some cases, applications for building permits could delay deployment for months.”

Thus, companies building small data centers shouldn’t assume that containers are equivalent to modularity—nor should they dismiss traditional data construction out of hand. If cloud computing and colocation don’t fit the bill, data center containers are not the only choice. Indeed, the container market is actually still quite small, and the lack of broad deployment (meaning a lack of plenty of examples to follow) mean this route may be less than ideal for a company that wants a solid, reliable and inexpensive as possible facility.

Applying ModulAriTy on A SMAll ScAle

Conceptually, the modular approach is particularly ideal for companies build-ing smaller data centers. Demand for IT resources is generally increasing, and most companies can and should expect their data center needs to increase over time. But building to cover anticipated demand, say, five years down the road invariably requires guesswork and results in greater near-term capital costs. Equipment that is purchased but unused must be stored and possibly maintained; if connected, it can consume power, increasing operational expenses even though no commensurate service is being supplied.

This reflects the situation for coloca-tion/wholesale data center providers. To maximize profitability, these companies must provide enough infrastructure (cool-ing, power distribution, network connectiv-ity and so on) to meet customer demand, but going overboard can be costly. Unused equipment has a shelf life. Imagine, for example, buying a car now to meet the anticipated need of a growing family 5 to 10 years in the future. Over that time, the car only loses value—and it is still subject to certain kinds of wear that could affect its functioning. The same is basically true for data center infrastructure. Buying serv-ers now, for instance, when they might not be needed for several years has several downsides:

Capital, which could be used elsewhere, is spent on equipment that performs no useful function for some time.

Equipment loses value over time, even if it is unused.

Even unused equipment may require maintenance.

Exploiting new technologies (such as advances in processor manufacturing technology) means buying new equip-ment to replace old equipment that may never have been used.

Precious storage space—or possibly data center floor space—is consumed by idle equipment.

Power is consumed by idle equipment if it is connected and turned on.

Similar problems plague other types of equipment that are purchased to “future-proof ” the data center.

Modularity isn’t necessarily opposite to future-proofing, but it plans ahead in a way that meets current requirements while minimizing costs and enabling agile expan-sion when needed. It can be an effective approach regardless of scale, meaning that the design tactics of a wholesale or coloca-tion provider can be applied successfully by a company building a small data center as well.

ModulAriTy ApplieS To More ThAn juST iT

IT is the natural first consideration when one thinks of applying modularity to data center construction. As discussed above, why buy a bunch of unneeded servers and other IT equipment? Instead, a company—whether building a small or large data center—could add new server racks when usage approaches capacity. These racks might even be preassembled: they can be shipped fully loaded with equipment, ready to roll into place and connect. But IT is not the only application of modularity.

Cooling infrastructure is a major power drain for most data centers. The average PUE of data centers is estimated to be around 2.0, meaning that only half of all power consumed actually goes to the servers and other IT equipment. The other half is consumed by infrastructure: power distribution and cooling, primarily (although some is consumed by lighting, security systems and so forth). Required cooling infrastructure is proportional to the power consumed by the IT equipment. Thus, deploying more cooling capacity than the data center needs makes little sense if it can be added modularly as needed. A colocation provider with unused space, for example, would want to avoid maintain-

www.datacenterjournal.com

ing unused equipment, in addition to avoiding the unnecessary capital expense, but would want to be able to quickly expand capacity to meet demand from new customers. The same principle applies to companies building smaller data centers.

One particular application of modularity in this context is row-based cooling. A whole-room approach to cooling may be excessive, particularly if not all the floor space in the data center facility is being used. By focusing on rows instead of the entire room, cooling units can be positioned to yield maxi-mum efficiency. Furthermore, as more rows are added in response to growing demand for IT services, more cooling units can be added to support the new equipment.

Power distribution is the other major area benefitting from a modular design approach. From uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) to power dis-tribution units and backup generators, adding new equipment as needed rather than to cover anticipated future needs provides a number of benefits. For instance, by not overprovisioning UPS capacity a data center can reduce power wasted by these units. A modular solu-tion, however, enables scaling of power capacity when demand requires it. The main cost of the modular approach is more-careful planning to facilitate future expansion when demand ap-proaches or meets capacity.

conTAinerS noT ouT of The QueSTion

Although modularity does not necessarily imply a containerized approach, data center containers are not necessarily the wrong choice for a company building a small data center. If planned and executed properly, con-tainers could be an adequate solution, although they do not provide modular-ity in the same way as would be applied in a traditional facility. (Expansion in the containerized approach is in fairly large units; in a brick-and-mortar facil-ity, it can be in smaller increments.) A company might choose a halfway measure: for instance, it might build a

fairly standard data center, deploying IT equipment inside the building, but use containers for cooling infrastructure. In either case, each company must care-fully evaluate its options and compare with the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. Not everything that works for a large company with a mega data center will work for a small company.

concluSionS

The main take away for com-panies building small data centers is that modular design strategy does not necessarily equate with data center containers. Don’t dismiss modularity simply because it brings to mind in-dustrial-looking ISO containers hauled in by tractor trailers. Modularity is far broader a concept, and many compa-nies—particularly some colocation and wholesale data center service provid-ers—have employed it extensively to maximize their profitability. Modularity combines a right-sizing approach with scalability, allowing a company to focus on current IT demand while maintain-ing the ability to expand quickly and without redesign of an existing facility or construction of a new facility. The benefits of modularity are primarily in the area of capital expenses. Unneeded equipment isn’t purchased for storage until it is needed (an approach that diverts capital from other uses and ul-timately results in lost value). Further-more, storage and data center space is also saved. But in some circumstances, even operating expenses are reduced—particularly when unneeded servers are not deployed and when excess UPS capacity is avoided, thus increasing operating efficiency.

Vendors offer numerous products focusing on meeting the needs of com-panies targeting a modular approach to building their data centers. For inspiration in their efforts, companies designing small facilities can look to colocation and wholesale providers, many of whose business models have encouraged them to employ modularity to meet customer demand as efficiently as possible. n

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FACiLitY Corner


Data Center Ready-Mix

Just Add Powerby jun yAng, pe And pATrick kenny, pe


brief hiSTory

As the digital age progressed, significant advancements in information technology were followed by an increased de-mand for information tech-

nology based services. Many datacenter owners and operators soon faced a rapidly changing consumer environment and an increased demand for space, power and cooling growth at a rate faster than most businesses were prepared to respond to. By the early dot com bubble ages, there was a rush to build to meet the demand.

Post dot com bubble gives us the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. Many compa-nies reacted too quickly in order to meet the increasing demand, resulting in the over build of data center space and infra-structure in the face of the excess supply of data center environments as the dot com bubble burst. Some may speculate that the overbuild was a factor in the demise of some once great companies. For the period immediately afterwards, the industry spent time growing into the over-built data cen-ters with a healthy fear of new construction and rapid deployment.

Fast forward to today, and the demand for IT continues to grow again at a rate that data center owners and opera-tors struggle to keep up with. This growth along with some historical mistakes must have been a contributor to the container-ized revolution that started years ago, and that we continue to see today. Many attribute the efforts of Sun and their Project Blackbox as the start of the rise in notoriety of the data center in a box concept. While Sun may have enhanced the populariza-tion of the technology, portable data center technology had been around for a while.

