Here comes another announcement on Cloud, this time by HP. Last week IBM announced its new cloud computing services under the brand cloudburst and smart business, targeted at building internal cloud, accessing private clouds and public cloud.
HP's announcement has to do more with services than the hardware. HP announced two services, first being Cloud Discovery Workshop, which helps customers understand cloud computing and what it will take to leverage the technology. The service educates customers about cloud computing, looks at how it fits in their IT service provider strategy, examines best practices, details the opportunities and risks, and shows the results that can be expected.
The second one is Cloud Road Map Service, aimed at helping customers plan for and adopt cloud computing as part of their IT and business strategy. This includes helping customers assess their requirements, understand how the adoption of cloud computing might impact their corporate culture and create a specific road map, including what can be expected and what the timing is.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Dynamics of Intel - Nokia alliance
If Intel and Nokia would not have joined hands they must have been competing in the MID, Netbook segment. Nokia has been struggling to make its enty into the MID Netbook space.
With the increasing penetration of Atom processor in the MIDs UMDs it becomes difficult for Nokia to compete on ARM based processor.
Nothing specific has been divulged about the products on which the two would collaborate, rather the partnership has been termed as a technology partnership.
In a bid to oversimplify this, it can simply be seen as a broader supplier base for Intel's chips and for Nokia, easier entry into the MID segment, in which it has not been so successful in past.
Moreover, it can offer some resistance to increasing competition from Apple, Palm RIM.
From Intel's perspective, licensing Nokia's HSPA/3G modem technologies can provide it definate milage in powering netbooks/notebooks with 3G internet access.
Besides this, Intel's mobile platform Moblin can be used by the two for mutual benefit.
With the increasing penetration of Atom processor in the MIDs UMDs it becomes difficult for Nokia to compete on ARM based processor.
Nothing specific has been divulged about the products on which the two would collaborate, rather the partnership has been termed as a technology partnership.
In a bid to oversimplify this, it can simply be seen as a broader supplier base for Intel's chips and for Nokia, easier entry into the MID segment, in which it has not been so successful in past.
Moreover, it can offer some resistance to increasing competition from Apple, Palm RIM.
From Intel's perspective, licensing Nokia's HSPA/3G modem technologies can provide it definate milage in powering netbooks/notebooks with 3G internet access.
Besides this, Intel's mobile platform Moblin can be used by the two for mutual benefit.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Free Cooling Evaluation Tool for Datacenters at the green grid
the Green Grid (http://www.thegreengrid.org/) hosts a free datacenter cooling evaluation tool.
This online tool has been developed to help data center and facilities managers easily determine how much free cooling and free evaporative cooling is available for individual data centers. The realness of the tool is quite obvious from the fact tha it uses zip codes in the United States and Canada to input specific variables - such as local energy costs, IT load, and facility load - to determine the energy savings for individual facilities.
This online tool has been developed to help data center and facilities managers easily determine how much free cooling and free evaporative cooling is available for individual data centers. The realness of the tool is quite obvious from the fact tha it uses zip codes in the United States and Canada to input specific variables - such as local energy costs, IT load, and facility load - to determine the energy savings for individual facilities.
ARM to come up dual core for smartphones
ARM would come up with dual core processor cores to power smart phones by 2010. Vendors such as iPhone and Palm currently use Arm cortex 8 core in their smartphones.
According to ARM "The A8 is just a single core while the A9 will be dual-core, all the way up to quad-core, to give smartphones an even bigger performance boost". As the smartphones are becoming increasingly demanding in terms of functionality, the software those phones run on gets increasingly sophisticated.
However, one issue to watch would be the power efficiency of A9 as compared to A8.
According to ARM "The A8 is just a single core while the A9 will be dual-core, all the way up to quad-core, to give smartphones an even bigger performance boost". As the smartphones are becoming increasingly demanding in terms of functionality, the software those phones run on gets increasingly sophisticated.
However, one issue to watch would be the power efficiency of A9 as compared to A8.
STMicroelectronics Unveils Ultra-Low-Power Technology Platform for 8-bit and 32-bit Microcontrollers
STMicroelectronics has announced details of an ultra low power technology platform for building a range of 8 and 32bit microcontrollers.
ST claims that this platform would enable future generations of electronic products to consume less power, meet energy efficiency standards and operate for longer from batteries.
ST will introduce the first new microcontrollers, the STM8L and STM32L, later in 2009 as part of its ultra low power product paths for the 8bit STM8S and 32bit STM32F families. The microcontrollers have been designed to achieve power consumption as low as 150µA/MHz from Flash and HALT mode power consumption as low as 300nA while maintaining sram content and registers.
Within this new technology platform, 130nm digital transistors optimized for low leakage reduce the microcontroller’s current draw in normal operation as well as in power-saving modes. In addition, the innovative, low-power embedded non-volatile memory reduces the energy consumed to handle application data. The enhanced analog transistors are functional down to 1.65V, enabling low-voltage operation of the on-chip analog circuitry. The power-management architecture also saves power in all modes through techniques such as low-voltage operation of the core and ultra-fast 4-microseconds wake-up from low-power states.
