The going is fairly hard for these initiatives compared to what might be accomplished on proprietary hardware and OS combinations. In the case of the latter, hardware and OS architects can agree on how to instrument hardware and what to do with the information from that instrumentation. In the non-proprietary world, it becomes a matter of working with standards bodies--most of the efforts of which end up being extended in proprietary ways.
While getting consistent information on server system states can be a challenge, the task of determining policy adherence and the application-level effect of an action such as turning off a server is even more daunting. Vendors typically can't count on owning enough of the infrastructure to determine all the possible ramifications of actions such as a system shutdown. As a result, it's easier for events to trigger powering up new servers than it is to determine when it's safe to shut them off. Nonetheless, efforts in this regard are taking place in the Web services and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) standards groups.
Editor-in-Chief Art Wittmann can be reached at [email protected].
Risk Assessment: Data Center Power and Cooling
While power and cooling technologies are extremely mature, packaging and, to a certain degree, efficiency continue to evolve and improve. Component manufacturers are becoming keenly aware of the challenges that their devices present for power and cooling. Look for advances in power management technology and greater adoption by equipment vendors.
Bob Friday, Chief AI Officer for Juniper Networks, explains how the advanced technology is transforming operations.
Contact center leaders from 8x8, Awaken Intelligence, and 360insight discuss the importance of agent experience.
AI may force enterprises to rewire parts of their data centers so they are fully optimized to run such workloads. The question is do you use Ethernet or InfiniBand?
