ProlimeHost Announced Discounts for Phoenix Data Center Hosting

January 2, 2013 By

ProlimeHost one of the leading web host and dedicated game server providers has offered a price discount available for their customers. ProlimeHost has launched a coupon to reduce the hosting prices up to 25% for the upcoming holiday season. In addition to this, ProlimeHost has announced additional hardware in their Phoenix data center to improve the gaming experience in order to make online gamers happy.

Chief Technology Officer at ProlimeHost Tom Beck said, “We are excited to let our current and potential customers know that we have dedicated a group of our high-performance servers with accelerated hardware for our online gaming customers, and reduced the subscription cost of these dedicated servers by 25% through our usage coupon. Each dedicated game server has been allocated a special

slot in the racks such that the slots are the best-equipped with network speed and bandwidth. Our Phoenix based dedicated servers are the ones that have been specially set up for this purpose. The discounts on the dedicated servers are all set to be offered for the entire upcoming Holiday season.”

However the company was optimistic about their growth said, “We have listened to our customers’ requirements. This move could shoot up the number of additional customers by almost 30% with luck, but I don’t see the number at anywhere below 15%. Looking at the fact that even a 15% growth will offset our investments towards this restructuring effort, our top and bottom lines will move upwards because of our bold decision to provide discounted dedicated hosting to our Phoenix datacenter based game server offering.”

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Data Center Expansion Plan – Build or Buy?

December 20, 2012 By

Demand for data center space is exponentially growing. Data center organizations need to implement more hardware to process, store and manipulate big data. To implement more hardware companies need to buy more lands or need to partner with some existing data centers or acquire any existing facility. Companies of all sizes must go through a critical stage weather to build own data center or to lease an existing facility. Companies need to analyze some points like construction cost, commissioning and costs of maintaining and managing data center before evaluating the decision to build or buy.

Following are some of the key considerations before deciding whether to buy an existing facility or to buy a new facility:

1.       Build Time:

Typically construction of a new data center requires 12-18 months to complete. Suppose

an existing client require to expand their capacity and data center companies need provide the required space in a shorter time-frame, then constructing a new facility will not be a good idea. Most viable option is to co-locate data center space from some other organization or companies might think of acquiring a small data center.

2.       Ability to Scale

A traditionally build data centers have an expected life span of 10-15 years with a minimum of 5 refresh cycles. This might lead to overbuild, capital waste, costly infrastructure and less energy efficient as most of the time servers will be idle. Companies can lease data centers, typically leases are short term of about 3 to 5 years and this allows clients to increase data center space based on their needs. By co-locating companies can reduce cost and add more space quickly.

3.       Money:

The initial cost for constructing a new facility, installation cost can move up-to thousands of dollars.  Companies either get finance from some financing company to construct a new data center, in addition to these companies need to invest to maintain data centers. Companies can lease an existing data center facility by paying monthly or annually based on the contract and provide consistent services to their clients and can expand their space based on their needs.

4.       Location:

Location is one of the primary concerns for data centers for those companies who have planned to build  their own facility. Companies who have elected to buy a data center find local providers within 30 miles from the office. Finding co-location providers is a sensible option, companies can have a frequent visit to the facility. Some companies have an idea of partnering with a data centers that are remotely located in order to have quick disaster recovery or business continuity.

Advantages of Co-location:

  1. Reduced initial cost
  2. Enhanced security features
  3. No need to concentrate on the upgrade and technology changes.
  4. Can have access to a variety of service providers
  5. Faster time to market
  6. Can shrink or grow based on company needs

Some businesses might opt to build and maintain their own data centers and others consider leasing

third party data center. Start-up, small and medium sized organizations opt to lease data centers which are more cost effective and more secure rather than building a new data center.

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UKFast unviels £14m Manchester data center

December 20, 2012 By

Cloud and colocation specialist UKFast unveiled  ’the city’s most powerful data center complex’ in Trafford Park, amplifying the region’s connectivity and bringing more choice to Manchester’s data center market. UKFast’s £14m site is marked ‘DCPlex’ and made up of 3 new facilities, MaNOC 5, 6 and 7, and the firm’s first wholly-owned data centre MaNOC4 (Manchester Network Operation Centres) which was launched last year.

