Scenes from Data Center World 2011
September 13th, 2011
The fall meeting of AFCOM’s Data Center World brought participants from all sectors such government, entertainment and manufacturing to the Orlando World Center Marriott and Convention Center.
By: Colleen Miller
Journalist and Social Media Specialist – Data Center Knowledge
The fall meeting of AFCOM’s Data Center World kicked off on September 11, 2011 in sunny Orlando at the Orlando World Center Marriott and Convention Center. Event organizers used the conference timing with the anniversary of the September 11 attacks to remind participants about the importance of disaster recovery and business continuity plans. According to a survey done by AFCOM in March, more than 15 percent of data centers have no plan for business continuity or disaster recovery and 50 percent of data centers have no formal plan for replacing damaged equipment after a disaster.
AFCOM CEO Jill Yaoz told those gathered for Monday’s keynote session that the Data Center Institute/AFCOM was releasing a white paper on how to stay in business following a disaster, and that offered best practices that can be applied to most any business and data center. AFCOM members may download the guide from the group’s website.
John Patrick, former IBM exec and member of the World Wide Web consortium at MIT in the early days of the Internet, delivered the keynote about current and future trends in technology, including the Internet which he claimed is “in its adolescence.” He projected that healthcare would be greatly assisted by technology in the future, such as e-prescribing by doctors to prevent mistakes due to illegible handwriting on drug prescriptions, health records that would be stored and accessed on personal iPads, and smart home health devices that monitor vital signs and report to primary care doctors, a process that could prevent chronically ill patients from hospital visits. He said that healthcare IT will grow to be greater than the size of all current IT.
About 675 people were in attendance, according to event organizers. The conference included multiple tracks on topics such as cloud computing; facilities; data center management; data center protection, prevention and recovery; and end-user case studies.
Darren Smith, NESCC Project Director, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, spoke about the agency’s data center in West Virginia which will house its new supercomputer for research and development. NOAA has 9 supercomputers in 6 locations in 4 states and Smith described the site selection process for its new facility. The 54,000 square foot space will house 16,000 square feet of raised floor computer room space and 6,000 square foot tape archive, with room for expansion of compute space in the future.
David Martinez, distinguished technologist at Sandia National Laboratory, described the lab’s Red Sky supercomputer and its cooling and energy requirements. Red Sky, a high performance computer at Sandia National Laboratories, is saving considerable energy (37 percent) over its predecessor, Thunderbird. Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin company, manages Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. There. the Department of Energy uses multiple supercomputers to research energy innovations, such as turning biomass into a usable fuel as an alternative to fossil fuels. Its Red Sky supercomputer uses Glacier doors for rack-based refrigerant cooling.
Intel Corp.’s William Carter elaborated on server parking, or putting servers in a suspended state when they are not under workload, which can lead to considerable energy savings. When small amounts energy savings are multiplied over many servers, the total reduction in power use can be significant. He noted that there has been industry resistance to the practice, but as technology and software evolves it has become a viable practice.
About Colleen Miller
Colleen Miller is a journalist and social media specialist. She has more than 25 years of writing and editing experience, with her most recent work dedicated to the online space. Colleen covers the data center industry, including topics such as modular, cloud and storage/big data. Previously, Colleen was Senior Officer, Web and Publications, for The Pew Charitable Trusts, where she directed content and web site development. Colleen is based in New Jersey.
Email: [email][email protected][/email] Phone: (513) 322-1739. Twitter: @cmiller237. Visit Colleen’s author page for recent posts.
- John Patrick to deliver keynote at AFCOM data center world
- Photo Gallery – AFCOM Data Center World (Fall 2011)