According to ST, product developers will use the new devices to take advantage of today’s most advanced and efficient processor architectures in fast-growing markets such as portable medical devices and e-metering, as well as emerging opportunities where long battery life, small battery sizes, or battery-less operation are required
Other products to benefit from the new 8-bit and 32-bit MCUs will include alarm systems, wireless sensors, touch-sensing modules, and portable equipment such as personal healthcare devices, handheld game terminals, remote-control units, GPS devices, personal sports equipment, and mobile accessories.
ST claims that this platform would enable future generations of electronic products to consume less power, meet energy efficiency standards and operate for longer from batteries.
ST will introduce the first new microcontrollers, the STM8L and STM32L, later in 2009 as part of its ultra low power product paths for the 8bit STM8S and 32bit STM32F families. The microcontrollers have been designed to achieve power consumption as low as 150µA/MHz from Flash and HALT mode power consumption as low as 300nA while maintaining sram content and registers.
Within this new technology platform, 130nm digital transistors optimized for low leakage reduce the microcontroller’s current draw in normal operation as well as in power-saving modes. In addition, the innovative, low-power embedded non-volatile memory reduces the energy consumed to handle application data. The enhanced analog transistors are functional down to 1.65V, enabling low-voltage operation of the on-chip analog circuitry. The power-management architecture also saves power in all modes through techniques such as low-voltage operation of the core and ultra-fast 4-microseconds wake-up from low-power states.
According to ST, product developers will use the new devices to take advantage of today’s most advanced and efficient processor architectures in fast-growing markets such as portable medical devices and e-metering, as well as emerging opportunities where long battery life, small battery sizes, or battery-less operation are required
Other products to benefit from the new 8-bit and 32-bit MCUs will include alarm systems, wireless sensors, touch-sensing modules, and portable equipment such as personal healthcare devices, handheld game terminals, remote-control units, GPS devices, personal sports equipment, and mobile accessories.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
LEED certificates for datacenters in pipeline
As data center developers continue to lead the way in environmental building, the US Green Building Council (http://www.usgbc.org/) plans to update its building rating system, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, to address their specific design considerations, providing a more accurate reflection of their energy efficiency.
SGBC is considering tailoring the LEED rating system to evaluate green data centers. It is also working with groups including The Green Grid (http://www.thegreengrid.org/) to establish technical benchmarks for green data centers.
LEED specifications have traditionally focused on five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. Some of these criteria do not work for data centers, which have very few - if any - on-location staff. Guidelines such as LEED's encouragement of builders to use natural light, and include many windows, doesn't make sense for data centers, which don't require much lighting and windows can cause heat and cooling losses.
SGBC is considering tailoring the LEED rating system to evaluate green data centers. It is also working with groups including The Green Grid (http://www.thegreengrid.org/) to establish technical benchmarks for green data centers.
LEED specifications have traditionally focused on five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. Some of these criteria do not work for data centers, which have very few - if any - on-location staff. Guidelines such as LEED's encouragement of builders to use natural light, and include many windows, doesn't make sense for data centers, which don't require much lighting and windows can cause heat and cooling losses.
IBM Webcast - How Green Data Ceners can Pay For Themselves
I came across this webcast “How Green Data Ceners can Pay For Themselves”
https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=registration.jsp&eventid=134314&sessionid=1&key=A098481772C8B29C986D363F15233BAD&sourcepage=register
This webcast discusses how IBM Green IT solutions can cut energy costs, generate extra savings and justify return on investment for an organization. It details the story of Bryant University and highlights how they have reduced energy consumption by deploying energy efficient solutions and practices.
https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=registration.jsp&eventid=134314&sessionid=1&key=A098481772C8B29C986D363F15233BAD&sourcepage=register
This webcast discusses how IBM Green IT solutions can cut energy costs, generate extra savings and justify return on investment for an organization. It details the story of Bryant University and highlights how they have reduced energy consumption by deploying energy efficient solutions and practices.
IBM, Syracuse University, New York State to Build One of the World's Most Energy-Efficient Data Centers
IBM, Syracuse University and New York State have entered into a multiyear agreement to build and operate a new computer data center on the University's campus that will incorporate advanced infrastructure and smarter computing technologies to make it one of the most energy-efficient data centers in the world. The data center is expected to use 50 percent less energy than a typical data center today.
The $12.4 million, 6,000-square-foot data center will feature its own electrical tri-generation system and incorporate IBM's latest energy-efficient computers and computer-cooling technology. SU will manage and analyze the performance of the center, as well as research and develop new data center energy efficiency analysis and modeling tools. IBM will provide more than $5 million in equipment, design services and support, which includes supplying the electrical cogeneration equipment and servers such as IBM BladeCenter, IBM Power 575 and an IBM z10 systems.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is contributing $2 million to the project.
The project will feature an on-site electrical tri-generation system that will use an array of natural gas-fueled microturbines to generate all the necessary electricity for the center and provide cooling for the computer servers. The data center will be able to operate completely off-grid.