UKFast CEO Lawrence Jones said: “Two years ago I was fed up with the lack of choice in the North West – the few data center providers at the time were changing hands regularly and fell well short of the standards we required so the only credible option was to invest in our own.

“Within 12 months of launching our first data center, we had filled it to capacity as demand in the region was so high, so we set out to build a data center complex. The new data centers dwarf other Manchester operators with more power per square foot than any other data center provider we have found outside of London.”

Bringing the national and international Tier 1 and Tier 2 carriers and service providers into Manchester, the new data centers significantly expand and strengthen the city’s position in the digital economy.

Jones continued: “The DCPlex brings huge benefits for the local business community. It’s our job to give everyone access to leading-edge services from major international carriers ensuring we make our clients more competitive in international markets.

“Manchester has great potential to be the new digital hub of

the UK but we need more data centre space and better connectivity. It’s too easy to blame broadband for poor download speeds. The real answer is to speed up every aspect of your hosting serviceto guarantee great results.

“The businesses who understand this are the ones making a killing online. Whilst many businesses attempt to save money compromising their speed, there are a few people who are gaining the lion’s share.”

UKFast last week won a DataCenterDynamics EMEA award for the Special Assignment Team of the Year in recognition of its migration from external facilities to the firm’s first purpose-built, fully-owned and managed data center.

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T-Systems wins Contract extension of Shell Data Center

December 18, 2012 By

                Deutsche Telekom announced it has secured the extension contract to manage Royal Dutch Shell’s data centers for another five years. Under the extension agreement T-System will continue to provide computing service and data center infrastructure services. Shell has implemented SAP services to adapt use of communication and information technology to boost efficiency and reduce cost. In previous contract T-Systems implemented global delivery team to ensure robust IT environment round the clock. T-Systems have appointed some 900 highly skilled specialists to cater the high service commitments to Shell.

                Member of Deutsche Telekom Board of Management and Chief Executive Officer Reinhard Clemens said, “We are pleased that Shell has renewed its contract with T-Systems. I thank Shell for their confidence in us. T-Systems is a truly international service provider with a broad spectrum of secure cloud computing services.” Deutsche Telekom aims to strengthen its growth with cloud services over the next few years. According to analysts Telekom is ahead of the field with managed clouds for corporate customers.

About T-Systems:

                T-System is Deutsche Telekom’s corporate customer arm headquartered in Frankfurt. T-Systems

provide information and ICT (Communication technology) for multinational corporations and public intuitions. T-Systems serve all sized industries from telecom industry to automotive industry. In 2011 T-Systems generated revenue of around EUR 9.2 billion.

About Deutsche Telekom:

                DTAG (Deutsche Telekom) is a German telecommunication company based in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. German Government holds 15% stake and another 17% by Government bank. DTAG provides mobile communication, IPTV products, Internet, Fixed network products and services to its customers. DTAG operates around 50 countries and has over 230, 000 employees wordwide.

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Data Center Migration Methodology

December 13, 2012 By

Data center migration is a rare site in IT industry. Data center migration might sound attractive but it is bundled with risk when an inexperienced team is attempting to perform this operation. Acco

rding to Gartner study more than 70% of organizations have to relocate their data center facility, so data center migration is a crucial. Many companies decide to relocate to a new facility due to several reasons which might be due to business reasons or technological reason. The data center migration project involves a broad area of external and internal stakeholders. A data center relocation team should input a lot of hard and gritty work. First a team has to learn the process which helps in managing work load as well as stakeholders’ expectations.

                Following are the prerequisites before executing migration plan:

  • Plan Data Center Migration
  • Prepare Data Center Migration
    • Manage Communication
    • Manage Contracts
    • Manage Budgets
    • Set Up Work Environment
    • Implement Data Center
    • Architect For Migration
    • Implement Network
    • Plan Logistic
  • Execute Data Center Migration

Data Center Migration Plan:

The data migration team has to assemble all the data and documents which include in-depth analysis. The migration team should ensure they collect all the data including rack diagrams and floor layouts. They should also map system dependencies such as applications that need certain data which is stored on a different system. Companies need to alert all their service providers such as software, utilities and hardware about its migration plan.

