The Path Forward 2011
The Path Forward 2011 comprises the presentations, reports, case studies, and videos associated with Uptime Institute Symposium 2011, The Disrupted Data Center: Cloud, Cost, Capacity and Carbon (May 9-12, 2011, Santa Clara, California). Although all of these materials are available to the public, some items are reserved for registered users of our site. Please log in to access reserved content. Registration is free; if you've not yet created a user account, please register now.
Introduction
 Cloud • Cost • Capacity • Carbon |
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Welcome to The Path Forward, a post-event package of information and presentations from the 2011 Uptime Institute Symposium, held in Santa Clara, California, May 9-12, 2011. The 2011 event was the sixth annual Symposium, and the most successful yet by every yardstick: quality of content; the range and number of activities, presentations and events; and the level of positive feedback from our delegates (94.5% satisfaction). As always, many have asked for access to all of these valuable presentations and papers. With one or two exceptions, we have brought these together into The Path Forward. In addition to the core program of presentations and panel discussions, the 2011 Symposium included three days of one-to-one meetings with analysts and consultants from The 451 Group, Tier1 Research and Uptime Institute; a data center visit; a series of discussion lunches in which over 200 invited delegates took part; and a pre-conference day of courses led by Uptime Institute consultants. Such activities can never be captured in any post-event package, so we encourage you to attend our 2012 Symposium, also in Santa Clara. The 2011 Symposium was also host once again to the annual Uptime Institute Green Enterprise IT Award ceremony, sponsored by i/o. This year, nine Award winners, as well as several previous winners, presented and discussed their energy-saving projects in detail. Their presentations are also included in The Path Forward. We created the program and format for the 2011 event with two clear objectives: First, to serve as a forum for information and insight sharing about planning and operating efficient and economical data centers; and second, to encourage managers to return to their organizations and take action. All of the presenters and the authors of the material available here were briefed with this in mind. The majority of the presentations address the big themes of the event: The Disrupted Data Center: Cloud, Cost, Capacity and Carbon. Many of the presenters at Symposium argued that the data center industry is undergoing a major period of disruption, with technological and business innovations fundamentally undermining accepted economics, and requiring new thinking about data center design, deployment and operations. In addition, the third day of the 2011 Symposium focused on the emergence of a new imperative (and opportunity) for IT and data center management: - intelligent energy and carbon management. The regret we hear most frequently from delegates at Uptime Institute Symposia is that there is too much to do, too many choices, too much information and too little time. The Path Forward provides you with an opportunity to consider this powerful, thought- provoking material at a more leisurely pace. Andy Lawrence |
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GEIT Case Briefs
| Audacious Idea Harris Corporation and Lee Technologies, a Schneider Electric Company |
| Multi-Zone Water Containment: A Breakthrough in Site Sustainability |
| Harris Corporation contracted Lee Technologies (a Schneider Electric company) to take a common-sense approach to data center resource use. Through engineering and ingenuity, Harris was able to irrigate their 4.5-acre data center property year-round without the use of potable water, saving an estimated 2.6 million gallons of water and $80,000 in water utility costs per year. |
| Beyond the Data Center Tieto |
| Distributed Heating Using Data Center Waste Heat |
| IT services company Tieto has built a system to allow waste heat from its data center in Espoo, Finland, to be redirected to local housing. The heat is used for domestic heating and hot water production all year round. The site is a former industrial warehouse, which was refurbished for data center use. |
| Data Center Design Capgemini and Red Engineering Design |
| Merlin |
| Capgemini's $40M Merlin data center opened in 2010. The company says it is the most sustainable facility of the 27 data centers it owns globally. Merlin uses a modular design, free-air cooling and a kinetic UPS to achieve a PUE rating of 1.11 in a facility offering Uptime Institute Tier III Certification of Design Documents performance. |
| Facilities Innovation Kaiser Permanente |
| Computer Room Functional Efficiency: a Study in Raised Floor Optimization |
