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News and Analysis
Skanska Joins The Data Center Mod Squad
Infrastructure and construction contractor Skanska USA has unveiled what it is calling one of the most efficient, greenest data centers in the world. The Mission Critical Center of Excellence will use Skanska's new modular design strategy, which will deliver a power usage efficiency (PUE) of 1.15, company officials say. Traditional data centers have a PUE of 2.0, says Terry Rennaker, VP of Skanska USA CoE.
More News and Analysis
- Flexibility Key To Next-Gen Networks
- Vmware/Mitel Compete With Cisco For Contact-Center Desktop Virtualization
- Nimbula Enhances, Adds Features In Cloud OS
- IPv6: Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance
More News and Analysis in Data Center Channel »
Architectures
Time to Reconsider the Data Center
As enterprises push out data centers into cloud-based computing and virtual applications, traditional data center planning and practices haven't necessarily kept pace. Is it time to reshape definitions of classic brick-and-mortar data centers into a new computing concept with different performance and total-cost-of-ownership expectations? If nothing else, the business cases now driving data center services are beginning to demand it. "As a global organization, we know that we must not only provide 24/7 IT, but also enterprise-strength IT support on a follow-the-sun basis," said John Heller, CIO of Caterpillar.
More Architectures
- Implementing Automation
- The Case Against Orchestration
- Automation and Orchestration
- Assessment: Brocade Network Subscription
More Architectures in Data Center Channel »
Reviews & Workshops
5 Basic Switch Settings You Must Know
There are five configurations a network administrator should apply to a newly provisioned switch or router. Although application of these configurations may seem like common sense, 90% of devices I see are missing at least one of these settings, and about 75% are missing two or more. Use this checklist as an action item to verify your existing devices have these settings, at minimum, and integrate these in to any templates or provisioning documents you use. You'll appreciate the results of the consistency this adds to your network management and monitoring.
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Blogs
Cisco And Deloitte Wrong: Good Practices More Impactful Than Vendor Choice
February 21, 2012 02:57 PM
Posted by Mike Fratto
Cisco is fighting back against the notion that a multi-vendor network can simplify operations and reduce TCO. The networking giant commissioned a report by Deloitte that finds operation costs will increase over the life of the equipment in a network that uses equipment from disparate vendors. The fact is, one vendor vs. multiple vendors is the wrong fight. Sound management practices and smart production selection will have a bigger impact on your IT costs than the number of vendors you use.
See all blogs by Mike Fratto
FAST Paper Casts Doubt on SSD Future
February 21, 2012 11:00 AM
Posted by Howard Marks
At last month's FAST (File and Storage Technologies) conference researchers from UCSD and Microsoft Research presented a paper, titled The Bleak Future of NAND Flash Memory, that's put the rosy all-flash-all-the-time future predicted by some in doubt for the long term. The gist of the paper's argument is that the physics of flash, and the researcher's testing, indicate that as flash density increases, the life and performance of flash will degrade to the point that by 2024 flash will no longer be a viable solution.
See all blogs by Howard Marks
Emulex and Mellanox Drive Down 10 Gig Cost
February 14, 2012 12:15 PM
Posted by Howard Marks
While we've grown to believe that technologies follow steady geometric price decreases with confidence-inspiring names like Moore's or Kryder's Laws, the truth is market forces aren't as predictable as the word "law" would imply. Those of us who follow the Ethernet market are used to an occasional vendor making a dramatic price move for its own reasons. Most recently, Emulex and Mellanox are making moves to make 10-Gbps Ethernet cheaper.
See all blogs by Howard Marks
Nimbus Sets The Stage For Mainstream Enterprise SSD
February 13, 2012 09:00 AM
Posted by Howard Marks
Solid-state array pioneer Nimbus Data's new E-Class array system is a sign that solid-state storage is moving from the high-performance fringe to the mainstream of the enterprise data center. Most first-generation, all-solid-state arrays, including Nimbus Data's own S-class, were best suited to targeted applications where high performance with single points of failure was acceptable. The new asset class, like most midrange disk arrays, has a dual-controller design to satisfy my enterprise reliability requirements.
See all blogs by Howard Marks
EMC VFCache: Project Lightning Strikes
February 13, 2012 09:00 AM
Posted by David Hill
EMC's recent announcement of the culmination of the code-named Project Lightning resulted in the new VFCache solution, a server-based flash cache, which may be used as a complement or alternative to flash storage that appears as if it were a disk drive. This lightning strikes twice, though not in the same spot. The first is dramatically improved I/O performance for customers and the second is the challenge that VFCache brings to competitors trying to distinguish their own flash storage solutions.
See all blogs by David Hill
EMC's Lightning Strikes
February 07, 2012 09:00 AM
Posted by Howard Marks
The storage cognoscenti have been all atwitter this morning as EMC announces the details of Project Lightning, the flash-based server cache solution it previewed last May at EMCworld. The first version of the renamed VFCache is now available, and it's clearly a version 1.0 product. Hopefully, EMC will get some of the road map items out the door, as well as the just announced Thunder, soon.
See all blogs by Howard Marks
Best of the Web
VXLAN termination on physical devices
VXLAN is an Experimental IETF draft of protocols to enable the creation of a large overlay, multi-tenant network.
ONF Deadly Serious About OpenFlow-Based SDNs
: OpenFlow is poised to reach over-hyped status, yet there are practical, useful reasons for keeping an eye on Openflow. The biggest cloud players are involved and driving the feature creation.
Practical Introduction to Applied OpenFlow
Get a primer on the Openflow protocol and what it can do for networking.
On Resilience of Spit-Architecture Networks
This research papers investigates the practical issues in split-architecture networks and the placement of the controllers, such as Openflow controllers, in the network.