Data center managers need to face a lot of challenges before migrating to new facility. Following are the most simple and most critical issues that a relocation team must take care.

Security:

Data center managers should ensure the proper security plan which ensures data doesn’t disappear and unauthorized people are kept away.

Budget:

                Data center migration is an expensive process. Data center relocation management budget should cover site closure, tools, relocation budget, renovation, equipments and construction expenses.

Prepare the New Facility and Close the Old One:

                Before beginning the migration process inspection team must visit the new facility and ensure all systems are approved, ready and are successfully tested. The team should ensure the facility has an adequate cooling system which caters the company’s future needs. Migration team must ensure to de-commission equipments which won’t move into the new facility and make sure all the operations in old facility is completely closed.

Backup the Data:

Backup team will always be careful in backing-up the data; just in case have a recovery plan. Ensure this recovery plan is thoroughly tested and are tested at regular interval of time during the planning phase.

Following are some of the pitfalls that an organization need to avoid:

  • Know complete detail about migration plan: companies might now know from what they are moving and from where they are starting
  • Defalcation of a Relocation Design: some time organizations assume new facility fits into place without visiting.
  • Failed to Develop Complete Migration Plan:  Organizations

    sometimes fail to create a detailed migration plan and fail to assign tasks to individuals before executing plans.

  • Poor Execution of Migration Plans:  Inexperienced movers or advisors might face this problem, so companies need to hire experienced advisors and movers.

Data center migration process poses a serious problem for an organization which can lead to jeopardize relationships and crucial businesses. Data center migration team should be very agile and experienced enough to handle any critical issues.

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Data Center Monitoring Solutions

December 11, 2012 By

                Data centers usually maintain big data and are mainly associated with servers. Challenges associated with data center are ever increasing with their power, complexity and cooling requirements. Servers. Many companies have made an effort in developing tools and techniques which were working in the past but which might not meet today’s expectations. Following are the top challenges faced by any data center:

  • Managing the number of servers with limited resources
  • Efficiently utilize and manage resources
  • Gaining service level into the infrastructure
  • Monitoring heterogeneous environments
  • Monitoring servers in virtual environments

Following are some of the solutions which might help in tackling above mentioned challenges:

Data centers should implement monitoring systems like Green Works Monitoring Software:

                Green work is one of the comprehensive data center monitoring systems specially made for optimizing cooling and power efficiency.  This application gathers information from UPS, power panels, ATS, chillers and other environmental sensors. Collected information will be then mapped onto a 3D floor. This 3D visualization allows data center managers to have a quick view of energy usage, cooling performance and room conditions. Using this software threshold level can be set-up to provide SNMP and visual alerts.

                Features of Green Works Monitoring Software are:

  • Tracks energy consumption and provides a clear idea of how and where power is utilized
  • Can monitor energy consumption from a different time
  • Capable of identifying oversized and energy capacity to enable managers to realize where improvements can be implemented to reduce consumption.
  • Quickly generates an energy efficiency report to analyze utilization.
  • Capable of generating real time alerts when any device operates out of predefined threshold levels.
  • Easily accessible real time device status
  • Easy and simple to install
  • 30% less costly than other major data center monitoring software
  • Multiple vendor devices can be interfaced in one system.

Data Centers should implement Power Meters:

                Power monitoring system will provide reporting, data and other necessary critical information any data centers. Many servers including blade servers feature multiple power supply. These systems need to be load balanced and installed with the circuit monitoring system.

Following are some of the power meters tools which can be implemented in Data Centers:

  • Wireless Energy Meters

Gather power data from devices without network connectivity

Saves time and reduces cost linked to wired busses

Open data architecture

  • Branch Circuit Monitoring system

A single system can monitor up-to 168 circuits

Can be networked to monitor up-to 2688 circuits

  • Sentinel UPS battery monitoring system

Sentinel system measures temperature, voltage and impedance

Graphical Status report

Real Time Dashboard

Data centers should include Environmental Sensor:

                Preventing downtime and managing energy costs are the most critical issues faced by data center managers. Monitoring data center environmental condition inside the servers will enable managers to know its temperature and desired range of operations. Rack Monitoring systems have the ability to detect system failures before it causes any potential damage. This tool is also a valuable tool to gauge the efficiency of the fan systems, water coolers and aisle contaminant.