For industry veterans, bedtime stories of the strange, now seemingly extinct

creature called InfraStruXure Express, one form of a datacenter in a box

developed by APC, are probably not uncommon. Needless to say the data center in a box concept has had its challenges in gaining mass popu-larly. Despite the critics, we see a handful of manufacturers, such as

SGI, HP and Dell that tout the capability of providing such a solution. While perhaps different flavors, the basic concept remains the same, a data center in a box.

benefiTS And chAllengeS

The data center in a box concept pre-sented a tremendous amount of potential benefit. For those looking for immediate space, power, and cooling, the data center in a box presented itself as a very attractive solution. Containerized solutions could be deployed significantly faster than a brick and mortar build, often at a fraction of the equivalent cost of a traditional build. The technology promised immediate turn-key availability of rack space, critical power, and critical cooling.

Early deployment of the containerized technology had its challenges. Solutions that were “generator ready” did not lend itself well to solve solutions for facilities where base building generator systems were nearing or already at capacity. Thanks to manufacturers various manufacturers those solutions have been well developed over the years, and solutions can now be had with this problem solved.

In addition to technical challenges, there was the practical challenge that many of these containers still required human interaction for maintenance activities such as equipment installation, cabling, etc. The nature of these space effective solutions naturally made for configurations that were non-conducive to how data centers were being operated at the time. Racks provided in containerized solutions often did not have the flexibility to deploy a variety of hardware equipment that were required for growth and often limited operators to racked form factor equipment only. In short, the options lacked the flexibility of the traditional data center that owners and operators were seeking.

gAMe chAnging evenTS

During this time, significant develop-ments in the data center market were the game changing events that were further driving growth in this type of deployment

strategy. There are three key, arguably re-lated, events that can be attributed to mak-ing the containerized solution attractive.

1. virtualizationAs data centers moved to virtual

environments, the legacy need to have equipment that was readily available to see and touch was eliminated. The accep-tance of virtualization was the important psychological shift that needed to happen to allow for the widespread implementa-tion of non-location specific architectures. Understand that part of the big revelation that happened with virtualization is that you didn’t need your applications tied to a physical component. Once that psycholog-ical hurdle was overcome, the data center could essentially be anywhere, including sites unseen.

2. cloud computing platformWith cloud computing adoption,

many businesses were able to gain freedom from the requirement for equipment to be located within a specific data center envi-ronment. Virtualization may have led to the critical acceptance of the non-location specific data center deployment concept. This was a critical hurdle to overcome.

3. low cost, high Speed connectivity

During the dot com boom, many telecommunications companies laid down an extensive communication backbone. Advances in technology also allowed for reduction of latency. The result was high speed connectivity at historically low cost points. As an analogy, consider the extensive communications backbone as a series of highways. As highways improved, it allowed cities to develop because the barrier of geographic limitation is reduced by efficient highway systems. Communica-tions backbones do exactly the same thing for information technology. It allows tech-nology to be implemented with reduced geographic limitation. The result was the capability of deploying a containerized data center solution, either on-site or off-site for further flexibility, nearly anywhere quickly and efficiently.

needless to say the data center in a box concept has had its challenges in gaining mass popularly. despite the critics, we see a handful of manufacturers, such as

Sgi, hp and dell that tout the capability of providing such a solution. while perhaps different flavors, the basic concept remains the same, a data center in a box.


co-locATion AlTernATive

With many data center owners and operators clamoring for more space, power, and cooling, it may be hard to under-stand why a data center in a box solution presenting such flexibility did not gain more market share in the then data center market, desperate for more infrastructure. The challenges to implementation were minor and were not show stoppers. But the same drivers that made containerized solutions so attractive also gave competi-tive advantage to an alternate deployment strategy, co-location.

The rapid growth in the infrastructure technology industry and the associated demand in existing data center created the need for rapid growth. Data center owners and operators struggled to design, build, and operate data centers as the growth left a deficiency in human infrastructure. The talent to manage such a large industry undertaking of capacity growth had not yet caught up to the demand for more space, power, and cooling. As a result, businesses could not build net new space and net new infrastructure fast enough. Often, information technology departments were bogged down by trying to address physical infrastructure growth detracting them from their main role of information technology growth, development, and management.

In addition, while not all businesses are internet based, the need for the inter-net, digital information storage, and other aspects of information technology was rapidly becoming a part of every business’s operations. However, many of these single server, local storage operations did not contain the in-house expertise to manage the information technology growth.

The demand of both large enterprise operations and smaller single server opera-tions paved much of the way for the growth of the mega co-location facilities that we are familiar with today. Enterprise opera-tions may require more wholesale data center space, while the smaller needs may be addressed by retailers re-selling rack level or server level space. This allowed the overcoming of a great challenge to rapid growth, the lack of human resources. Information Technology groups within organizations could now focus on the criti-cal IT growth and management, while data

center experts could focus on the design, construction, and operation of the physical infrastructure (uninterruptible power sup-ply systems, emergency generator systems, critical cooling systems). In this new co-location model, a inherent synergy was created. IT groups and managers could focus on the specific issues affecting their area of specialty, while the co-location facilities could focus on the specific issues affecting their area of specialty, namely real

estate, critical power systems, and critical cooling systems. This synergy is further underscored by the long history of reliable operations exhibited by organizations such as 365 Main (now owned by Digital Realty Trust), Equinix, Level 3, and Internap to name a few.

In comparison to a containerized solution, co-location facilities provided data center space that was already designed, built, and operating. Moreover, co-location facilities were available for rapid deploy-ment and immediate occupancy.

Many of the early containerized solu-tions required a high initial capital invest-ment. With the leases, businesses could lease as much or as little space and capacity as required. This offered, in many cases, a higher level of flexibility than container-ized solutions. As businesses needed to run leaner in an increasingly competitive market place, co-location provided the abil-ity to right-size your data center operations minimizing capital investment, smoothing cash flow, and maximizing efficiency in data center spending.

Leases could be executed as fast, if not faster, than the time to implement a containerized solution. In addition, the co-location solution provided space, power, and cooling immediately in the familiar brick and mortar data center form that owners and operators were familiar with. The flexibility to deploy non-racked form factor equipment was provided.

When assessing containerized solu-

tions for space, power, and cooling, it is only natural to assess co-location as a solution. The same technological advances that made containerized solutions viable (virtualiza-tion, cloud computing and low cost, high speed connectivity) opened up the co-loca-tion market as a viable alternative to a data center in a box. If we evaluate co-location as an alternative to a data center in a box, it is not hard to see why co-location became, and in some respects remains, a more popu-

lar solution than a data center in a box. The primary benefits of containerized solutions have been touted as flexibility, low cost, and speed to market. Co-location presented an extremely competitive proposition to a containerized solution.

box, co-locATion, or Self operATed

The bad news is there is no one clear answer. The good news is that there are many viable data center deployment options. While there are proven box and co-location implementations, there are still a lot of successfully self operated data centers.

The success of these self operated data centers rely heavily on a culture of high reliability and high availability, and a focus on the future with a willingness and capability to adjust to the changing times. These facilities often also have significantly high availability requirements. While new generation co-location facilities come close to meeting the associated service level tar-gets of these facilities, when you have op-erations that cannot introduce third party inflicted failure risk (tenants, third party contractors), self operation is often the only guarantee to zero downtime operations. A long established culture of future planning, high reliability and availability operations gives these organizations a long future in self operated facilities for many decades to come.

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if we evaluate co-location as an alternative to a data center in a box, it is not hard to see why co-location

became, and in some respects remains, a more popular solution than a data center in a box.


