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AMD

Submission + - VMware memory management on Intel Nehalems (techtarget.com)

BDPrime writes: IT pros say the new memory management features and virtualization capabilities in the latest x86 processors are welcome, but the complexity involved can be challenging. One of them is dealing with VMware's memory management when running on Intel's Nehalem and AMD's Opteron chips, where features become confusing and perceptions can become a problem.

Comment Re:American Money, American Land, American Calls (Score 3, Interesting) 226

That's assuming every watt that goes into the data center gets to the IT load. Though it says in the documents for the facility that they're going to make it energy efficient, power still needs to be used for air conditioning, redundancy, facility lighting, security, etc. Assuming a PUE of 1.5 (PUE is total facility power divided by IT load), which is very efficient, you're talking about 85,000 servers.

But even that assumes all the IT load will be for servers. Certainly there will be power going to servers, network switches, etc., so the total would be lower than that. And if the NSA is using any larger servers (which considering its history, it most likely is), the number could be substantially lower than that. The average power consumption for a TOP10 supercomputer in 2008, for example, is about 1.3 megawatts, which in itself equals 2,600 500-watt servers.

Power

Submission + - NSA to build $1.6 billion data center in Utah (techtarget.com)

BDPrime writes: "President Barack Obama has authorized Congressional spending of $1.6 billion over the next four years for a massive National Security Agency data center in Utah.

The data center will have 65 megawatts of potential load, enough to power all the homes in Salt Lake City. It will be located at Camp Williams, a military base just south of Salt Lake City. Initial spending for the facility, to be located on a 200-acre site, is $169.5 million. Officials hope to begin construction in September and finish next May."

Windows

Submission + - Windows on a mainframe: nested hypervisors (searchdatacenter.com)

bdprime writes: "As a follow-up to "Microsoft Windows, on a mainframe": Mantissa's z/VOS software will actually be a hypervisor that will sit on top of z/VM, the mainframe's hypervisor-based virtualization operating system. But end users are worried about a host of issues, including performance of Windows when in nested hypervisors and potential legal and licensing issues that could come with the product."
Power

Submission + - Data center air conditioner fans: Why they matter

BDPrime writes: When people think about energy savings, data center air-conditioning fans don't necessarily leap to mind. But choosing the right fan design can save up to $50,000 per fan over a 15-year lifespan.

Up to 37% of a data center's energy costs can be attributed to cooling infrastructure, according to EYP Mission Critical Facilities. A central part of cooling data centers is moving the air, and a big part of air movement is the cooling unit's fans. Incremental changes in the type of fan, airflow direction and fan speed offer opportunities for energy efficiency in the data center.
Microsoft

Submission + - Video of Microsoft's "containerized" data (techtarget.com)

BDPrime writes: "Michael Manos, Microsoft's director of data center services, shows a 3-D rendering of the company's upcoming containerized data center, which is like a facility full of shipping containers. He also demos Scry, Microsoft's internal data center analytics tool that lets the company monitor the data center's energy use, carbon footprint and power bill.

There are a few companies out there that are now touting the data center in a shipping container. Sun was one of the first with its Blackbox, now called the Sun MD, while others include Rackable Systems' ICE Cube and Verari's FOREST."

Power

Submission + - Wind-powered data center for Google 3

TT writes: Google is considering building a wind-powered data center in Greensburg, Kan. In addition to the huge solar-panel project it's building in Mountain View, this 20-megawatt data center in Greensburg would go a long way toward helping Google get carbon neutral, as is its goal. The company, like the entire universe today, is on the green kick. It announced last month that it wants to make renewable energy cheaper than coal.
It's funny.  Laugh.

Submission + - University holds jazz funeral for its mainframe

BDPrime writes: "Server Specs has a story about The University of Manitoba holding a New Orleans-style jazz funeral for its mainframe. The funeral included a full procession route on campus, "Amazing Grace" being played on the trumpet, and employees smashing a pinata made to look like a cartoon-y mainframe. Is the mainframe dead? Maybe not everywhere, but at The University of Manitoba it certainly is."

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