| Kaiser Permanente had a multi-year goal of improving efficiency in their data centers but wanted to be able to quantify the improvements made. Through a logical process, Kaiser broke its data center cooling into distinct components to optimize cooling efficiency in a holistic manner. The end result was a metric for cooling called Computer Room Functional Efficiency, or CRFE. Because CRFE allows granular, consistent measurement and repeatable results, it provides a tangible means to validate return on investment in the data center. |
| Innovation in a Smaller Data Center <1,000 sq ft University of Hertfordshire |
| Reduction and Re-use of Energy in Institutional Data Centers (RARE-IDC) |
| The UK's University of Hertfordshire refurbished one of its data centers to comply with the European Commission's Code of Conduct. Through consolidation/virtualization efforts, they reduced the number of servers by 65 percent. Then by combining temperature/humidity modification with hot air containment and free-air cooling, they were able to reduce the PUE of the facility from 2.2 to 1.2. The University estimates a return of investment on the project in 10 years based on an annual saving in energy costs of approximately £34,000 (about $54,000) a year. |
| Innovation in a Smaller Data Center >1,000 sq ft CEMEX |
| Global Data Center - Smart Energy Management |
| In 2010, CEMEX executed an energy management program to help align its data center operations with the company's overall sustainability goals. The company aimed to improve energy efficiency in its data center, reduce power consumption, and cut CO2 emissions. The project analyzed processes, technologies, IT, and facilities, resulting in the implementation of 25 separate initiatives. |
| IT Innovation AOL |
| You've Got ... AOL Cloud Computing |
| AOL's changing business model (from an internet service provider to a broader internet media and entertainment provider) required the company to make its computing infrastructure more agile, more efficient, more adaptable to staff and infrastructure constraints, and better able to utilize economies of scale. AOL reviewed the whole of its existing technology infrastructure and decided that implementing a private cloud could help it reach its goals. |
| Outstanding Facilities Product in a User Deployment Opengate Data Systems and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada |
| Intelligent Containment — Beyond Hot and Cold |
| Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) was close to the limits of its data center cooling capacity. Using airflow best practices, it was able to reclaim cooling capacity, grow its IT load, and improve its PUE. To make further improvements, AAFC used intelligent hot air containment technology from Opengate Data Systems. |
| Outstanding IT Product in a User Deployment Viridity Software and Client (confidential) |
| Multi-Billion Dollar Business Deploys Viridity DCIM Software – Saves Over $1M |
| A multi-billion dollar organization (identity confidential) recently sought to control costs in its data center by culling unused or under-utilized servers. After initial manual attempts to identify such servers produced lackluster results, the organization deployed tools from data center infrastructure management (DCIM) supplier Viridity Software. Using Viridity's product, the organization was able to consolidate or retire 813 servers, generating an estimated $1M in savings over three years. |
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Video Clips
| Balancing Metrics in the Data Center |
| In this keynote address from Uptime Institute Symposium 2011, Ron Noblett (Vice President for Datacenter Infrastructure and Storage at HP) discusses the importance of quantifying data center optimization, how to balance PUE and TCO, and the effect of power supply on TCO. Click here to watch a video clip. |
| Building Data Centers for Today's Demands |
| 2011 Uptime Institute Symposium underwriter Vantage Data Centers is building out a data center campus in Santa Clara, California. In this Q&A, Uptime Institute Director of Content and Publications, Matt Stansberry, interviews Jim Trout, CEO of Vantage Data Centers. Click here to watch the video. At Symposium 2011, Mr Trout discussed the infrastructure innovations that can be implemented in large-scale environments that lead to increased efficiency and lower operating costs. Click here to watch a video clip. |
| Creating and Managing a High Reliability Organization |
| In this keynote address from Uptime Institute Symposium 2011, Ken Brill, Founder of Uptime Institute, explores how equipment, people, local workplace factors, organizational culture, and latent conditions all interact to permit avoidable failures. Click here to watch a video clip. |
| Data Center Infrastructure for Cloud Computing Providers - Q&A with Emerson's Peter Panfil |
| Peter Panfil, Emerson Network Power's Vice President, discusses how cloud computing providers' demand for adaptable, flexible data center infrastructure is driving Emerson/Liebert product designs, and talks about Emerson's own private cloud deployment in its St. Louis data center. Click here to watch the video. |
| Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) Software Explained |