As some of the larger legacy data cen-ters come to the end of their infrastructure life cycles, box and co-location technolo-gies offer themselves as viable alternatives as self owned and operated facilities ap-proach end of life infrastructure replace-ments and costly facility overhauls.

fuTure of The dATA cenTer in A box

Today, we find the data center in a box concept fighting for a comeback. Similar technological improvements that nearly made the data center in a box concept extinct is helping make contain-erized solutions a comeback. Businesses looking to survive should keep a close watch on emerging technologies such as cloud computing platforms and wireless communication systems (in many respects possibly having a similar impact to data transportation that air travel had to our people transportation industry), that may

eliminate the requirement for expensive and long lead physical communication infrastructure to these data center in a box solutions, that will continue to evolve this containerized solution market.

In their latest forms, the containers often are designed for little to minimal human interface. Some containerized solu-tions are built to tolerate server equipment failure and replacement not at the inside equipment level, rather intended as a whole container replacement. This relatively new implementation of the data center in a box concept has breathed new life into the containerized data center market.

The ready-to-move availability of the data center in a box solutions provide by far greater flexibility than can be attained in nearly any other medium. As the prod-ucts provided by the variety of vendors producing a data center in a box solution, are further developed, we can expect higher levels of reliability, availability, deployment flexibility, energy efficiency. While the use

may not have reached critical mass, it can be said that the development opportunity for these solutions remain strong.

As data centers become increasingly more architected around cloud computing platforms and wireless solutions become the norm , the low-maintenance “micro data centers” become an opportunity for businesses to exercise the opportunity to deploy data center operations without the traditional ties to data center or co-location facilities. These containerized solutions come in a variety of configurations. Most effective solutions are “just add power” while some may require adding power and water (i.e. condenser water or chilled water for HVAC). Only time will tell how these ready-mix solutions for data centers will evolve; but, what is certain is that we will continue to see more development in the containerized solutions as businesses seek competitive edge in innovative solutions such as the data center in a box. n

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Modular and Pre-Fabricated Data Center Infrastructureby gAry cudMore

inTroducTion

The data center has been steadily evolving for the past several years and the trend today is to supply modular or prefabricated infrastructure. The reasons data center owners/operators are turning to this approach are nu-merous, but the main benefits are repeatable design, cost

control, quality control, and flexibility.As owners/operators change the way they envision and

operate their data centers, the more opportunities the design and engineering community will have to support requirements such as extreme flexibility or repeatable design.

Certainly, there is still a substantial focus on reliability, main-tenance, capacity planning, PUE, and gaining efficiencies in all as-pects of data center design and operation. However, the challenge today is delivering extreme flexibility at the most economical price point. Utilizing modular or prefabricated data center infrastruc-

ture allows for data center owners/operators to drive down cost, decrease the construction timeline, and pre-test multiple systems or sub-systems in a single location. All of these benefits help in establishing a repeatable design and infrastructure deployment that improves quality, reliability, cost, and flexibility.

The days of the brick and mortar built-in-place data center are giving way to the new generation of modular and prefabricated data center infrastructure design and just-in-time deployment. The modular design approach can be utilized in many levels of data center infrastructure and subsystems as well as the IT payload. This discussion will focus mainly on the data center infrastructure and its subsystems.

building blockS

To start the process of a modular or prefabricated design the owner/operator has to choose a standard IT payload building

DESiGN Corner


block. This is easier said than done and is critical to the success of the design and deployment of a modular or prefabricated infra-structure deployment. Should the owner/operator choose an IT payload block of 250 KW or go larger – perhaps 500 KW to 1 MW+? The use of analytical tools and modeling is very important to understanding the impact of different sized building blocks on TCO, flexibility, and even redeployment of a prefabricated module. The level of reliability and maintainability will also play a role in what size building blocks are chosen.

The answer lays with the owner/operator and who his or her customers are – whether they are internal to an enterprise data center or retail/wholesale colocation tenants. The owner/operator has to decide on a building block size that allows for flexibility but reduces the possibility for stranded capacity of the infrastructure. This decision affects many aspects of the facility design – the elec-trical system and the mechanical system building blocks must be in synch with the IT payload. This initial discussion with the owner/operator on how the IT payload is delivered and the data center is operated is critical to correctly sizing the infrastructure building blocks. Owners/operators with uncertain day one and future loads

should consider a smaller building block to avoid underutilization and stranded capacity. The IT payload and data center infrastruc-ture must be married together and operate as a single system to achieve maximum flexibility and utilization of the infrastructure.

how ModulAr?

Depending on the owner’s/operator’s philosophy, the modu-lar approach could include the physical building itself, the IT server POD, containers, skid mounted electrical systems, modular chiller plants (MCP), other sub-systems and even all the above in one facility.

The building itself can be a series of precast concrete cells designed to the specific geographic requirements for seismic, wind, or snow loading. The design may incorporate movable/reusable exterior panels and allow for expansion and repurposing of the space from IT data halls to infrastructure support equipment or even containers.

Owners/operators are now requesting a design that allows for the building infrastructure to be returned to a broader IT use. For example, suppose a facility was designed to support a high density user of 15 KW to 25 KW per cabinet. When the owner/operator is ready to repurpose or sell the facility, he wants the infrastructure to support only 5 KW per cabinet. The modular skid mounted infrastructure could be relocated to a new site, used to gain reliability or capacity, or sold to a third party.

The site or facility can be designed to support a container-ized data center solution. The supporting infrastructure can be a sub-system of the container or the site/building central infrastruc-ture. Each design decision impacts the types of systems that meet the operator’s requirements and that can be integrated; not all manufacturers’ models can be integrated into a holistic system and oftentimes extensive modeling and testing are required to develop a modular or prefabricated design.

Electrical infrastructure such as switchgear, transformers, and UPS systems can be skid mounted, tested, and shipped as a single component. This is becoming common practice with colocation owners/operators and large enterprise users.

ModulAr chiller plAnTS And oTher MechAnicAl SySTeMS

In the past, chiller plants were engineered from scratch. In other words, multiple components from numerous manufacturers were sourced and installed in the field. Chiller plants are very com-plex and it takes a very deep understanding to design and integrate all the components into a high efficiency plant with capacity and flexibility for the future.

Today’s MCPs are engineered by the OEM and fabricated in their plant. This newer approach has allowed the MCP to be completely engineered as a holistic system. The MCP has become incredibly efficient, quality control is now at the factory instead of the field, and cost has been driven down. The time to install once the MCP is on site has been reduced to days instead of weeks or months and less testing or commissioning is required than a field-built plant. The MCP is shipped on a skid, is UL or ETL approved, and requires no inspection from the local JHA. The MCP enclosure


can be configured to have future internal space or be ganged together in the future for capacity or reliability.

Since ASHRAE TC 9.9 widened the temperature and humidity bands a new generation of mechanical systems have been introduced to data centers – adiabatic and free cooling approaches are highly desirable for their energy conservation. The development of these systems has now become modular in how they support re-dundancy and future growth. The internal components are designed to be redundant and aid in a modular design approach. These systems are completely fabricated as a single system and tested in the plant before being shipped to the site.

Other modular approaches for data center mechanical systems include in-row cooling and rear door heat exchangers – both of these systems require future plan-ning for piping pathways for either water or refrigerant and the refrigerant pumping station requires floor space as well. These systems can be deployed on a cabinet or pod basis and offer flexibility when density in a cabinet or row changes. As mentioned previously all design decisions have an im-pact – the in-row cooler can be configured for changes in density and redundancy, the rear door heat exchanger is used for high density applications and becomes a single point of failure (as the heat exchanger sup-ports a single cabinet and has no redun-dancy). When it fails the cabinet it supports is lost so risk analysis and MTBF are very important. Does your IT strategy consider and allow for the failure of a cabinet or even pod?

elecTricAl SySTeMS

It is now commonplace to see pre-fabricated electrical skids show up on data center project sites. Owners/operators as well as engineering firms and contractors are developing these prefabricated systems to meet the unique operating requirements of their customers.

