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  • tjcanning 12:34 am on July 29, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Green IT, , , SVLG   

    SVLG – Energy Summit 



    It’s always fun to go places!

    You get to see and hear different things, and meet people who are very unique and offer very interesting perspectives and opinions. I’ve been a little slow writing this post since I’ve been traveling – and I finally have some down time as I wait my delayed flight to Beijing, China. The last 2 weeks were a hectic schedule – with numerous dinner meetings in Shanghai and dealing with the hot weather that China is currently experiencing.  Not that this blog post is about China (which I will of course write about later…) but this trip has given me some extra time to think and reflect upon the “other” trip I just took – which was the SVLG Energy Event. This took place at Stanford just days before I headed off… So.. let’s talk SVLG!

    What can I say? Lots of interesting and smart people all huddled in various auditoriums and conference rooms. People talking, smart people listening, and smart people networking. It was a long event – starting at 8;30 (of course with traffic from SF I tend not to be the early bird and arrived somewhere around 9:30. Fashionably late – but in good spirits!

    Check out the above video for some “live from the street” attendee perspectives. Thanks to those folks that were kind enough to share their thoughts as I zoomed in on them and stopped them in their tracks!

    To give you some additional content for the event – let me share a quick pick of the agenda. As I sit in the airport – I realize pictures are worth a 1000 words – and it just so happens that I scanned the agenda… here is the lunch time session that I attended:

    Any chance I get to hear a VC panel – just sign me up! Now these guys were fun and educational to listen to. They each had their own personalities come thru nicely on stage – which I really appreciated – since listening to robotic like text-book MBA’s doesn’t really do to much for me. These guys were good. These guy were smart. I listened and took notes!

    Random Key Points/Topics

    + to introduce efficiencies – -> you do need to spend capital

    + this is an industry in formation

    + requires enterprise and consumer participation

    + the challenge is “behavior” not “technology” related

    + need to engage consumer/enterprise across full value chain

    + need to spin value proposition so corporate will buy it – need to see employee/bottom line benefit

    This discussion was a good eye opener for anyone thinking that “green = a fast enterprise sale” It just ain’t so folks…and as we trod through this learning curve (both for the vendors and the enterprises) it will take time for everyone to get comfortable and for the adoption velocity to increase and strong selling markets to develop. Behavioral changes just take time…

    

     

  • tjcanning 8:43 pm on March 22, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , Data Center World, Green IT,   

    AFCOM Data Center World. Keeping it Cool! 

    Ha! So, I was kinda slow to write a post on my attendance at Data Center World that just took place in Nashville – and could not find a good picture of the event.

    If you’ve ever spent time in Nashville – you know all about Country & Western and Jack Daniels. So, to help grab your attention -> I’ve decided to use a Jack Daniels picture I found!

    It actually works well to highlight that just like good computer equipment, a good whiskey also needs to be chilled!

    I’m not a whiskey drinker – but you can’t visit Nashville without seeing a 1000 signs for it, nor can you visit Data Center World without thinking of cooling!



    • What’s my inlet temp?

    • Where are my hot spots?

    • How cold in the cold aisle?

    • Can I safely increase temp and save money?

    • How hot is the return temp?

    All good things to be thinking if you happening to have the time to sit and think. Everyone is busy. I get that. Everyone at AFCOM was moving fast through the exhibit areas – anxious to see what might exist in the “latest” and “greatest” of new technologies to help “increase efficiency“, “gain capacity” and “save “money“. But you know what, if you sit back – some of the most challenging problems can be solved with the simplest of tricks – dating back to the basics of air conditioning, air flow management and the laws of physics. Maybe this is why simple things like “Scotch on the Rocks” has survived for so long… It’s just a good thing, done right.

    Simple is good. Take some simple steps towards air flow management and temperature visibility and you might be surprised at what you see and what you can quickly fix your your data center environment!

    I’ll drink to that!

     

  • tjcanning 5:46 pm on March 2, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , Green IT, ,   

    Energy Star or Death Star? 


    The goals of the program are to give organizations a greater incentive to improve the energy efficiency of their data centers, and to give them a way to track the results of efficiency initiatives over time, said Alexandra Sullivan, an EPA program engineer who described the effort at a recent green IT conference.

    Data centers that participate in the EPA program will use an online tool that ranks their efficiency on a scale of 1 to 100. Those that score 75 or higher can request an audit from the EPA, which awards qualified organizations the Energy Star certification.