| Andy Lawrence, Research Director for Eco-Efficient IT for The 451 Group and Program Director of Uptime Institute Symposium 2011, discusses data center infrastructure management (DCIM) software, including an overview of the vendors and the challenges to deploying DCIM. Click here to watch the video. |
| Data Center IT and Facilities Integration Case Study: BMO Financial Group |
| Mike Wills, Director of Facilities Management-Corporate Real Estate for BMO Financial Group, discusses how reorienting the responsibilities and functions of the IT and Facilities management teams at his organization extended the life of his data center by four years. Click here to watch the video. |
| Designing a Cloud-Friendly Data Center |
| In this keynote discussion from Uptime Institute Symposium 2011, Peter Panfil of Emerson Network Power and Jim Kennedy of RagingWire talk about the best practices that should be observed to experience the benefits of cloud adoption while mitigating potential risks. Click here to watch a video clip. |
| Facebook's Latest Innovations in Data Center Design |
| In this keynote address from Uptime Institute Symposium 2011, Paul Hsu and Dan Lee of Facebook discuss Facebook's electrical and mechanical innovations and the philosophy behind the Open Compute Project. Click here to watch a video clip. |
| Facility Energy Efficiency at Any Scale |
| In this keynote address from Uptime Institute Symposium 2011, Chris Malone (Thermal Technologies Architect at Google) discusses the key design and operational practices Google uses to drive high energy efficiency for facilities of all sizes. Click here to watch a video clip. |
| Greenpeace's Role in the Data Center: Q&A with Uptime Institute |
| Matt Stansberry, Director of Content and Publications at Uptime Institute, interviews Gary Cook from Greenpeace International's Cool IT Program about how the environmental organization is pushing the data center industry toward increased environmental sustainability. Click here to watch a video clip. |
| Highlights of Symposium 2011 |
| Pitt Turner, Executive Director of Uptime Institute reflects on the highlights of the 2011 Uptime Institute Symposium. Click here to watch the video. |
| How does Deutsche Bank use 100% Outside Air Cooling in their Manhattan Data Center? |
| Andrew Stokes, Chief Infrastructure Architect at Deutsche Bank, talks with Pitt Turner about how the organization deployed 100% outside air cooling in its Manhattan data center. Click here to watch the video. |
| In Practice: Metrics and Priorities for Green IT and Organizational Sustainability |
| In this keynote panel discussion from Uptime Institute Symposium 2011, Rami Branitzky (SAP), Christina Page (Yahoo!), Nicole Peill-Moelter (Akamai Technologies) and John Pflueger (Dell) join John Stanley (The 451 Group) to discuss how they assess the sustainability of their operations. Click here to watch a video clip. |
| Is Cloud Computing More Energy Efficient than an In-House Data Center? |
| Amy Spellmann, Principal Consultant with Uptime Institute Digital Infrastructure Services, lays out the argument for cloud computing to reduce data center energy consumption. Click here to watch the video. |
| Keeping your Aim on the Business |
| In this interview, Jack Tison, Chief Technology Officer of Panduit, explains Panduit's Unified Physical Infrastructure approach. Click here to watch the video. At Symposium 2011, Mr Tison and Tom Dorwart (Enterprise Technology Center Manager for Cabela's) discussed how Panduit's ability to combine software, hardware, and intelligence supported dynamic changes in Cabela's data center and in remote retail locations. Click here to watch a video clip. |
| Micro Grids, Smart Grids and the Data Center: Q&A with Power Analytics' Mark Ascolese |
| In this video, Power Analytics' CEO Mark Ascolese defines the terms 'Smart Grid" and "Micro Grid' and explains how those technologies relate to the data center. Mr Ascolese also discusses the company's name change from EDSA to Power Analytics. Click here to watch the video. At Symposium 2011, Mr Ascolese and Kevin Meagher (Power Analytics) joined Kfir Godrich (HP Technology Services) and Byron Washom (UC-San Diego) to discuss the energy savings microgrids may afford. Click here to watch a video clip. |
| Modular and Multi-Tier Data Centers |
| Vince Renaud, Vice President and Managing Principal, Professional Services, Uptime Institute, discusses the top data center concerns for 2011-2012 and lays out the topics to be discussed at Symposium 2011 in Santa Clara, CA, May 9-12 2011. Click here to watch the video. |
| Organizational Changes Needed: Strategies to Cut Data Center TCO |
| In this keynote panel discussion from Uptime Institute Symposium 2011, Christian Belady (Microsoft), Bob Cashner (Wachovia), Mike Wills (BMO Financial Group), and Matt Stansberry (Uptime Institute) discuss recent and future organizational and technological transformations necessary for technology shifts to reach their full cost-reduction potential. Click here to watch a video clip. |
| Preparing for the Cloud: A Data Center Survival Guide |