The modular approach may include an engine-coupled DG and UPS sys-tem (DRUPS), which can greatly reduce footprint and increase efficiency. These components are integrated and tested as a single system and, again, saves time and money during testing and commissioning. This type of system is best suited for larger installations and bigger building blocks of 1-2 MW+ and often medium voltage site distribution. Keep in mind that these sys-

tems often have lead times that do not align with fast track project schedules.

Electrical skids containing MSWG, UPS systems, and sub-distribution are be-coming very common. The key is correctly sizing the building blocks and developing a repeatable design. The advantage of having a repeatable design is that it is possible to accurately predict cost, time to fabricate and install, and have a much higher level of quality control. Factory witness testing (FWT) is much more productive as mul-tiple systems are tested as a single system in a controlled environment – issues that arise during testing are mediated on the plant floor.

Distribution to the server cabinet is now delivered via Busway. The Busway is modular and is pre-engineered and in-stalled quickly vs. a traditional conduit and conductor installation.

Rack mounted UPS systems are another modular approach to a traditional larger central UPS system. The rack mount-ed system can provide more redundancy and modules added just in time as the IT load grows or more reliability is required. Once again, every design decision has an impact. With a rack mounted UPS system a UPS technician will perform maintenance or add modules in the data center or a live cabinet.

SuMMAry

The modular or prefabricated design and delivery approach to data centers has become commonplace and is being done worldwide. Owners/operators want to have an accurate understanding of cost and time to market – using a repeatable, pre-engineered design ensures this. Having these critical systems prefabricated in a

controlled environment provides for the highest quality of workmanship, cost con-trol, and production scheduling.

It is important to understand that although these pre-fabricated systems may have been tested at the plant or fabricator, all the systems must be tested together as a single holistic system to ensure the data center critical infrastructure operates as designed.

Every owner’s/operator’s require-ments are unique. It is paramount that the design and engineering team understands the IT strategy and how the data center will be operated before they can develop a modular or prefabricated design for the critical infrastructure. n

about the author: Mr. Cudmore has been an industry expert in the engineering and construction of high reliability data centers for the past 28 years. During this time, he has completed projects in Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the Unites States.Mr. Cudmore has been a subject matter expert on behalf of IBM, Dell, HP, and numerous Fortune 500 companies around the world. Gary Cudmore – HCCPrincipal – Data Center [email protected]

about deerns america: Deerns is an MEP engineering consulting company founded in 1928 in the Netherlands. With 500 engineers worldwide and offices in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and the United States, we deliver innovative and sustainable designs for data center owners/operators worldwide.www.deernsamerica.com

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EDA Vendor Takes Its Own Advice on Data Center Designby dAvid clArk

DESiGN Corner

The field of data center design has become more complex than ever. The past decade’s tremendous increases in power density (upwards of 500%) in server racks have compounded the cooling challenges, and moving air—both hot and cold—is Job One for data center architects. As a result, thermal and flow simulation tools have become indispensable in the design of modern large-scale data centers. Simulations on pc screens supplant mockups and scale models, displaying virtual environments and timely, accurate predictions of flow behavior. Modeling and simulation together can enable designers to run “scenarios” to their hearts’ content at a minimal cost in time and effort.


chArTering A projecT, chooSing The ToolS

Mentor Graphics (Wilsonville, Oregon) is a leader in the electronic design automation (EDA) field, with products that span applications ranging from integrated circuit design to automotive wir-ing. The company is building two centralized data

centers, one in Oregon and one in Shannon, Ireland, to consoli-date the resources of more than 20 local centers. The decision to build was driven by the steady, costly growth in the company’s overall server heat load, which has risen by about 33% per year. At present the Shannon data center is in production and the Wilson-ville data center is under construction.

Early in the development of the Oregon center, the Mentor design team concluded that the project’s mission was to design an effective cooling architecture and then form the building’s configuration around that. While there were some basic guidelines

to define the size and shape of the edifice, the details of ducting, venting, and internal floor plans were driven by the servers’ needs.

Not surprisingly, the design team turned to the company’s own FloVENT airflow modeling product for the critical evalu-ation and validation steps. This tool uses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technology to analyze proposals relating to room volume, equipment positioning, cooling airflows, duct sizes, etc.

cfd SoluTionS on The engineer’S deSk

CFD has its origins in deeply complex mathematical equations developed about 200 years ago. Of course, CFD today is computer-ized. The simulation subject (in this case, the data center itself) is gridded into many thousands of very small cells that are analyzed individually and synthesized into a composite flow/thermal view. Figure 1 shows such a grid superimposed on a temperature slice map of a raised-floor HVAC concept. Variable cell sizing provides



higher resolution in specific areas such as the server rack interiors. Until recently, designing a building’s air and thermal flow

meant making estimates and judgments based on experience, and then submitting the design to an external specialist for CFD analysis. While that approach can certainly deliver the needed

accuracy, it takes time—potentially weeks—for each round of evaluation. Today the process is evolving: forward-thinking orga-nizations are bringing CFD services in-house, assembling teams in which staff designers can perform flow analysis on their own PCs and rapidly model design alternatives. In the development of the Mentor data centers, in-house CFD tools provided reliable thermal and flow data that guided engineers in proof-testing new ideas.

preSSure And TeMperATure: inSepArAble

The decision about the basic air circulation approach for the server rooms illustrates the benefit of performing flow analysis locally. At least four schemes were considered. Among these was a traditional raised-floor architecture as well as a dropped-ceiling design.

The raised floor simply did not suffice. A typical 2 ft. floor-ing system normally cools equipment far less powerful than today’s 10 kW server racks, and CFD studies predicted pressure problems under the floor. The raised floor should function as a plenum that regulates pressure and distributes air efficiently. But the volume beneath the floor tiles was not sufficient to act as a plenum, with the result that air couldn’t reach all the server racks uniformly. To correct this it would be necessary to increase the floor’s height appreciably, which would add to its already-expen-sive cost by as much as 28%.

Next, the team studied a dropped-ceiling (suspended ceiling return) design. In this configuration the hot air from the serv-ers would travel through a chimney system to a plenum space formed by the ceiling itself, and onward to rooftop coolers. Again the plenum was meant to regulate and stabilize the air pressure and again its size became a problem. A plenum of sufficient capacity would constrain the ceiling height in the server room, and the remaining room volume wouldn’t allow the pressurized incoming air to distribute evenly. Figure 2 compares a CFD pres-sure “slice” with an equivalent temperature contour slice, both spanning the room at the 6 ft. height of the server racks.

The simulation quickly revealed troubling areas of high heat (the deepest red color in the temperature plot) in the “cold” aisles, namely aisles 1, 3, 5, and 7. These deficiencies were attributable to the uneven pressures across the room. Pending further analysis of the costs and performance of the dropped ceiling approach, the team moved on to study other alternatives.

cApTuring hoT Air

Two more methods, both involving confinement of the hot air leaving the server racks, were evaluated. The “hot aisle containment” technique forcibly confines the air in an entire aisle between two rows of racks and directs it toward an exhaust duct. This design was examined but abandoned after CFD analysis revealed that the aisle was not just hot, but actually hot enough—up to 120° F—to impact a technician’s ability to perform routine maintenance on the servers.