    If you are an Enterprise IT or Facilities person – is this a kiss of death? I mean – is another “thing” that you will now have to deal with? Maybe you’ve just got PUE figured out, either by manually doing some readings or a little sub-metering and/or wireless-networked sense points and you thought all was good. Nope – it’s time for a new thing that will require you to use an “on-line” tool to determine you’re ranking and then if you hit the magical 75 – you can request an audit! So – are you the kind of person who likes to request “audits”? I can’t remember the last time I requested an IRS audit – and somehow this seems just as painful.

    Let’s hope not. I mean the real deal here is to help folks benchmark their data centers – gather a level of visibility around usage/cost/efficiency and in the end reduce energy consumption, increase existing capacity while maintaining or increasing service reliability. Right?

    So I hope this process will be friction-less for the data center early-adopter. We need folks to embrace this program, gain benefits in realizing their current in-efficiencies and prove to the rest of the F5000 that it is possible to clean up the data center and do a good thing.

    Thought #1   It would be really interesting for the EPA to publish the top 500 Energy Star certified companies.

    Thought #2  It would be really interesting to only award federal business to companies in the 85+ score category.

    Energy Star is coming… please don’t let it be a Death Star and destroy or de-rail your greening efforts…

     

  • tjcanning 5:53 pm on February 11, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Green IT, ,   

    Energy Star or Rock Star for Data Centers? 

    Energy Star for data centers is coming.

    The US Environmental Protection Agency is wrapping up work on an Energy Star program for data centers that it hopes to launch in June, EPA. So rather than wait for June – I decided to launch for own Rock Star initiative and post a video about the need for enterprise greening and highlighting some use cases to get folks thinking. Success comes in small steps they say…  so does any energy savings initiative. Becoming a Rock Star does as well – so since this is my first video – it’s a little shaky in spots, I shortened the clips, my Canadian “out” seems to pop in a few places.  But heck, just like Jason Bourne in the “Bourne Identity” – I can work on releasing some sequels from time to time and via video – share my thoughts on the market, the challenges and of course the hype. Make sure you select the HD option in the top right hand corner. I look better in HD. :-) Posting a video of yourself is kinda scary to be honest – especially when you self create it. Is this what it’s like creating a Green Business Case? Kinda scary? Maybe – which is why I think this necessary step seems to be the stumbling block for most enterprises I speak with.

    My video is short and sweet. “More is less”  – this is how I try to deal with everything these days. Maybe the use cases help you think a little about some “small steps” you could take within your organization. Hopefully my “trailer” help you see the big picture. If you have any video suggestions – I’m all ears. I hope to post some viral videos shortly on YouTube as a way to start to increase the awareness and need for data center efficiency. Stay tuned…

     

  • tjcanning 6:17 pm on February 8, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , Green IT, ,   

    What is Sustainability? 

    I keep hearing about sustainability – so I just had to pony up $200 bucks and hit the San Jose Value-Based Sustainability event the other week. It was put on by the folks at Executive Council. Mind you – I am not a fan of any event that starts at 8:00 in San Jose – 101 or 280 at that time is not what I would classify as a “value-add ride” – but I did manage to get there in time to catch some key presentations. Who was there?  It was the heavy hitters of the fortune world – companies such as PG&E, Autodesk, SAP, Microsoft, IBM, Coca-Cola, UPS, 1E, Verdiem, EnerNOC, and Stirling Energy.

    What is Sustainability? If you are a Googler like me – the first place you go today is to Wikipedia for education. The Wikipedia folks will tells you that:

    Sustainable business, or green business, is enterprise that has no negative impact on the global or local environment, community, society, or economy—a business that strives to meet the triple bottom line. Often, sustainable businesses have progressive environmental and human rights policies. In general, business is described as green if it matches the following four criteria:

    1. It incorporates principles of sustainability into each of its business decisions.[1]

    2. It supplies environmentally friendly products or services that replaces demand for nongreen products and/or services.[1]

    3. It is greener than traditional competition.[1]

    4. It has made an enduring commitment to environmental principles in its business operations.[1]

    Ok cool. I am down with that. This was the theme that was echoed at this event. I did find some posting quotes from the event on a cool site called Conference Bites. Let me share a few:

    “Metrics are still the holy grail in this (sustainability) space.”
    ~ Libby Reder, Head of Environmental Initiatives, eBay

    “We…need to get value by extracting it out of information, rather than out of the ground.”
    ~ Kathrin Winkler, VP of Sustainability, EMC

    I had a chance to briefly chat with Libby and Kathrin – it’s always refreshing to meet folks who are leaders in their respective spaces and who are also real and fun to chat with.

