06 - Data Centers

Data Centers

Page Links: Networks, Miscellaneous, Virtualisation, Servers/Storage, Power, Cooling, Modular, Rack/Cabling, Apps

DC Networks

400GE: tips for DC designers. [DC Journal, PDF]
Leaf-and-spine fabric myths. [ipSpace: part 1, part 2]
Implications of valley-free routing in DC networks. [ipSpace]
DC networks are getting faster and smarter. [DC Knowledge]
Do we need leaf-and-spine fabrics? [ipSpace]
The year of 100GE in DC networks. [DC Knowledge]
Active-active data centers. [Russ White] [NetCraftsmen]
What DC operators need to know about migrating to 400GE. [DC Knowledge]
Optics and the DC. [DC Journal] [Russ White]
Transforming your DC with high-speed migration. [DC Journal]
Avoid summarisation in leaf-and-spine fabrics. [ipSpace]
Is OSPF or IS-IS good enough for my data centre? [ipSpace]
DC design: installing a modern network. [Network Computing]
DC interconnect and performance. [Russ White] [NetCraftsmen]
Microsegmentation. [Russ White] [Dark Reading]
EVPN with MPLS data plane in data centers. [ipSpace]
Planning for high-speed data center migration. [DC Knowledge]
Let’s pretend we run distributed storage over a thick yellow cable. [ipSpace]
Data centers everywhere via fibre. [DC Knowledge]
Data center networking challenges. [DC Journal]
Cross links in a spine and leaf. [Russ White]
Building DC fabrics with SPB. [ipSpace, video]
Network convergence: how it affects data centers. [DC Journal]
Do we need chassis switches anymore in the DC? [DC Overlords]
Meeting the many needs of data centre interconnect. [GazettaByte]
Spine and leaf fabrics: implicit or explicit compexity? [ipSpace]
Facebook building own fibre network to link data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook's split network backbone. [Russ White] [TheNextPlatform]
MegaSwitch: an interesting new data center fabric. [Russ White] [MegaSwitch PDF]
Overlays in DC fabrics. [ipSpace, video]
Why it's a good idea to clear your browser history and cookies. [Graham Cluley]
Why is online surveillance more repressive than ever -- NordVPN. [Voxy]
Why didn't we have leaf-and-spine fabrics decades ago? [ipSpace]
LinkedIn's data center design principles. [Network Computing] [Russ White]
Leaf-and-spine networks vs fabric extenders. [ipSpace]
Building a Layer-2 DC fabric in 2016. [ipSpace]
Do you have a plan for when your ISP goes down? [DC Journal]
Ingress traffic flow in multi-DC deployments. [ipSpace]
Conducting a DR test. [DC Journal]
Scaling L3-only DC networks. [ipSpace]
Navigating the data center networking landscape. [DC Knowledge]
DC fabric segment routing use case. [Russ White: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5]
Optimise your data center: reduce the number of uplinks. [ipSpace, video]
Building WAN infrastructure for the cloud. [Network Computing]
Nokia’s new case for GPON shrinking data center footprints. [DC Knowledge]
DAC cables and modules at 50Gbps / 200Gbps. [The Register]
Inside Facebook networking. [EtherealMind]
Data center fabrics and SDN. [ipSpace]
25GE data center deployment scenarios. [Network Computing]
The data center network of networks. [EtherealMind]
Data center interconnect design considerations. [Network Computing]
Using BGP in data center fabrics. [ipSpace]
Facebook shifts switch to 100G. [EE Times] [DC Knowledge]
Anyone can now build Facbook's data center switch. [DC Knowledge]
All you need are two switches. [ipSpace, presentation] [ipSpace, text]
Next-gen DC interconnect tech enables explosion of online video and cloud services. [DC Knowledge]
What happens when a data center switch fabric fails? [ipSpace]
Addressing the top five DCI challenges. [DC Knowledge]
Details on Google’s massive cloud infrastructure revealed. [ExtremeTech]
Why firewalls won't matter in a few years. [EtherealMind]
Design considerations for north/south flows in the data center. [Lost In Transit]
Design challenge: multiple data centers connected with slow links. [ipSpace]
How the network now defines the data center. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook launches new Iowa data center with entirely new network architecture. [DC Knowledge] [TechCrunch] [Gizmodo]

