The Lifeline Data Centers Blog has moved

Thanks for your interest in the Lifeline Data Centers Blog. We have moved to:

http://blog.lifelinedatacenters.com

Catch us there for news, views and information about data centers, cloud computing, and IT strategy.

Experian drills backup water supply to cool data center

Experian takes an unorthodox approach to providing redundant chilled water for their data centers.

Three summers ago, a 76-inch main line that feeds water from Lake Lavon to 29 cities and towns in Texas broke. That was a disaster for credit services giant Experian, which relied on city water to supply the chillers that cool its McKinney data center.

"We lost all city utility as far as water pressure," said Russ Burlew, the data center facility manager. "It took three and a half days to repair that line, and we were without water. We had vendors come in with water trucks and pumps to keep our tower full."

Search Data Center article

Survey: Data Center Budgets Will Stay Pretty Much the Same in 2009

Of course, you only care if it's YOUR budget.

AFCOM survey indicates that nearly two-thirds of managers of large data centers will maintain or increase their budgets in 2009, despite the deepening recession. The remaining one-third will lose about 15 percent of their budgets, with much of the reduction involving travel and training expenses.

A noted data center industry association reported Dec. 23 in a survey of IT managers that nearly two-thirds will see their IT budgets stay the same or even increase in 2009, and that the remaining one-third will lose only about 15 percent of their budgets.

eWeek article

Google: Raise Your Data Center Temperature

The following article speaks of a growing trend of raising temperature set points in large scale data centers. Lifeline Data Centers believes this is a viable option assuming that hot air removal is well-managed.

The biggest players in the data center industry are raising the thermostats in their data centers, with some saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in energy costs in the process.

The latest company to focus attention on temperature in the data center is Google. “The guidance we give to data center operators is to raise the thermostat,” said Erik Teetzel, an Energy Program Manager at Google. “Many data centers operate at 70 degrees or below. We’d recommend looking at going to 80 degrees.”

Data Center Knowledge article

Carrier diversity as important as the costs of power

Finally, an article that addresses how important telecom connectivity is to data center site selection.

For data center managers looking for the best place to locate a data center, the price of power has been at the forefront of the discussion. Mega corporations are building data centers near dams to access three-cent per kWh utility rates, but fiber diversity is a growing concern, and is probably number two or three on the site selection criteria.

The Department of Homeland Security advises companies to seek diversity (i.e. multiple vendors) amongst fiber carriers, but the carriers don’t share maps — it’s part of their competitive advantage. And a lot of times, multiple carriers are in the same trench, which won’t provide resiliency in the event of a cable cut.

Serverspecs article

Data centers, corn and cows in the Midwest

Every year, I am amazed that this survey omits a critical category; access to telecommunications carriers. Without access to multiple, varying tiers of bandwidth and transport, how can this be a meaningful survey?

More than just corn is popping up in Des Moines. There are also data centers.

Google and Microsoft have both built data centers in Iowa, and apparently for good reason. According to a Boyd Company data center location study, the Midwest is one of the best places to build a new facility -- if you can.

"If a company is looking for a project, if you look at the cost of land, insulation from natural disaster, electric power rates, ability to hire skilled labor – the Midwest has all of that," said John Boyd, president of the Princeton, N.J.-based company.

Search Data Center article

Cloud computing not the answer for every business

Cloud computing not the answer for every business

This article hits the nail on the head regarding what works in a cloud environment.

Companies like Amazon and Google have been touting cloud computing as the future of IT, but customers need to ask questions before doing their computing "in the cloud."

Cloud computing refers to the practice of running business software applications on someone else’s network. Instead of buying its own servers and running software on them, a company contracts with a third party vendor that provides them with the computer processing capacity they need at the vendor’s data center. The computing capacity is available as needed, much the way electricity is provided by a utility.

Suite101.com article

With economic downturn, Dell, HP cut U.S. server prices

Nice opportunity to get in on some immediate deals.

In a response to the U.S. recession, IT hardware vendors like Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. have responded by reducing hardware prices. Conversely, Europe and other markets have begun to see server prices increase because of currency exchange fluctuations.

Take, for instance, Dell; the company recently reduced its U.S. hardware prices almost across the board, according to Mason Reay, the vice president of Dell marketing operations. And during the last quarter, by cutting prices, Dell has exceeded earnings expectations .

SearchDataCenter article

Lifeline's Eastgate project phase one nearing completion

This week Lifeline Data Centers installed the first four generators at the Eastgate Mall campus in Indianapolis. Lifeline purchased the former retail mall in May 2008 and has been working to open the first 30,000 square feet of data center.

Lifeline provides data center facilities and services for its clients. Companies use Lifeline's space to build primary or second computer rooms to support their business. Lifeline offers a flexible approach so that clients can use the space to best suits their business needs.

Once complete, the Eastgate project will include 450,000 square feet of data center space, 300,000 square feet of supporting office and storage space, and ample parking for clients. Lifeline is one of only a few locations in the US where companies can purchase 5000 feet or more of contiguous private cage space.

Lifeline builds data center space to a 99.995% uptime standard, with critical systems such as power and cooling built not only as redundant, but are as concurrently maintainable.

Lifeline also offers some of the best pricing for 99.995% uptime data center space in the US. Lifeline's pricing starts at $17 per foot per month.