    The event was co-hosted by UPS – Bob Stoffel did a really nice job of sharing what sustainability really means within UPS – and as a long time UPS shipper – there is a large supply chain that must operate efficiently to keep those brown trucks rolling!

    How did I celebrate the mid morning event break – nothing better than a nice cold Coke!  Bryan Jacobs from Coca Cola (a fellow engineer I might add too) shared his thoughts on sustainability and of course over the course of the event -  I had to support his views by having multiple cokes on ice!

    There was a strong take away that I had from this event – and it was embedded in both Libby’s and Kathrin’s quotes. What was it? It was the word “Metrics”. If you want to do anything in the enterprise these days – you absolutely need to associate a metric with it. A metric tell you if you are wining, failing or somewhere in between when it comes to delivering on an initiative. It separates reality from vision. It separates execution from planning. I am going to start to hone in on metrics in the next couple of blog posts.

    A metric is only a number… so why is everyone is scared of them?

     

  • tjcanning 6:29 pm on January 7, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Carol Baroudi, , Green IT, Green IT For Dummies, ,   

    Green IT for Dummies 

    Happy 2010!

    If you are the kind of person who makes New Year’s resolutions – maybe you are thinking about being a better “green” person within your organization? The thing is – for most folks – just what does this really mean?

    I’ve become a big fan of simplicity and transparency. Both in sales process, sales execution and sales training. If you are trying to train yourself in something new – start with the simple stuff first!Case in point – this book which I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of from Carol Baroudi who you may recognize from the Aberdeen Group. Carol is a Green and Sustainability consultant – so she lives and breathes this stuff!

    I’m not that big a reader to be honest. I’m more of a scanner – so this book is good if you want to quickly get a grasp of what Green IT is also about and maybe some thoughts on how to drive these initiates within your organization.

    Part 3 of the book is titled “Greening the Data Center” – so I would draw your attention to this section and chapters:

    • Chapter 7: Laying the Foundation for Green Data Management
    • Chapter 8: Maximizing Data Center Efficiency
    • Chapter 9: Racking up Green Servers
    • Chapter 10: Cooling your Data Center
    • Chapter 11 Building a Green Storage System
    • Chapter 12: Grooming the Network for Green
    • Chapter 13: Using Virtualization

    Wow – you can quickly get the big picture as you read through these chapters of all the different aspects of the data center that “green” can influence.

    Cooling is the biggest cost in the data center – so chapter 10 has a section in “Benchmarking your Cooling System’s Efficiency” where we start to get into The Green Grid and PUE calculations.  It’s easy reading – and the sections are not designed to tire you out which is good!

    For anyone who is new to the notion of  “Greening the Enterprise Data Center” – this is a great book to help you get started. If you want to pick up a copy – just google it and the usual sources show up.  Thanks Carol for getting the word out!

     

  • tjcanning 12:42 am on October 29, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Arch Rock, , Green IT,   

    Data Center Monitoring: A 2 minute Lesson 

    areo

    Let’s go quick, I’ve only got you for 2 minutes! From the hallways of the AFCOM Data Center World to the SVLG gymnasium of Netapp – the buzz is all about wireless sensors in the data center! It’s really about time that this technology got out and into the capable hands of every facilities or data center manager – I mean we measure everything else in the enterprise today – how can it possibly be that the data center’s excessive  energy consumption has gone on for so long without scrutiny. I scratch my head in wonder…

    Wireless sensors work really well to help folks quickly figure out their data center environments and bring sense to simple power and cooling challenges. The sensors are inexpensive, deployment is a snap ( hey Ma, look no wires!)  and the application is rich and intelligent. Rather than I try and explain this – let me cut/paste somethig an analyst wrote – very detailed but arther simplistic. I like it.

     

    How Energy Optimizer Works in the Data Center

    AREO-DC works by deploying wireless sensors to measure electrical, thermal, flow and pressure conditions on power circuits, server racks, computer-room air conditioners (CRACs) or air handlers (CRAHs), chillers and underneath the raised computer-room floor. The sensed data is then transmitted via wireless sensor networks to a graphical, multi-window dashboard that shows the electricity load (and associated utility rate-adjusted spend rate) of various equipment, electricity usage by physical or functional area over user-selected time intervals; temperature and humidity data from CRACs, CRAHs, server racks and chillers over time; chiller water-flow rates; “heat maps” superimposed on a floor plan; and key performance indicators such as the Green Grid organization’s Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) Level 3 standard.