Facebook's new data center is bad news for Cisco. [Wired]
Photo tour of FB's new Iowa data center. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook's next-gen fabric. [ipSpace]

All you need are two top-of-rack switches. [ipSpace]
The role of internet exchanges in the data center interconnect market. [DC Knowledge]
Evolving the data center network core. [The Open Fabric]
The power of port replication in the data center. [DC Knowledge]
Cisco Nexus data center -- please help validate my design. [Reddit]
Juniper vs Cisco for DC/Core. [Reddit]
Is the data center "one network" or "connected smaller networks"? [EtherealMind]
Is hyperscale possible in networking? [Network Computing]
Cisco-threatening open switch coming from Facebook, Intel, and Broadcom. [Ars Technica]

Facebook's new "Wedge" Open Compute Project network switch. [Reddit] [Facebook] [Business Insider]

Wikipedia's Internet infrastructure. [DC Knowledge]
Data acceleration: a game changer for converged infrastructure. [DC Knowledge]
IPv6-only data centers: deployment guidelines. [ipSpace] [ipSpace Video]
SNAT vs PBR for server load balancing. [StackExchange]
How much data center bandwidth do you really need? [ipSpace]
Design options in dual-stack data centers. [ipSpace] [ipSpace MP4]
A closer look at data center high availability and service delivery. [DC Knowledge]
The software defined data center meets disaster recovery. [DC Knowledge]
Upgrading from 10GB/s to 40GB/s and beyond. [DC Knowledge]
Secure solutions for data center interconnect. [DC Knowledge]
Optimal solutions for data center connect (DCC). [DC Knowledge]
Data center networks are getting flatter and fitter. [The Register]
VM BPDU spoofing attack works quite nicely in HA clusters. [ipSpace]
Intel wants to kill the traditional server rack with 100Gbps links. [Ars Technica]
Consolidation: shrinking our way to Data Center 3.0. [DC Knowledge]
The world's biggest fibre LAN lives at a nuclear weapons research lab. [Gizmodo]
WAN routing in data centers with Layer 2 DCI. [ipSpace]
Making the case for DDoS protection. [DC Knowledge]

Why anti-DDoS services matter in today's business environment. [DC Knowledge]

Preventing a botnet attack on your data center. [DC Knowledge]
Merchant silicon evolution, 40GigE arriving in 2015, and impact on data center design. [EtherealMind]
Global strategies: communications and network design considerations. [DC Knowledge]
Intra-spine links in leaf-and-spine fabrics. [ipSpace]
The migration path from 10G to 40G and beyond. [DC Knowledge]
Cisco's open networking fabric for data centers and clouds. [Cisco]

Scale your data center. [Cisco]

Long-distance vMotion, stretched HA clusters, and business needs. [ipSpace]
Network virtualisation: a next generation modular platform for the data center virtual network. [Brad Hedlund]
How Google and Facebook will make the leap to lightspeed. [Wired]
Five questions to ask about your 10GE data center. [DC Knowledge]
Redundant data center Internet connectivity -- problem overview. [ipSpace]

Response: redundant data center Internet connectivity. [EtherealMind]
Redundant data center Internet connectivity -- high-level design. [ipSpace] [ipSpace]