IBM and SU will create a liquid cooling system that will use double-effect absorption chillers to convert the exhaust heat from the microturbines into chilled water to cool the data center's servers, with sufficient excess cooling to handle the needs of an adjacent building. Server racks will incorporate IBM's Rear Door Heat eXchanger "cooling doors" that use chilled water to remove heat from each rack far more efficiently than conventional room-chilling methods.
The $12.4 million, 6,000-square-foot data center will feature its own electrical tri-generation system and incorporate IBM's latest energy-efficient computers and computer-cooling technology. SU will manage and analyze the performance of the center, as well as research and develop new data center energy efficiency analysis and modeling tools. IBM will provide more than $5 million in equipment, design services and support, which includes supplying the electrical cogeneration equipment and servers such as IBM BladeCenter, IBM Power 575 and an IBM z10 systems.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is contributing $2 million to the project.
The project will feature an on-site electrical tri-generation system that will use an array of natural gas-fueled microturbines to generate all the necessary electricity for the center and provide cooling for the computer servers. The data center will be able to operate completely off-grid.
IBM and SU will create a liquid cooling system that will use double-effect absorption chillers to convert the exhaust heat from the microturbines into chilled water to cool the data center's servers, with sufficient excess cooling to handle the needs of an adjacent building. Server racks will incorporate IBM's Rear Door Heat eXchanger "cooling doors" that use chilled water to remove heat from each rack far more efficiently than conventional room-chilling methods.
Can HP's alliance with Alcatel-Lucent pose real threat to Cisco ?
HP has entered into a 10-year alliance with Alcatel-Lucent. HP has been trying to delve into the networking business for quite sometime through its networking division, ProCurve. Undoubtebly, Cisco's advancements into the datacenter have strained its partnership with HP. The Alcatel-Lucent alliance will add to what HP can do in networking.
Neither HP nor Alcatel-Lucent have released too much details of the deal but they will jointly market their products in a move to help businesses move their telecommunications networks into more converged infrastructures. HP and Alcatel-Lucent will offer services around the joint offerings, and Alcatel-Lucent's products in such areas as IP telephony, unified communications, mobility, security and contact centers will be integrated with HP's technology offerings. Those integrated products will be offered via resellers or as services. As part of the partnership, HP will transform and manage a large part of Alcatel-Lucent's IT infrastructure.
Though this partnership seem to have a lot of potential in the long run, might not pose a real threat to Cisco, as of now HP is just testing waters into this market with Alcatel-Lucent and consolidating its presence in the telcom market. Cisco would not face a head on competetion from HP but it needs to seriously on work on its partnership/alliance dynamics.
Neither HP nor Alcatel-Lucent have released too much details of the deal but they will jointly market their products in a move to help businesses move their telecommunications networks into more converged infrastructures. HP and Alcatel-Lucent will offer services around the joint offerings, and Alcatel-Lucent's products in such areas as IP telephony, unified communications, mobility, security and contact centers will be integrated with HP's technology offerings. Those integrated products will be offered via resellers or as services. As part of the partnership, HP will transform and manage a large part of Alcatel-Lucent's IT infrastructure.
Though this partnership seem to have a lot of potential in the long run, might not pose a real threat to Cisco, as of now HP is just testing waters into this market with Alcatel-Lucent and consolidating its presence in the telcom market. Cisco would not face a head on competetion from HP but it needs to seriously on work on its partnership/alliance dynamics.
Smart Phones Are Adopting App Store Capability
According to a recent In-Stat research, the number of smart phone-devices for which developers can create native applications will be increasing rapidly in the coming five years. In-Stat predicts that by 2013, nearly 30% of Smart Phones representing over 100 million unit shipments will be based on an Operating System that supports app stores.
The impetus for the app store came from Apple which highly promoted its App Store set the stage for a flurry of similar handset-based application discovery and sales portals. Several other operating systems can also be expected to add application stores of their own.
According to the In-Stat report The Apps Store is Born: Smartphones Enable New Marketing and Advertising Opportunities Worldwide which covers the worldwide market for smartphones.
iPhone users are by far the most active Apps store users, significantly outpacing users of Blackberry, Palm OS or Windows Mobile phones.
Smartphone users overall are significantly more likely than feature phone users to leverage advanced mobile services, such as Internet access, music downloads, Instant Messaging, Email and Multimedia Messaging (MMS).
32% of survey respondents anticipated their next handset purchase would be a smart phone.
The impetus for the app store came from Apple which highly promoted its App Store set the stage for a flurry of similar handset-based application discovery and sales portals. Several other operating systems can also be expected to add application stores of their own.
According to the In-Stat report The Apps Store is Born: Smartphones Enable New Marketing and Advertising Opportunities Worldwide which covers the worldwide market for smartphones.
iPhone users are by far the most active Apps store users, significantly outpacing users of Blackberry, Palm OS or Windows Mobile phones.
Smartphone users overall are significantly more likely than feature phone users to leverage advanced mobile services, such as Internet access, music downloads, Instant Messaging, Email and Multimedia Messaging (MMS).
32% of survey respondents anticipated their next handset purchase would be a smart phone.
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