| In this keynote address from Uptime Institute Symposium 2011, Mike Manos of AOL discusses what it takes for enterprise IT users to move to the cloud, and how data center and IT professionals should prepare. Click here to watch a video clip. |
| Six Reasons Why Modular Power and Cooling Plants Will Make Traditional Data Center Designs Obsolete |
| In this keynote address from Uptime Institute Symposium 2011, Neil Rasmussen (Senior Vice President of Innovation, IT Business for Schneider Electric) asserts that many traditional data centers are inefficient, costly and incompatible with high density IT deployments, and that pre-engineered and pre-manufactured power and cooling subsystems based on standardized modules can provide optimized and predictable performance faster and at lower cost. Click here to watch a video clip. |
| Smart Grid and Data Centers: Interactions and Opportunities |
| In this keynote address from Uptime Institute Symposium 2011, Bob Gilligan of GE Energy Services discusses what the smart grid is and the opportunities that data centers offer related to grid efficiency and reliability. Click here to watch a video clip. |
| Symposium 2011 Wrap-up |
| Andy Lawrence, Program Director of Uptime Institute Symposium 2011, offers a conference wrap-up. Click here to watch the video. |
| The Greening of IT: Successes, Failures, and the Future |
| In this keynote panel discussion from Uptime Institute Symposium 2011, George Goodman (Climate Savers Computing Initiative), Jon Haas (The Green Grid), KC Mares (Silicon Valley Leadership Group), Bruce Myatt (Critical Facilities Round Table), and Pitt Turner (Uptime Institute) join Andy Lawrence (The 451 Group) to discuss how much the industry has improved its sustainability performance in the past three years and where it should go next. Click here to watch a video clip. |
| The Last Snowflake |
| In this keynote address from Uptime Institute Symposium 2011, George Slessman (Chief Executive Officer for i/o) asserts that the era of the "snowflake” data center is over and that modular data center deployments harness economies of scope and scale to provide superior performance and value. Click here to watch a video clip. |
| The Role of IT: Enabling the Sustainability/Performance Nexus |
| In this keynote address from Uptime Institute Symposium 2011, David Struhs (Vice President for Sustainability Strategy, C3) discusses how information technology is now emerging as the critical enabler of the "sustainability/performance nexus," making sustainability an integral driver of business performance and results. Click here to watch a video clip. |
| Using Efficient DCIM Practices to Prepare for the Cloud Transition |
| In this keynote address from Uptime Institute Symposium 2011, Steve Hassell (President of Avocent, A Division of Emerson Network Power) discusses how to implement effective DCIM strategies and the organizational changes that may be necessary to take full advantage of the technology. Click here to watch a video clip. |
| Welcome to Symposium 2011 |
| Martin McCarthy, Executive Chairman of the Uptime Institute and CEO of Uptime's parent company The 451 Group, discusses the themes of this year's Uptime Institute Symposium -- The Disrupted Data Center: Cloud, Cost, Capacity and Carbon. Click here to watch the video. |
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Research Reports
Reports by 
For additional information on The 451 Group, the parent company of the Uptime Institute, or to apply for trial access to its services, please go to www.the451group.com.
This report highlights the major trends in eco-efficient IT that The 451 Group expects to be driving industry innovation in 2011.
Market Insight Service Spotlight Report by The 451 Group
ASHRAE Mandates That Data Centers Use Outside Air - But Not Really
Heating and cooling standards body ASHRAE has put aggressive energy efficiency requirements for data centers into its new rules. The move has attracted criticism from some vendors and experts, and kicked off a vigorous debate in the industry.
Market Insight Service Spotlight Report by The 451 Group
CRC = Carbon Reduction Confusion for UK Data Center Industry
The new Carbon Reduction Commitment rules in the UK will have a big impact on data center operators. While last-minute revisions have created much confusion, increases in power prices are a certainty.
Market Insight Service Spotlight Report by The 451 Group
Data Center Infrastructure Management: Consolidation, But Not Yet
As data centers become more complex, the demand for data center management (and data center management software) grows. This report looks at the software and service options, and the current state of the data center infrastructure management industry.
Market Insight Service Spotlight Report by The 451 Group
Dell Supports its $1bn Cloud Push with Modular Data Center Buildout
Dell has announced plans to build 10 new data centers around the world over the next 24 months. Details of the location and design of the new facilities are still scant, but Dell describes them as being highly efficient. This may mean the company will use its recently updated design for modular data centers in the construction of some or all of the new facilities.