                Following are some of the

most impressive tools used to monitor environmental conditions:

  • Wireless Environmental Monitoring

Fluid sensor tags for real-time leakage and fluid detection

Air pressure for monitoring under floor pressure

Includes PDU tags for real-time power utilization monitor

  • MiniGoose XP II

Internal temperature sensor

Enabled with HTTP, SMTP, SNMP, Telnet

No master control needed

  • WeatherGoose II

Includes internal sensors for air flow, Sound, Temperature, Humidity and light

Rack or Bracket mounting

Includes 3 analog and 5 digital ports

All these tools will enable you to take action before any serious damage occurs in data centers.

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Data Center Operations and Its Biggest Mistakes

December 6, 2012 By

Data Center is a facility furnished with computer system and associated components, such as storage and telecommunication systems. Data centers are drawing attention globally with its unique features li

ke reliability, space for large data, redundancy and temperature control. Data centers generally include data communication connection, power supply backups, security devices, fire suppression and air conditioners. Massive data centers consume electricity as a small town and contribute a significant amount of air pollution in the form of diesel exhaust. Boom of data centers rose during the dot – com bubble. Similarly for years massive data centers are mesmerized to a lot of operational errors, mainly due to human blooper.

To yield better efficiency data centers companies have to ensure operational programs are fully functional and successful. Data centers have to be very watchful to avoid traps. Here are some of the common mistakes happen in data centers:

Relying Too Much on Data Center Design:

We can observe companies investing a lot of money on redundant design of the facility rather than concentrating on their operations. This is one of the best examples for human lackadaisical. Many data centers concentrate more on appointing specialist to design office building maintenance and no experts in managing critical operational facilities.

Disregarding Operation Team in Facility Design:

This is the first step that an organization needs to implement to balance the company’s capital expenditure. This step helps an organization to control and understand company’s operational expenditure. This step also includes determining performance characteristics and design criteria.

Failure in Addressing the Correct Number of Staffs:

Many Hosting companies owning data centers underestimate the need of appropriate staffing. Insufficient staffing can result in havoc at emergency situations. So it’s better to create schedule and deploy proper number of resources.

Failure in Training and Developing Right Talent

Once an organization hires a fresher or a qualified person, it’s important to provide training and support. Generating a positive

environment significantly improves the retention rates of the person. Companies need to have step by step training programs in order to expertise the work assigned to them.

Failing to Test Skills Consistently:

Organizations need to perform tests technicians consistently which might help in building right responses at the right time. Training alone cannot gain complete skills, regular test and assessments will improve overall reaction time during emergency situations.

Failure in Implementing Appropriate Procedures and Processes:

Companies have to look at the processes and procedures are moving on right schedule and yielding good results. Companies need to have a regular update on formal set of procedures and processes which return maximum efficiency. Some of the procedures include EOP (Emergency Operational Procedure), Emergency response, Standard Operational Procedure, vendor management and Method of procedure.

Failure in Using Software Management Tool:

Most of the data center organizations neglect to install software management tools to minimize the operational cost. This seems cost effective. When a company starts catering more number of customers, management team might be at risk because of poor document management.

Failure in Implementing Quality Systems:

Data center need to implement efficient, cost effective and reliable hardware. One of the best ways to ensure proper quality of the systems is by including a Quality Assurance team.

These are the main steps need to be maintained to gain maximum efficiency of the facility.

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DataBank's Dallas Data Center Nearing Completion

December 6, 2012 By

                DataBank is a leading provider of services that are designed to help to help customer organization to manage their risk and improve business performance and customized co-location. DataBank is aimed to offer 100% up-time for applications, equipment and data. DataBank has constructed few world-class data center facilities which deliver

customers a premium environment with multi-terabyte internet access and storage area. Customized technology performance solutions from DataBank are designed to help its customers effectively manage risk and improve their technology performance.

               DataBank announced the company’s latest facility in Richardson, Texas will be completed on schedule and will begin its operation in January. This new facility is now open for customers seeking for diverse locations and zero-downtime solutions to deploy their critical IT programs. This new facility in Dallas features 130, 000 data center space, high density network and power connectivity.