A CIO Perspective on Change Management

The discipline of change management is as old as computers themselves. Yet the advent of the personal computer and its bottom-up acceptance and growth in the enterprise put many disciplines like change management on the back burner. Many of us have paid the price for this lack of discipline. This article talks about the business side of change management.

The BTM Institute interviews Robert Keefe, CIO of Mueller Water Products and member of the Society for Information Management (SIM) to get some perspective on effectively handling technology-related change management and organizational change management.

Managing change often ranks among the top 10 concerns of the 3,600 senior technology professionals who belong to the Society for Information Management (SIM). Robert Keefe, the president of SIM International, says that although change management ranked seventh in SIM's 2007 survey, the percentage difference between each ranking was very close.

Baseline article

Thinking outside the case: running naked servers

When it comes to data center metrics the one most often talked about is square footage. Nobody ever announces that they've built a facility with Y-tons of cooling, or Z-Megawatts. The first metric quoted is X-square feet. Talk to any data center manager however and they'll tell you that floor space is completely irrelevant these days. It only matters to the real estate people. All that matters to the rest of us is power and cooling - Watts per square foot. How much space you have available is nowhere near as important as what you can actually do with it.
If you look at your data center with a fresh eye, where is the waste really happening?

Serverspecs article

Raised Floor versus Solid Floor

There is an emerging trend away from raised floor in many large scale data centers. The cost of build out and maintenance for raised floor is driving many organizations to a solid floor data center environment.
Most data center equipment is now cooled from front to back, so cooling from the bottom is no longer needed. A number of different hot spot management techniques can be employed to solve the problem of density related heat.
What's your opinion of raised floor? We'd love to hear about it.

Lifeline Data Centers Begins Construction at the Eastgate Consumer Mall Campus

Indianapolis, Indiana - After removing over 2,400 cubic yards of debris, Lifeline Data Centers ended demolition and began construction today on its new data center and office facility at the former Eastgate Consumer Mall in Indianapolis. Lifeline is transforming the 40-acre, former retail mall into 450,000 square feet of data center space supported by 200,000 square feet of office space. The project is a partnership between the principles of Lifeline Data Centers and Marvin Slomowitz, President of Mark Development in Kingston, PA.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard joined Lifeline today in the construction ceremony. "We are confident that Lifeline will make an excellent corporate neighbor since their goal is to rebuild the grounds by restoring the mall structure, removing most of the parking lot and returning it to green space, bringing high-tech jobs to the area, and building new structures that will add more tax base to the Warren Township area."

Alex Carroll, co-owner of Lifeline, said, "The Eastgate facility is designed to house primary or secondary computer room space for large and small companies from all over the nation. Lifeline is also providing office and storage space in addition to the data center facilities so companies can bring Information Technology staff and staging to a single campus environment. Indianapolis offers a central geographic location, some of the lowest power rates in the nation, a favorable construction climate and the most affordable housing in the top fifty markets. The Eastgate facility provides additional infrastructure that makes Indianapolis more attractive to companies looking to relocate their business. "

Industry trends show that both large and small companies continue to outsource their computer data center facilities. Based on a recent study conducted by Trinity Information Systems, half of all companies will relocate or outsource some of their data centers or computer applications in the next five years. American Power Conversion (APC) believes that in the next five years, 90% of all companies will experience at least one interruption in computer operations because of power limitations, power faults, or power availability. Companies that outsource the facilities side of their computer operations can significantly reduce these risks.

Lifeline's first phase of the build out includes fourth quarter 2008 availability of the first 60,000 square feet of data center floor space inside the former mall. The remaining mall space will be refit as customized office space and staging/storage facilities for data center clients' Information Technology staff and employees. Lifeline will then build free-standing tornado resistant-buildings to bring the total data center space to 450,000 square feet. Rich Banta, co-owner of Lifeline, said "Lifeline builds all hardened data center facilities to the 99.995% uptime and TIA-942 specifications. There are no single points of failure for power, cooling, or data connectivity." Lifeline also plans a green campus environment by employing hydrogen-assisted diesel generators, reflective roof technologies, returning of old parking lots to green space, as well as implementing innovative HVAC technologies. Lifeline’s total investment in the project will be $50 million.

Lifeline secured financing for this expansion from M&I Bank in Indianapolis. "M&I Bank is excited to be involved in this project. Lifeline Data Centers has been a valued customer of our bank and we expect an overwhelming success," stated Tim Massey, Executive Vice President of M&I Bank.

Why Indianapolis is the ideal place for your data center

If you're looking for the best place to locate your new production data center, or if you're looking for a secondary data center site, Indianapolis has a unique combination of features that make it an ideal location for your next data center facility.

At about a nickel a KW, Indianapolis has some of the least expensive power in the country.

The construction codes and the freedom to use non-union labor make Indy an great place to build facilities.

Indianapolis is located in the heart of the United States. This central location is a day's drive from half of the US population.

The central location also provides for an abundance of telecommunications fiber. Over 20 carriers offer connectivity in the Indianapolis area.

If you're considering moving employees along with your data center, Indy has the lowest cost of living in the top 50 US markets. Housing, food and income taxes are a bargain in Indy.

Finally, Indy is home to Lifeline Data Centers, a carrier neutral facility that provides large scale, flexible data center space. Lifeline is building 450,000 square feet of data center facilities support by 200,000 square feet of office space and 50,000 square feet of staging and storage space. If you're looking for data center space, look to Lifeline Data Centers in Indianapolis.