EBay develops 'miles per gallon' metric for data centers

by Mike Rinaldi on 3/11/13 2:21 PM

The auction site has shared a new methodology for tracking energy efficiency

By James Niccolai, Computer World

There's a maxim in the data center business that you can't manage what you can't measure, and eBay has come up with the mother of all measurement systems for calculating data center efficiency.

The online auction giant has devised a methodology that looks at the cost of its IT operations in dollars, kilowatt hours and carbon emissions, and ties those costs back to a single performance metric -- in eBay's case, the number of buy and sell transactions its customers make at eBay.com.

The result is a set of data that provides the equivalent of a "miles per gallon" metric for data centers, which organizations can use as a baseline to improve on over time, said Dean Nelson, head of eBay's Global Foundation Services, which manages its data centers worldwide.

"EBay is a single system, it's the sum of a million parts, and we needed a way to measure and convey the efficiency of this system," he said Tuesday at the Green Grid Forum, a data center efficiency conference in Santa Clara, California.

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ebay mpg
Learn why and how organizations are using Data Center Infrastructure Management tools to get more efficient.
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Topics: Emerson Network Power, data center infrastructure, Data Center, Green IT, data center design, data center energy, data center infrastructure management, PUE, Containment, Green Technology

DVGBC PA/NJ Sustainability Symposium 2013

by Mike Rinaldi on 2/21/13 10:47 AM

Delaware Valley Green Building Council

PA/NJ Sustainability Symposium 2013

Tuesday, March 12th, 2013
7:45 AM - 1:30 PM

Temple University
Performing Arts Center
1837 North Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122

REGISTER HERE

Now in its third year, this event brings together industry, education and community leaders to share best practices, ask challenging questions and provide cutting edge information about sustainability in the Delaware Valley.

DVL Group will be presenting their “Less Watts” award to three local organizations that are helping DVL to achieve their pledge of saving 1,000,000 watts of electricity. Find out who the winners are at the event on March 12.

 

Learn More About the Less Watts Program

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Topics: Green IT, data center energy, data center infrastructure management, DVL, Green Technology, energy, Energy Star

13 Data Center Ideas for 2013

by Mike Rinaldi on 2/14/13 1:55 PM

As 2012 draws to a close many of us are planning ahead for 2013, both for our professional and personal lives, formulating a list of goals, objectives, and even a vacation or two. With that in mind I started to create a top-ten list of ‘should do’ items for data center professionals in 2013. However as always I got a bit carried away and had to pare the list down to a manageable baker’s dozen.

One, Take care of yourself. Nothing difficult but an all too important concept many of us take for granted or leaves until we are ‘less busy’. There simply is no better time than the present to start an exercise program, weight and/or health management regime to put a little more energy back into our life. This also includes a little time for some R&R, education and self improvement, and other activities we’ll cover below. Start 2013 with a plan to take care of number one. The data center and IT systems communities wouldn't be the same without you.

Establish a baseline, Inventory your assets, etc...

> Click here to read the rest of the list 

(Originally posted on EfficientDataCenters.com by Jack Pouchet)

 

efficient data center
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Topics: Emerson Network Power, Data Center, Green IT, data center infrastructure management, Containment, efficient data center, Green Technology, energy

IBM EMBRACES EMERSON FOR DCIM – MAJOR CHANGE IN DCIM MARKET DYNAMICS

by Mike Rinaldi on 2/11/13 2:15 PM

IBM EMBRACES EMERSON FOR DCIM – MAJOR CHANGE IN DCIM MARKET DYNAMICS

Emerson Network Power today announced that it is entering into a significant partnership with IBM to both integrate Emerson’s new Trellis DCIM suite into IBM’s ITSM products as well as to jointly sell Trellis to IBM customers. This partnership has the potential to reshape the DCIM market segment for several reasons:
  • Connection to enterprise IT — Emerson has sold a lot of chillers, UPS and PDU equipment and has tremendous cachet with facilities types, but they don’t have a lot of people who know how to talk IT. IBM has these people in spades.
  • IBM can use a DCIM offering  — IBM, despite being a huge player in the IT infrastructure and data center space, does not have a DCIM product. Its Maximo product seems to be more of a dressed up asset management product, and this partnership is an acknowledgement of the fact that to build a full-fledged DCIM product would have been both expensive and time-consuming.
  • IBM adds sales bandwidth — My belief is that the development of the DCIM market has been delivery bandwidth constrained. Market leaders Nlyte, Emerson and Schneider do not have enough people to address the emerging total demand, and the host of smaller players are even further behind. IBM has the potential to massively multiply Emerson’s ability to deliver to the market.

The impact of this partnership will ripple through the industry, across both users, Emerson’s competitors and IBM’s competitors:

  • Prospective DCIM users now have the option to buy from one of the dominant industry IT system suppliers, and one with a nearly unlimited services capability.
  • Emerson competitors will be under more pressure to bolster their delivery channels and to find similar partnerships.
  • IBM competitors in both the hardware and management software will be looking for DCIM vendors to partner with to fill in their portfolios to match IBM.

My net takeaway is that this a major dislocation in the emerging DCIM segment and will trigger a wave of realignment among DCIM, systems and software vendors. The end beneficiaries will be potential DCIM users, who have just seen their ability to acquire and support such solutions multiplied by a large factor, and now available from a name that is very familiar to the IT stakeholders. Emerson gets a major leg up on its competitors, and IBM gets a powerful product offering that it can use to enhance its already strong position as an enterprise data center supplier.

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Topics: data center infrastructure, reduce cost, Data Center, Green IT, data center infrastructure management, Green Technology

Top 10 Data Center Images From 2012

by Mike Rinaldi on 12/28/12 12:17 PM

Happy Holidays from DVL

Check out the top data center images from 2012. (Data Center Knowledge)

- Click here

 

data center Liebert

 

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Topics: data center infrastructure, Data Center, Green IT, data center design, data center infrastructure management, robust data center, Containment, data center outages, DC Power

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