    From the AREO-DC dashboard, users can drill down to specific data centers and specific racks within a data center, and bring up side-by-side views of various factors, such as energy usage vis-à-vis indoor and/or outdoor temperature. Alerts can be generated when heat- and energy-use thresholds or user-defined financial thresholds are exceeded.

     

    Now this my friends sounds like a winner. There is nothing wrong with saving money. Ask Jim Cramer if you don’t believe me.

     

  • tjcanning 9:32 am on August 9, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: American Data Center, , , Green IT,   

    The American Data Center Contest! 

    contestIf you think you’ve got the right stuff – then I am extending an open invitation to participate in this season’s “American Data Center” contest! I’m sure everyone is familiar with American Idol, so in a similar fashion, I am looking for the most wannabe energy conscious enterprise data center to step forward and take stage!

    Call me crazy, but let me describe the contest. I don’t think anything like this has ever done before, but then again, if you told me 5 years ago I would be tweeting 140 characters – I would of called you crazy!

    Contest Details:

    • Goal: Find the best candidate enterprise data center and team for a real world energy usage pilot
    • The Rules: You need to be serious about saving energy and have a enterprise data center that could use some efficiency gains
    • The Challenge: Be willing to instrument your data center and collect power and cooling data with non-invasive sensors
    • My Commitment: I’ll invest the time, instrumentation, and energy savings expertise to make you a corporate rock star!
    • Your Commitment: Your time, data center and current energy challenges. Maybe ASHRAE has you thinking?
    • The Fear: You are going to measure real power, cooling and gain visibility into your data center environment. Measurement creates fear in some people. It’s like stage fright. You’ll need to overcome this initial fear and be adventuresome. You also need to like math – since we’re going to be doing some calculations!
    • The Reward: Visibility and real data that you can action and use to increase your power efficiency. That means “YOU WILL SAVE MONEY!!!”
    • Sign Up: Contact me on Linkedin or send an email to discuss further. (both are listed in the top RHS of my blog too)

    Super Stars Only!

    If you are real serious and have the interest, then I’d like to explore adding a twist of social media to this contest. I do understand enterprise constraints concerning PID’s, NDA’s etc – but if you could share some basic findings or general best practices – this would be helpful to others. Enterprises need good examples and stories to sell upper management. As an example, imagine a YouTube channel that hosts a weekly 1-2 minute video on what we are doing, experiencing and learning. Nothing complicated, raw format that just shares our adventure. Remember – this is about something good – saving energy and letting others know that there are things they can do in their data center. Good PR and good corporate thought leadership is what I am talking about!

    Btw…the interaction and relationship between customer/vendor is changing. If you follow Social Media, Enterprise 2.0 or Sales 2.0 – collaboration and transparency are the new trends to adopt. This contest represents a step in that direction and I hope you appreciate my approach in looking for a great data center candidate to work with.

    Reach me directly to discuss further!

     

  • tjcanning 5:21 pm on August 6, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , Green IT   

    dilbert

    The Lighter Side of Data Center Cooling…

    This is classic. If Dilbert is writing about data center cooling and the melting down of data centers – then I hope a lot of folks start to understand the seriousness of saving energy in their data centers! Data Center efficiency should be fun. Get started making a change!

     

  • tjcanning 8:38 am on August 3, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: CFO, CIO, , Green IT,   

    Who Cares About Data Center Efficiency? 

    pollThis the question I ask and it shall be the community that helps answer this question! I thought it might be interesting to see what views the folks in twitter universe have on this topic. Seems like there is a lot of talk these days around data center energy savings – but talk is cheap. Who really cares and who can take action? Let’s go to the people and find out!

    I’m using Twtpoll for this exercise. It’s a cool little on-line twitter poll application that shows up branded (just like my twitter profile). You can cast your vote and also view results at http://twtpoll.com/jr3ddd

    It’s going to run for a week and then we’ll see what new insights we have on this topic. Feel free to re-tweet …enjoy!

     

  • tjcanning 5:23 am on July 26, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Green IT, , ,   

    090618-forrester-big

    Green IT 1.0 – Adopt Today!