Ultimately a chimney system was chosen. In this arrange-ment, chimneys connect directly to individual server racks, draw-ing heated air from them and guiding it to a collector duct and then into a return plenum whose dimensions can be tested and validated with the CFD tool. Figure 3 illustrates this layout. Hav-ing previously encountered the problem with heat levels in the

Figure 1: Raised-floor simulation with superimposed CFD grid

Figure 2: Dropped-ceiling proposal showing non-uniform pressure and temperature distribution in a room with 10-ft. ceiling height.


hot aisle design, the team ran a CFD simulation of the chimney/collector approach. A range of scenarios was tested, including a worst-case example in which the rear doors of several server racks were open for maintenance at the same time. The results confirmed first that the aisle temperatures were much lower (and safer), ap-proximately 80° F, and secondly that server racks with their doors open still fed at least 66% of their hot exhaust air into the chimney. Both findings supported the efficacy of the chimney/collector architecture.

Further CFD simulations determined that cabinet and duct interface leakage would need to be held to 5% or less to avoid recirculation of heated return air and consequent hot spots. These findings were folded into the design specification.

Equally important were the tests that established the rooftop unit (RTU) temperature set points. Simulations showed that with an RTU supply temperature of 72oF and the uniform cooling performance the chimney system promised, the average rack inlet temperature would be a safe 74oF. To achieve this same performance in current Mentor data centers, the supply temperature must be set to 58oF! Working with a higher supply temperature means the RTUs fans can run at slower fan speeds, using less energy than otherwise would be required.

MeeTing heAT hAlf-wAy

Evaluation of the chimney/collector design continued with “what-if ” simulation scenarios aimed at refining individual ele-ments. The CFD plots in Figure 4 depict two alternatives for the return plenum layout.

Both views express pressure in Pascals (Pa), though there is a sub-stantial difference in range. Clearly,

the server outlets at the near end of “A” are fighting a tremendously higher pressure gradient in the collector duct than are those in “B.” Moreover, the placement of the return plenum in “A” is actually increasing the pressure differential by relieving pressure on the servers nearest to it.

Scenario “B” depicts the design changes that resulted from the conclusions in Scenario “A;” the return plenum is now in the middle of the collector duct span. There is a much more uniform pressure gradient over the length of the collector duct, and the overall pressures are lower. This is consistent with the project’s design guideline to move air in a relatively slow and controlled fashion to remove heat.

Notice the blue pressure vortex in the lower corner of the ple-num in “B.” These indicate an undesirable recirculation zone that causes a pressure drop that must be counteracted by the RTU fans. Further CFD experiments produced a duct design with angled corners that minimized this disturbance.

concluSion

The Mentor Graphics data center project is still underway, as the construction team builds the datacenter in Wilsonville, and the team refines the HVAC control algorithms based on further CFD studies and real-time data from the Shannon datacenter. The CFD-based “what-if ” development path has proven its worth consistent-ly. Designers have been able to predict and fine-tune the air flow in room-sized environments, and then use this information not only to refine the data center’s architecture but also to scale ducts and plan accurately for HVAC and electrical capacity requirements. n

about the author: David Clark is the Facilities Critical Infrastructure Manager at Mentor Graphics Corporation. The author would like to thank Derrick Small and John Wozniak of Mentor Graphics for their work on the simulations and images described in this article.

Figure 3: Initial layout of the chimney/collector design

Figure 4: A centered return plenum ensured consistent pressures throughout the collector duct.


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There iS no one AnSwer

some confusion still abounds when discussing modular data center design vs containerized data centers.

In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions, a containerized solution is a self-contained module consisting of compute, storage and networking – all packaged into a standard ISO shipping container. Modular designs consist of a component-based design assembled on-site. Sounds like a clear distinction, but the fact is the lines are blur-ring between the two.

A containerized data center is inher-ently modular, but a modular data center is not necessarily containerized.

Modularity comes from the ability to build in discrete units, be that in terms of power, cooling, space or some other factor, and also to add on to or expand the data center without risk of interruption to the existing critical load, or excessive premi-ums of construction between Phase 1 and future phases.

No matter what your definition, it’s clear that each bring its own efficiencies and business benefits to the table.

But for companies, the bottom line is to optimize the data center and save money. Analyst firm The451 Group believes you can get as much as 30 percent savings on CapEx from leveraging the modular ap-proach. That’s pretty important when you consider the cost of powering the infra-structure. As rising energy costs become the norm, companies are looking for any opportunity to cut dollars.

But what’s driving these extreme costs? Simply put, it’s the explosion of in-formation that creates bigger centers which demand more power.

iT’S The dATA, STupid

As data centers attempt to tackle the growing amount of data, cloud migration strategies, and the explosion of tablets and smart phones, new investments in bigger infrastructures are a given. According to a recent article in USA Today:

“(Gartner) estimates $22 billion will

be spent on new centers worldwide this year, after the growth sputtered during the reces-sion. Data centers are increasingly in vogue as demand for digital data explodes with the popularity of cloud computing, tablets and smart phones. Google, Facebook and Apple are among the large tech companies that built their data centers in rural areas to save on land and power costs.”

Analyst firm IDC annually reports on the “Digital Universe” to keep track of in-formation growth. Probably the most com-prehensive yearly report on data expansion, the study offers a unique perspective on the world of data.

The 2011 report found the total amount of information to be created and replicated was expected to exceed 1.8 zettabytes – an increase over 2010’s figure of 1 zettabyte. The study reports this volume was expected to more than double every two years. This translates to a universe of information growing nearly 50 times by 2020.

Remember, it’s this data growth that’s driving bigger data centers, increasing capi-tal costs and forcing managers to explore

DESiGN Corner

Evolving Equipment Trends for Modular Designby eric holzworTh

There’s an awful lot of fud (fear, uncertainty, doubt) in the market concerning packaging or construction of data center infrastructure components. it’s no wonder – the maximization of efficient capital in deploying new data center space is one of the most difficult decisions a data center manager can make. At the center is the debate surrounding containerized vs. modular solutions. half-truths and myths abound, creating confusion and preventing many from understanding the benefits of each. The bottom line? Managers really need to do their homework to know what’s right for them.

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both containerized and modular solutions to gain efficiencies. So let’s dive deeper into the options.

A cloSer look

According to Gartner analyst David Cappuccio, traditional data center design is in a constant state of transition. Cappuccio believes modular data centers are the next evolutionary stage of containers:

He states, “Modular data centers have evolved from the basic premise of containers – that, if designed appropriately, extreme levels of performance could be attained in data centers using a consistent design technique, and capital costs could be reduced by standardizing components, construction and the supply chain.”

In order to meet the demands of modularity in the data center, the market has demanded – and the equipment manu-facturers have responded – with technology that is modular in nature, which can be incorporated easily into a modular design.

It might be useful to break down each component of a modular design to see what it takes to implement a workable infrastructure.

drilling down

There are several components to ex-plore when investigating a modular design. The main area of focus centers on both Power and Cooling. And each has their challenges.

The basic formula for powering a data center includes a series of unique elements, including: Distribution Switchgear, Gener-ation Equipment, UPS Systems, Power Dis-tribution Units (PDUs) and Remote Power Panels (RPPs). Inherently, the downstream area of power distribution – including size and design of equipment -- are inherently modular. When more power circuits are required, a PDU or RPP is deployed. It is at the upstream level where equipment manufacturers have become more adept at creating modularity.

generators: Many owners are moving away from

parallel generator plants to conserve costs and eliminate the single point-of-failure at the generator paralleling switchgear (GPS). This design forces decisions at lower levels in the distribution, such as the use of single module UPS systems and static transfer switches. However, for those installation

that require a parallel plant in order to produce a larger block of emergency power, many of the generator manufacturers have developed paralleling controls that are on board the generator itself, allowing the gen-erators to control themselves in a master slave scenario, and parallel on to a common “dumb” switchboard. This eliminates much of the upfront costs of the GPS, and addi-tional generators with their own on-board controls can be added as needed, along with a simple addition of another breaker section in the dumb board.