Market Insight Service Spotlight Report by The 451 Group
International Energy Agency Maps Out 25 Years of Eco-Efficient IT Planning
Macro-level trends in energy supply, demand and use will have an increasing influence on the procurement, compliance and governance strategies of IT suppliers and users.
Market Insight Service Spotlight Report by The 451 Group
IT Heavyweights Zero in on the Cloud
To date, the large incumbent IT service providers have all largely sat on the sidelines and watched Amazon walk away with the public cloud market. However, as cloud adoption changes and enterprises ramp up adoption it appears that the likes of IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Dell are responding in force.
Market Insight Service Spotlight Report by The 451 Group
PUE Metric Looks Limited as Technology and Objectives Move On
PUE (power usage effectiveness) has been the defining metric for data center facility efficiency for years. But as more acknowledge the limitations of PUE, one must ask: what will replace it?
Market Insight Service Spotlight Report by The 451 Group
Renewable Energy Certificates and Data Center Electricity
Some companies use RECs to make ‘virtual’ purchases of renewable electricity, even if their local grid power is not environmentally friendly. In theory, RECs are a convenient way to buy renewable energy. But there are many issues surrounding their use, and some question their usefulness. This two-part report by The 451 Group will explore how RECs work, who is using them and how they ‘green’ a company’s electricity use.
Market Insight Service Spotlight Report by The 451 Group
Schneider Electric Acquires Lee Technologies; Fewer Boxes, More Lifecycles
There is a battle of sorts going on at the incumbent data center equipment vendor level to become less of a provider of 'boxes' and more as a single source of 'data centers.' Tier1 Research analyzes what Schneider’s acquisition of Lee Technologies means for the industry.
Market Insight Service Spotlight Report by The 451 Group
State of the Art in Eco-Efficient Data Centers
This two-part Report identifies key trends in eco-efficient data centers and describes some of the innovative data center projects that, over the past 18 months, appear to have achieved (or are likely to achieve) dramatic or significant energy savings.
Market Insight Service Spotlight Report by The 451 Group
Suppliers Abound in a Young, Turbulent Carbon Management Software Market
The greenhouse gas, energy and sustainability management software market is immature and crowded with suppliers. This spotlight describes key findings of The 451 Group's recent in-depth report on the market, including market drivers and technical trends.
Market Insight Service Spotlight Report by The 451 Group
Wasting Watts Waiting for Work: Trends in Server Idle Power (SPEC Analysis, Parts 1 and 2)
Efficient power use by servers, at all levels of utilization, is a key part of eco-efficient IT. Using data from benchmarking organization SPEC, The 451 Group examines trends in server idle power consumption. How much progress is being made?
Market Insight Service Spotlight Report by The 451 Group
Between now and 2015, the most optimistic estimates claim that up to $300bn will be spent on the IT hardware, software and communications technology of smart grids globally. What are the challenges, who are the key players, and where is this initiative headed?
Market Insight Service Spotlight Report by The 451 Group
About The 451 Group
The 451 Group is an independent technology-industry analyst company focused on the business of enterprise IT innovation and is the parent company of the Uptime Institute. The company's analysts provide critical and timely insight into the market and competitive dynamics of innovation in emerging technology segments. Clients of the company - at vendor, investor, service-provider, investment banking and end-user organizations - rely on The 451 Group's insight to support both strategic and tactical decision-making for competitive advantage. The 451 Group acquired Uptime Institute in October 2009.
The 451 Group also operates another independent division, Tier1 Research, which analyzes the financial and industry implications of developments impacting public and private companies within the hosting, communications and Internet infrastructure sectors. The 451 Group is headquartered in New York, with offices in key locations including Boston, London, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.
For additional information on The 451 Group or to apply for trial access to its services, please go to www.the451group.com or www.tier1research.com..
Slide Decks and Videos
Please click on the links below to access the slide decks and video from Symposium 2011.
| General Session and Breakout Slide Decks |
Registration Required | Photos courtesy Laura Kudritzki Photography |
| General Session Videos | Registration Required |
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| Green Enterprise IT Award Winners Case Study Slide Decks | Public Access | |
| Green Enterprise IT Award Finalists Case Study Slide Decks | Public Access |
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| Green Enterprise IT Award Ceremony Video | Public Access | |
| Technology Innovation Presentation Slide Decks |
Public Access |