    So, I did not invent the chart of the left – I have to thank the smart folks at Forrester Research who obviously spent a lot of time thinking about this. When I first saw it posted on Greener Computing, I thought I was looking at a traditional Gartner Group Hype Cycle and was in shock -

    “OMG! Has hype already hit Green IT?”

    Thankfully – this chart is an “Ecosystem Phase” chart (although is it really that much different than a hype cycle I ask?).

    It shows the evolution of IT technologies (which I will refer to as “Services”) from the phases of “creation > survival > growth > equilibrium > decline”. According to the post, Green 1.0 Technologies refers to IT infrastructure – so the list pretty much makes sense and should ring a bell with all of us.

    Green IT 1.0 Services

    • 10 GbE (10 gigabit per second Ethernet)
    • Clean energy to power data centers
    • Client virtualization
    • Cloud computing services
    • Data center outsourcing and colocation services
    • IT asset disposal and recycling services
    • IT energy measurement
    • Localized cooling
    • Managed printing services
    • PC power management software
    • Server power management software
    • Server virtualization
    • Solid-state disk (SSD)
    • Storage capacity optimization
    • Thin clients

    Wow! So, if you’re a top notch, on-the-ball IT person – you’ve now got a lot of things to be thinking and worried about! Life is not so simple any more – if you decide to actually engage in helping understand and optimize these services within your IT infrastructure. The question I ask is,

    “Where the heck do you start?”

    Any time I have seen a new technology or evolution (or sometimes revolution!) occur within an organization, it is by some smart and ambitious early adopter who decides to champion a cause that they believe will help the organization. Most times – he/she does this on their own time and by pure passion. With so many Green IT 1.0 Services – does this theory still hold water? Or does senior management need to stand behind IT and be supportive of the time it takes to investigate these proposed services?

    With so much focus on Corporate Sustainability, Green IT,  Green *.*, PUE and other flag waving initiatives – I really hope that IT folks are given the  extra cycles and rewards to spend the time it takes to explore and evaluate Green 1.0 Services.

    After all, Green IT 2.0 is just around the corner…

    The full report, “TechRadar For I&O Professionals: Green IT 1.0 Technologies, Q2 2009″ is available for purchase from Forrester Research.

    Add Comment
     

  • tjcanning 11:29 am on July 15, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , Green IT,   

    37454602Green IT. It Starts With Research.

    Time to go back to school and get up to speed on the current state of Green IT. I’m very curious about the current state of mind of  “Green Data Center Professionals”. After Goggling around a bit, I came across John Lamb’s book titled “The Greening of IT” and though this would be a good topic for my second blog post. Just so you know – this blog is NOT going to be a book review site – but this book does serves well as a soft introduction to helping both myself and IT folks get started.

    Why do I like this book? I haven’t even read it yet – but I liked the quick on-line description. If you read “Greening Your IT, for newbies and Experts” it provides a nice intro to the book and it was this walk through that got me thinking. Thanks to Matthew Wheeland for that post. I have picked up the book and it is currently queued for my reading.

    Getting started on anything is always easier if you have a plan or map right? Greening the data center shouldn’t be any different. But it’s new, maybe not everyone is on board and the first few steps might take someone who we refer to as ‘an early adopter” to get things rolling. Reminds me of the early software infrastructure days. I lived through those times  as IT moved to J2EE app servers, service oriented architects promoted the value of re-usable web services and those early adopters became the early transformers (sorry, nothing to do with the movie!) of the organizations. They took small departmental steps to help realize the value of their efforts which would scale and have an overall corporate impact. Sounds like the same could apply to realizing data center efficiencies as we test out a single cold aisle containment, or a fine grained measurement of a single rack for power and thermal usage. Those single tests and benefits could scale out and have a tremendous corporate impact on the bottom line. Ask anyone looking to sign off on any project today – and it has to impact the bottom line!

    Simple steps are key today in any complex process. SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) proved that real quickly. Maybe we can learn from that process as we investigate Green IT.

    As mentioned by John Lamb in the above post – the process of “Greening IT” should be broken up into some simple and measurable steps:

    • Get educated – Goggle “Green IT”
    • Communicate internally – Get executive sponsorship
    • Baseline – Know where you are today
    • Plan – Map out server consolidation/chiller analysis/temp increase tasks

    I get this plan. It is simple. You can measure it and gain support for it internally. But how many folks are actively doing this today?

    This is the magic question I hope to answer over time!

     

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