Switchgear: Switchgear in itself is hard to make

modular. It needs to be specified and constructed with its ultimate bus ratings installed upfront, and adding additional sections is difficult unless the board can be taken out of service, or tie breakers are included in the original construction (at a cost, naturally). However, the switchgear manufacturers have made it easier to add breakers to existing line-ups, by in recent years developing front accessible draw-out switchgear that can fit in tight spaces, with-out the need for rear access. This at least allows for the possibility of adding breakers to meet future power requirements in a modular fashion.

upS Systems: Perhaps some of the bigger break-

throughs in modular design at an equip-ment level has come from the UPS manufacturers. For years some vendors offered small kVA frames into which could be added power and battery modules as the load grew, and/or to provide a level of redundancy. Recently, many of the major manufacturers have expanded this concept in to larger frame sizes in excess of 1MW. This allows the owner to start small with a frame and a select amount of power modules and batteries, and grow as the load grows by adding modules. In most cases this can be accomplished while the load is maintained in bypass. However, proper commissioning the newly expanded system can be a challenge if an alternate path to the load is not available.

Just as important as power is the method used to cool the system. Accord-ing to Booz & Co., nearly 40 percent of energy consumed in the typical data center comes from cooling systems. Driven by chillers and air handlers, this function has quite possibly made the most aggressive strides towards data center modularity.

chillers: Historically, modular chillers were

used to “right size” plants where facility loading is cyclical. This means a chiller plant is able to have active modules with the ability to change and adapt as load size moves. Unlike older data centers, it is es-sential that today’s systems are both energy efficient and scalable for future loading. The modular chiller plant provides an infi-nite amount of versatility and redundancy – with the ability to expand and contract as necessary.

Air handling Systems: Perhaps the biggest strides in modu-

larity and scalability of cooling systems come from air handling systems. As computer room units shrink to several kW, they can now be placed in row adjacent to computer cabinets. This drives reduced fan power to deliver proper airflow at the face of the IT equipment. It also creates higher supply and return air temperatures. Both dramatically impact power consumption - helping to create dramatic improvements in overall cooling efficiency and smaller building blocks for greater flexibility.

SeTTing The record STrAighT

There’s still confusion surrounding the container versus modular debate as companies struggle to determine the right fit. In the end, everyone’s looking for the same thing – lower costs and higher ef-ficiencies. Analysts generally believe that modular data centers are the future, and recent advancements have made it more possible than ever to get there. But before taking the plunge, it’s critical to assess your current and future needs – building a data center capable of growing as needed.

It’s time to cut through the myths and half-truths and find out what design works for you. There’s simply too much at stake. n

about the author: Eric Holzworth is COO of Rubicon Professional Services, a mission-critical construction management firm that takes an owner’s approach to the design and building of data centers, encompassing every complex aspect from design, power load, energy management/ conservation, equipment procurement/ integration and even financing.

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Rack Power Distribution Manage power consumption.

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Solving Data Center

Complexity through a common IT Language



Solving Data Center

Complexity through a common IT Language

for data center managers surveying today’s iT landscape, the view can be daunting. Across a vista dotted with cloud offerings, virtual servers, employee-owned devices, inherited and acquired assets, and disparate systems, iT leaders see a murky horizon, one in which it is increasingly difficult to determine exactly what applications the data center is running and how to manage them. it’s a complex backdrop for any organization, and it requires forward-looking technology professionals to adopt solutions that reduce that complexity.

by conSTAnTin delivAniS



The typical mid-size data center has hundreds to thousands of physical servers, storage devices, networking tools, IP-enabled uninterruptible power supplies

(UPS) and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) devices, to name a few. If we look below that physical layer, the same data center has thousands of virtual machines, software installations, versions, editions and releases. Beneath that software layer, we see that the definitions of those versions or editions or releases are inconsis-tent. For example, the same Oracle database can be defined as “Oracle 11g,” or “Oracle version 11.2.0.2,” or “ORA_11_2_EE.” How can IT track and manage such inconsisten-cies? This is only one version of one prod-uct from one vendor. Oracle has 10,391 and 422 software product releases and hardware models, respectively; IBM has 13,078 and 64,862; HP 7,982 and 64,036. And these are software product releases and hardware models from only three vendors. Since there are more than 12,000 IT vendors, you can see the challenge that is slowly bringing IT to its knees.

In the meantime, IT executives are spending millions of dollars attempting to address this problem with solutions such as software asset management and configu-ration management databases (CMDB). However, unless the fundamental issue of normalizing all the data to a common language is addressed, such solutions will continue to fail to deliver the value they promise. In the example above, the Oracle database should be normalized and referred to with the official vendor name: Oracle Database version 11.2 Enterprise Edition. This normalized representation should be provided regardless of whether it comes from a data center discovery system like HP-DDMI, IBM TADDM, BMC ADDM, BladeLogic Server Automation or from a purchasing system. Unless enter-prises adopt a common language for IT, ini-

tiatives such as migrations, consolidations, application rationalizations, audit support and attestations will continue to be manual, expensive, cumbersome and error prone.

four poSSible fixeS

Before we embark on a discussion of how to attain such a normalized view of a data center, let’s examine what possible op-tions exist to fix the data center complexity problem:

IT could try to simplify everything by buying all of its software from one

vendor and all of its hardware from an-other. This would, in theory, be the easiest way to control the amount of data related to IT assets. But here’s the problem with this approach: there is no vendor capable of providing everything an organization needs. Even if there were such a magical provider, the data center would first have to dump all of its legacy infrastructure and ap-plications, which would be cost-prohibitive and disruptive to the business. The reality is that most organizations need to have a variety of technologies and systems, and different vendors provide that variety.

IT could deal with complexity by adopting more management tools.

There are certainly plenty of vendors eager to sell them, but these tools don’t integrate existing systems. In many cases, they spit out more data – not actionable informa-tion. In truth, most management tools exacerbate the problem they purport to

solve.

This is the do-nothing approach, which might seem

harmless. It is not. The IT leader who ignores the problem of disparate systems and lack of information risks spending 80 percent of his budget just keeping systems running. IT will not be able to provide the business agility that is expected from data center leaders.

We should label this approach “the only option,” since all the others come

with significant drawbacks and fail to solve the core problem. Data center leaders must refer to and manage their different systems in a consistent manner, and that requires the adoption of a common IT language and normalizing the data against it.

inTroducing A coMMon lAnguAge To your dATA cenTer

Normalizing your data center to a common language typically entails either two or three steps, depending on your size and maturity level:

Establish a refer-ence catalog that includes a tax-onomy of all IT

vendors with their associated products, models, versions, and editions, as well as attributes such as software support levels, software compatibility (i.e., Windows 7 compatibility), end of life dates, hardware consumption, etc. A typical reference cata-log will look as shown in the tables below.