Extending the data center into the cloud. [DC Knowledge]
How to build a zero downtime data center network. [DC Knowledge]
Link aggregation with stackable data center top-of-rack switches. [ipSpace]
Building a data center network for 10GBe servers. [DC Knowledge]
WAN technologies help data centers grow and evolve. [DC Knowledge]
Data center modernisation: from smart data centers to enterprise smart grids. [DC Knowledge]
SDN technologies bring data centers closer together. [DC Knowledge]
Prepare your network for hyperconvergence with WAN optimisation. [DC Knowledge]
IBM: nanophotonics will smash data center bottlenecks. [ReadWriteWeb] [DC Knowledge]
Who needs 16 uplinks? Welcome to the 10GE world! [ipSpace]
Large leaf-and-spine fabrics with Dell Force10 switches using 10GE uplinks. [ipSpace]
Stackable data center switches? Do the math! [ipSpace]
Benefits of deploying SFP+ fibre vs 10GBase-T. [DC Knowledge]
Big data for CERN requires a bit network. [DC Knowledge]
Basic introduction to leaf/spine data center networking fabric design. [Brad Hedlund]
Skip the transition: build IPv6-only data centers. [ipSpace]
Is layer-3 DCI safe? [ipSpace]
Don't use IPv6 RA on server LANs. [ipSpace]
Making the case for DDoS protection. [DC Knowledge]
Brocade's data center Ethernet strategy. [EtherealMind]
State of IPv6 in data center gear. [ipSpace]
Data center fabric presentations available online. [ipSpace]
QFabric behind the curtain: I was spot-on. [ipSpace]
High velocity trading rendered visceral. [BoingBoing] [BBC Podcasts]
How to optimise Internet performance. [DC Knowledge]
Virtualisation of data centers: new options in the control and data planes. [DC Knowledge]
Big bandwidth: unlocking a new competitive advantage. [WSJ ATD]
Meeting security challenges in virtualised data centers. [DC Knowledge]
How WAN optimisation can transform disaster recovery. [DC Knowledge]
Rethinking core economics of network growth. [DC Knowledge]
How the QFabric system enables a high-performance, scalable big data infrastructure. [Juniper]

Juniper updates QFabric for mid-sized data centers. [DC Knowledge]
The fastest data center in the ~~west~~ world. [Juniper]

Cisco puts a virtual router in the clouds. [The Register] [DC Knowledge]
High-speed trading: it's all about the nanoseconds. [DC Knowledge]
Network virtualisation. [Network Heresy]
IPv6-only data center. [ipSpace]
Architecting data center networks in the era of big data and cloud. [Brad Hedlund]
What is a virtual network? It's not what you think it is. [Wired]
Exercises to keep your data center on its toes. [The Register]
Optical networks and low latency for data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Full mesh is the worst possible fabric architecture. [ipSpace]
Google, Amazon, and Microsoft swarm China for network gear. [Wired]
Using FC, FCoE or iSCSCI when deploying new gear in existing data center. [ipSpace]
Network convergence: challenges and solutions. [DC Knowledge]
MPLS/VPN in the data center? Maybe not in the hypervisors. [ipSpace]
Super-secret Google builds servers in the dark. [Wired] [Gizmodo]
Server naming conventions, revisited. [DC Knowledge]
The new data center geography. [DC Knowledge]
5 best practices for data center migration. [DC Knowledge: part 1, part 2]
Microsoft network load balancing behind the scenes. [ipSpace]
The network's role in data center efficiency. [DC Knowledge]
Simplify the future by unifying the data center. [DC Knowledge]
IP renumbering in disaster avoidance data center designs. [ipSpace]
Is your network WAN optimisation really helping? [DC Knowledge]
Tips for simplifying your cloud network. [DC Knowledge]
Defining "fabric" in the era of overlays. [Network Heresy]
VM-aware networking improves IAAS cloud scalability. [ipSpace]
Ethernet reaches for the hyper-scale cloud. [The Register]
What are 10 Gigabit ultra short reach (USR) optics? [EtherealMind]

More on 10GBase USR optics. [EtherealMind]

Data center fabric architectures -- almost there. [IOS Hints]
Hadoop network design challenge. [Brad Hedlund]
You can't sell multi-hop FCoE even though it's a consultant's dream. [EtherealMind]
Busting layer-2 data center interconnect myths. [IOS Hints]
Can network architectures break the speed limit? [The Register]
IPv6 adoption in the data center. [DC Knowledge]
Switch fabrics: I/O queues and buffers. [EtherealMind]
FCoE networking elements classification. [IOS Hints]
The battle for the converged data center network. [DC Knowledge]
Packet-Optical data center interconnect networks. [DC Knowledge]
Do we really want 100Gig Ethernet? [The Register]
What is the definition of a switch fabric? [EtherealMind]
Cisco's latest 'fabric'. Really? [Juniper]
Data centers and IPv6: why it matters to you. [DC Knowledge]
High & low: performance and latency matter. [DC Knowledge]
On data center scale, OpenFlow, and SDN. [Brad Hedlund]
How many 10GE ports do you really need? [EtherealMind]
Distributed firewalls: how badly do you want to fail? [IOS Hints]
(V)Cloud architects, ever heard of MPLS? [IOS Hints]