                DataBank Founder and Vice president of sales Jerry Blair said, “This facility offers a unique choice for businesses interested in a premium data center option within the attractive North Dallas technology corridor. Our solid reputation for delivering top-tier service and support has resulted in very strong demand for us to expand our presence, here in the region. The new facility represents a commitment by DataBank to provide the best option for Enterprise and Cloud computing clients who have zero-tolerance for downtime.”

                This new data center from DataBank has been configured to house 10, 000 raised floor; this allows company to deliver customized space which can be directed to meet customer’s requirements. Dallas facility will be powered by 20MW power configured in two 10MW feeds which allow 100% up-time for critical applications and infrastructures.

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BYTEGRID Acquires Massive Data Center in Atlanta

December 6, 2012 By

                ByteGrid is a privately

held company which provides data center facility. ByteGrid is headquartered in Northern Virginia. ByteGrid is committed to deliver highly efficient, resilient and flexible co-location data center products. ByteGrid is tagged with a team of professionals who are well versed in data center operations, design and development as well as leasing, capital markets and real estate finance.

                Cloud hosting provider and data center operator ByteGrid announced it has acquired a77, 322 sq ft data center in Alpharetta, Georgia from an undisclosed investment trust. ByteGrid is following a slightly different approach by expanding is data centers in undeserved secondary markets. Atlanta is growing to become the economic hub of Southeast.  By acquiring this massive data center, ByteGrid has an opportunity to grow its customer base. Alpharetta data center is located on 16 acres of land and previously was occupied by a Fortune 500 leading software and technology service company.

                This data center in Atlanta is equipped with 12KV independent power feed and comprises of dedicated underground conduit pathways and HVAC.

                ByteGrid CEO Ken Parent said, “With this acquisition, we are executing on our expansion strategy focused on becoming a national provider of superior wholesale data center facilities meeting the highest standards for security and reliability. Further, this news comes on the heels of some very significant and recently announced leasing activity at our Silver Spring facility. With the team that we have assembled and the continued support of our capital partner, we expect continued success on both leasing and acquisition fronts in addition to maintaining our standards of operational excellence.”

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Reasons to Renovate Your Data Centers

December 5, 2012 By

 

          Most of the data centers have following features false floors, windowless rooms, lots of electrical outlets, limited walking space and sterile. Data Center renovations one of the best paths where managers can improve performance and improve the overall efficiency of the center. By renovating Data centers, managers can yield a lot of improvements in terms of space, performance, operating cost and many others. When do managers know it’s time to renovate data centers? These following points will give some idea.

         One of the main goals of data centers is to maintain cool temperature. Whenever you traverse
inside the data center, if you get any hot flashes or when temperature fluctuates greatly. Then it’s time
to check and renovate the cooling system. CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) is one of the gauges
which tell how to manage cooling systems in your data centers.

         Each and every day technology keeps on upgrading. Have a look at technologies running in the current market and implement those in order to gain more efficiency. Implement new rack designs which provide a new level of savings in cost and energy and also improves the level of control over data center.

         No room to add more servers? When you think of adding a new rack of sever to gain more power into your data center, you think of renovation. Carefully analyze servers and remove the servers which are not running, this might cause under utilization of resources and might directly affect your operations and maintenance

cost.

         A fan is one of the cheapest cooling agents in data centers. A fan is capable of redirecting hot air away from servers and allows cool air inside the servers; this can reduce hot air between servers the data centers.

         When your data center looks like a room of cables. This means data center needs renovation and management team has to improve cabling. This might money and time and this leads to overall improvement of the data center.

         Worrying about natural disasters? We are not sure when data center might be struck with a flood or earth quake and other emergencies. New data center designs concentrate more on disaster management and recovery, implementing any of these designs might help to overcome disasters.

         Managers need to have a close look at data center Infrastructure management tools and these approaches might be worth of looking into. DCIM tools favor small data centers which are scalable.

         Not getting expected efficiency from your data centers? If you think that you are not yielding expected efficiency from your data centers, then it’s time to renovate your data center. While renovating data centers look for alternative energy sources and alternative source for cooling your servers. Managers need to make a regular survey on servers and eliminate redundant hardware which might eat up a lot of energy.

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