Normalize your management tools such as HP-DDMI, IBM TCM, BMC

ADDM or BladeLogic Server Automation, where you filter out unimportant data and correct vendor names, models, editions

opTIon 1

opTIon 2

opTIon 3

opTIon 4

sTep 1

sTep 2

SOFTWAREManufacturer Oracle Oracle Oracle Adobe Adobe Hewlett-Packard Company Hewlett-Packard CompanyFamily Hyperion Fusion Middleware Acrobat Macromedia Compaq OpenViewProduct Database Planning WebLogic Server Acrobat Coldfusion MX Visual Fortran Network Node Manager (NNM)Version 11.2 9.2 10.0 10.1 7.0 6.5 8.0Edition Enterprise Standard Premium Pro Enterprise Professional Starter

HARDWAREManufacturer Hewlett-Packard Company Hewlett-Packard Company Oracle Oracle Lenovo Group Lenovo GroupProduct Compaq Business Desktop PC Compaq Business Desktop PC Fire Blade Server Fire Server ThinkPad Edge 13 Notebook ThinkCentre A70zModel d530 CMT d530 SSF B100s 480R 01962QM 0401A7GProfile Tower Small Form Factor Blade Rack Mounted Laptop Desktop


and versions, and then organize them against your reference catalog tax-onomy. At the same time, enrich that data with relevant attributes such as support levels, end of life information or compatibility.

Use the refer-ence catalog and empower your enterprise archi-

tects and your sourcing department to define standards and drive purchasing.

The coMMon lAnguAge of iT in AcTion – uSe cASeS

Software asset management: There is financial incentive to

make this a priority. One large financial services company expanded its service automation module (SAM) program to normalize the software inventories from its BMC ADDM and IBM TADDM discovery. The ability to gain a con-solidated, single-pane view across both vendors’ products provided operational depth and a common representation of product lifecycles that helped the orga-nization make effective asset succession decisions.

Application rationalization: An interesting rationalization use

case comes from a consulting firm that specializes in helping Oracle customers optimize their software license spend. It performed a software normaliza-tion and discovery effort at a Midwest energy company to right-size server licenses.

The firm found that its client was under-licensed by more than $10 million. By normalizing its licenses, the firm was able to consolidate its client from smaller systems to larger ones, take greater advantage of virtualiza-tion and cut the true-up bill by half. A secondary benefit was a 30 percent reduction in operational costs through consolidation to fewer physical servers with uniform software stacks for easier administration.

data center consolidations and mergers and acquisitions:

Even companies with award-winning datacenters struggle with these enormous tasks. One such company using a reference catalog discovered as

many as 3,000 unmanaged servers on the premises after bringing multiple en-tities together. The team achieved a 66 percent reduction in space and power footprint in infrastructure consolidation projects and an approximate five-fold increase in computing capacity with this information.

The reference catalog was able to discover gains by identifying older, lower density technologies not compat-ible with virtualization and targeting them for upgrades or decommissioning. The same reference catalog was able to track the physical dimensions, power consumption and heat dissipation for servers, helping identify less efficient servers.

The vAlue of A coMMon iT lAnguAge

Today’s enterprises are dealing with a serious problem in their IT environments; they are drowning in IT-related data. The data is produced by IT management tools, purchasing systems and planning solutions, and it is discon-nected, inconsistent and incomplete. This prevents teams from making timely and confident business decisions.

A comprehensive IT reference catalog is the first step in addressing the inconsistencies and gaps in vendor data. Normalization is the second step to filter, correct vendor names, versions, editions and models, and add catego-rization, relevant external data, and more. This common language enables a complete, accurate and consistent view of the data center.

Adopting a common IT language supports data center consolidation and allows data center professionals to more effectively harness information for deci-sion-making. With a coherent method to survey the entire data center, teams can deliver and interpret technology information, support smarter business strategies and lower their costs. n

about the author: Constantin Delivanis is CEO and co-founder of BDNA Corporation, creator of Technopedia, the world’s largest IT reference catalog. With more than 450,000 hardware and software products listed from over 11,000 vendors, Technopedia delivers information and technology that enables the common language of IT.

sTep 3

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With the rapid expan-sion and adoption of Internet-based comput-ing – cloud computing, if you will – smart com-

panies are taking advantage of this and are enabling employees to work more efficiently by embracing the mobility trend.

But to realize potential gains in productivity and efficiency, some significant challenges need to be overcome. The un-stoppable trend of an increasingly mobile fo-cused workforce presents serious challenges to application access and security. Whether companies set device standards or BYOD (bring your own device) dominates, these issues are real. While business managers and employees see the benefit of integrating tablets, laptops and smartphones into their workday, how do IT personnel enable a sales force, executive team or field support group to successfully use all of these disparate de-vices without an overhaul of the enterprise application portfolio? These challenges exist even when a company controls and approves mobile devices, but with BYOD they are even more complex.

According to Gartner, in its Predicts 2012 research report, the IT landscape is changing dramatically, with cloud and mobility as the driving forces. As outlined in the report, today’s workforce expects “to get access to personal, work, and business applications and data from any device, anytime and anywhere.” That is becoming a huge expectation for IT to fulfill, since IT groups are no longer in the driver seat as employees increasingly use an array of smartphones, tablets and laptops.

How does IT, using a sales team as an example, ensure connectivity and inter-activity for these mobile device users to existing enterprise resource applications (ERP) or customer relationship manage-ment (CRM) systems housed on existing backend systems, possibly a mainframe? The common IT preferred route of replac-ing, modernizing or otherwise enhancing the target application cannot accommodate the need. The mobility trend is ahead of an enterprise application’s capabilities. A solu-tion is needed now, and it needs to be one that does not negatively impact daily work.

This is no simple task. IT departments

must find a way to bridge the gap between the new technologies and the older applica-tions that were never designed to support mobile devices and tablets, and have no concept of this new wave. This is especially challenging for organizations that secure critical data on a mainframe system or utilize legacy host-based applications, with long-standing obstacles to integration. Combine these challenges with the often whole-hearted adoption by those at the executive level who see real potential for increased productivity, the urgency for IT to find a solution is pegging the “we need it now” meter.

buT how?

The trend for tablets and smartphones will only escalate, and the devices needing support will only become more diverse. Today we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Yet the applications we run our businesses on, applications which cannot be changed quickly, but are of strategic im-portance, will have to be accounted for and used by these new and continuously chang-

it BUSIneSS

True mobility is bringing about a significant change in the way business gets done. It started with managers, directors, and executives using newer devices they bought themselves and wanted to use in meetings and on the road. Now, any number of individuals across the enterprise can be seen using tablets and a variety of smartphones to conduct business – employees are simply using their own devices.

BYOD and the Impact on IT by ron nunAn


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© 2012 Corning Cable Systems LLC

32 | THE DATA CENTER JOURNAL www.datacenterjournal.com© 2012, Belden Inc.

Belden knows fi ber.

One Enterprise.One Infrastructure.One Partner.

Thinking about deploying fi ber to support your needs in virtualization and cloud computing?

Talk to Belden. We have decades of experience in fi ber infrastructure design and product development. Our comprehensive family of fi ber-optic products has been designed for end-to-end high performance and ease of use. We know network architectures and how to optimize a fi ber-optic cabling infrastructure for maximum performance and value.

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ing devices. Fortunately, the role middleware played in the earlier days of application integration can have an immediate impact. And by finding a class of middleware inte-gration services that offers control over UI presentation as well as connectivity, IT can say yes to the mobility trend. Middleware is the bridge that can take the highly rigid world of enterprise class applications and shield them from the highly volatile needs of mobile cloud-based computing.

IT must address this older inventory of applications that knows nothing about the modern day requirements, it must do it soon, and it must do it in a way that can change as continuously as the needs of the mobile user change. Think of it as the Wild West, with IT thrashing about with various concepts and ideas trying to arrive at a solu-tion. It’s a task for which without something to sit in the middle, they don’t have a good solution. This is one of the biggest changes and challenges for mass-requirement com-puting that we’ve seen in a long time. In re-ality, it is not just a new device, it is actually a set of changing devices that employees will switch to throughout their workday – we are seeing a shift to multi-device computing.

The good news is that many middle-ware solutions recognize the problem and are adapting their wares to bridge the divide. Some solutions even allow raw access to any existing systems without any require-ment for the IT staff to rebuild, modify or endanger the backend or legacy systems, or necessarily homogenize the types of devices the various forces are employing. And the better middleware options allow à la carte additions to immediate access. This allows IT to provide mobile access now, but give them the added capability to enhance and tailor the mobile experience as time permits or as IT resources free up.

To avoid serious disruption, IT groups should look for cloud-enabling solutions that can deal with critical business data without modifying the mainframe applica-tion in any way. Additionally, they should look for a system that runs on a middleware, PC-based server, or that communicates with the mainframe (or other back-end host) through its standard protocols. And finally, IT should look for a solution that will do everything from auto generating the mobile UI to crafting web services to create truly customized mobile experiences.

While it might seem that a solu-tion of this magnitude would be too large and daunting, it’s not. The new world will include the ability to integrate, expose and control access to mainframe applications, without risk, leaving mainframe applications untouched and business logic remaining in force. The right solution will enable your mainframe to become a back-end to your own data integration cloud, all for less time, cost and risk. n

about the author: Ron Nunan is a chief strategist and senior product manager for the Attachmate Corporation’s mainframe integration products, playing a central role in the company’s product development and applied technology solutions. He also has worked in the financial/accounting software industry and was a systems specialist, providing architectural support on enterprise class IBM-centric solutions. He can be reached at [email protected]. To read more about mainframe integration, visit Ron’s blog Application Integration.

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YOUR tUrn

recently while at EMCworld in Las Vegas (Thanks btw to EMC who covered coach air-fare and 3 nights hotel) I had the opportunity along with

group of other industry analysts and advi-sors to have a series of small group meeting sessions with key EMC leadership.

These sessions included time with Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer Joe Tucci, Chair-men of VCE Michael Capellas (who is also on the Cisco Board of Directors), President and Chief Operating Officer, EMC Infor-mation Infrastructure and Cloud Services Howard Elias, President and Chief Operat-ing Officer, EMC Information Infrastruc-ture Products Pat Gelsinger, and Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Jeremy Burton.

Joe Tucci is always fun to listen and engage with in small groups and conveys a cordial confidence when you meet face to face. Howard Elias who is now head-ing up the services business talked about walking the talk with services, public and private cloud including what EMC is doing internally. Michael Capellas had some good insight into what he is doing with VCE, along with his role on the Cisco BOD. Pat Gelsinger had some interesting points however seemed a bit more reserved than in earlier sessions. Jeremy Burton who is normally associated with the effective marketing company or everything movie campaigns at EMC did not use any back-drops, visual aids, theatrics or Vegas style entertainment during his session.

Of the above-mentioned executives,

the one that impressed me the most, and talking with other analysts/advisors had similar perspectives was Jeremy Burton. I have seen and heard him talk before in live and virtual venues along with what he is doing to focus EMC messaging and themes.

A common comment and theme in talking with other analysts and advisors was that in five minutes, Jeremy did more to advance, clarify, articulate and explain who EMC is, what they are doing now and for the future.

Trust was one of the themes of the EMCworld event as it pertains to collabo-rating with vendors and service providers as well as consultants, advisors and others. Trust is also important for going to the cloud on a public or private basis. It is easy to talk about trust however, it is also something that is earned and is important to keep up and protect. Normally given some of the stigma associated with market-ing and or sales, trust too often becomes a punch line or term tossed around with skepticism, cynicism or empty promises. The reason I bring trust up in this discus-sion was that in Jeremy’s interaction with those in the room, whether others realized it or not, he was working on planting the seeds and establishing the basis for trust.

Does that mean there is automatic trust now in anything that EMC or their marketing organization says or more so than what heard from other organizations? Perhaps some will automatically take what is heard and go with that as gospel however, they may be doing that already. For others who are skeptical by default and do their

homework, analysis, research and other re-lated tasks, they may be more likely to give the benefit of the doubt vs. automatically questioning everything looking for multiple confirmations and added fact checking.

As for me, I generally take what any vendor or their pundits say with a grain of salt giving benefit of doubt where appli-cable unless trust has been previously im-pacted. In the case of EMC, I generally take what they say with a grain of salt. However, a level of trust and confidence can make validating what they say sometimes easier than with others. This is in part due to knowing where to go internally for details and information including NDA based material and the good job their analyst rela-tions team and other group do on building and keep up relationships.

Does this mean I like EMC more or less than other vendors? It means there is a level of trust, communication, relationship, contact, interaction and access to resources with EMC that might be more or less than with other vendors. Disclosure EMC along with some companies they have acquired have been past clients.

Now back to Jeremy.What impressed me the most was

while other executives were engaging to different degrees, when I asked Jeremy how he and EMC balances entertainment (videos and movies, theatrics), education (expanding knowledge of EMC solutions, technology advancement) and being engag-ing (not just sales calls, social media, golf-ing or other in person activities) to drive business economics his response included all three of those aspects.

EMCworld 2012: Trust and marketing, can they coexist?by greg Schulz

become a blogger today www.dcjexpertblogs.com

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Ok, I know, some of you should be saying that is the job and role of a marketing person to be an effective communicator which I would agree, however why don’t more marketers do a more effective job of what they do?

In other words, Jeremy educated by sharing what and why they are doing certain things, Jeremy engaged with the entire audience while answering my question however not singular responding to me, he also entertained with some of his answers while also keeping them to the point, not rambling on. Afterwards I had a few minutes to talk one on one with Jeremy without the handlers or others and I can say it was refreshing and as is too of the case with marketers, there is trust.

That does not mean I will take anything verbatim or follow the scripts or other things the truth squads want preached or handed out from EMC, Jeremy or any other vendor for that matter.

I can say that in the few minutes up close and in a smaller setting, EMC has a secret weapon who can do more to build and convey trust and that is Jeremy Burton, hope I am not wrong.

Ok, nuff said for now. Cheers Gs

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dataaire ...................................................................pg17www.dataaire.com

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data specialties, Inc...........................................pg29www.webuilddatacenters.com

Corning .....................................................................pg31www.offers.corning.com/1-EDGESolutions

7x24 exchange......................................................pg32www.7x24exchange.org

belden......................................................................pg33www.belden.com

afCoM......................................................................pg35www.datacenterworld.com

aVTeCh.....................................................................pg36www.avtech.com

dCJ expert blogs....................................................Backwww.dcjexpertblogs.com

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september 12, 2012 – september 14, 2012 Cyber resilience for national security

september 16, 2012 – september 20, 2012 2012 bICsI fall Conference & exhibition

september 18, 2012 – september 20, 2012The green data Centre Conference & exhibition: london

september 19, 2012 – september 21, 2012 Cyber-risk and data breach Management summit for financial services

september 27, 2012 – september 28, 2012 6th annual advanced forum on Cyber & data risk Insurance

september 27, 2012 – september 27, 2012 dataCentres eurasia 2012

september 30, 2012 – october 3, 2012 fall 2012 data Center World Conference and expo

OCtOBERoctober 8, 2012 – october 10, 2012 Telco Cloud summit apaC

october 9, 2012 – october 11, 2012 The green data Center Conference and exhibition: bay area

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