MPLS/VPN in data center interconnect (DCI) designs. [IOS Hints]

When is a fabric not a fabric? [Juniper]
Comparing data center fabrics from Juniper, Brocade and Cisco. [Etherealmind]

Inverse virtualisation for Internet-scale applications. [Brad Hedlund]

Cisco launches two more IPv4-only data center products. [IOS Hints]
How would you use VPLS transport in L2 DCI? [IOS Hints]
FCoE:

FCoMPLS -- attack of the zombies. [IOS Hints]
Why would FC/FCoE scale better than iSCSI? [IOS Hints]
FCoE between data centers? Forget it! [IOS Hints]
FCoE, QCN and frame relay analogies. [IOS Hints]
Is FC switching bridging or routing? [IOS Hints]

So what part of Layer 3 don't they get? [Juniper]
The two roles of the data center network. [Juniper]
Here's now a datacentre network works. [The Register]
Futures review on 40 and 100 gigabit Ethernet. [Etherealmind]
DCI encryption. [DC Knowledge]
The next wave of network convergence. [DC Knowledge]
Ethernet adapts to many data center applications. [Network World]
Routed or switched access layers -- why not both? [PacketLife]
ATAoE for converged DC networks? No way. [IOS Hints]
Google eyes ‘optical express’ for its network. [DC Knowledge]
How Google routes around outages. [DC Knowledge]

Miscellaneous Articles

Creating the next-gen data center. [DC Knowledge]
Guide to floor optimisation. [DC Knowledge]
How to mitigate hidden security challenges lurking within data centers. [DC Knowledge]
New approaches to physical security requires inside-out assessment. [DC Journal]
Finding strength in numbers: the DC clustering effect. [DC Knowledge]
Make DC monitoring more meaningful. [DC Journal]
How to design a data center in a Norwegian fjord. [DC Knowledge]
Data center physical realities in a software-defined world. [Network Computing]
Be proactive in DC earthquake mitigation. [DC Knowledge]
Most DC outages aren't caused by tech failure. [DC Knowledge]
Perimeter security: strategies for data center protection. [DC Knowledge]
Massive 6-storey data center in a Norwegian mine comes online. [DC Knowledge]
Inside the new Facebook DC in Texas. [DC Knowledge] [Facebook]
Optimise your DC infrastructure: [ipSpace]

Virtualise the servers. [ipSpace]
Ditch the legacy technologies. [ipSpace]

Everything you wanted to know about Google data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Inside a Google data center. [Fstoppers] [YouTube]
Top three disaster recovery mistakes. [Network Computing]
Five tips for choosing your DC wisely. [DC Journal]
Data centre locations: In the city or up the country? [DC Knowledge]
Are you getting everything your data center design is meant to deliver? [DC Knowledge]
Everything you wanted to know about Facebook data centers. [DC Knowledge, DC Knowledge]
What Facebook has learnt from regularly shutting down entire data centers. [DC Knowledge] [Russ White]
One DC standard to rule them all? [DC Knowledge]
DC architecture lessons from Isaac Newton. [Network Computing]
Data center security requires paranoia. [Network Computing]
LinkedIn pushes own data center hardware standard. [DC Knowledge]
Is parcel protocol right for your data transfer needs? [DC Knowledge]
Building a future-proof data center. [DC Knowledge]
Overcoming the six main obstacles to DC performance. [DC Journal]
Optimise your data center: ditch the legacy technologies. [ipSpace, video]
Unexpected recovery might kill your data center. [ipSpace]
Guide to Facebook’s open source data center hardware. [DC Knowledge]
The 'smarter', software-defined data center. [DC Knowledge]
Are software-defined data centers really a new idea? [DC Knowledge]
Designing data centers for the future. [DC Knowledge]
Robotic data center switch automates physical connections. [DC Knowledge]
7 biggest DC migration mistakes -- and how to avoid them. [DC Knowledge]
Data center design -- which standards to follow? [DC Knowledge]
Can you afford to reformat your data center? [ipSpace]
Karl Brumund: building a small DC. [EtherealMind]
Equinix doubles down in one of the Internet's most important locations. [DC Knowledge]
The modern data center: challenges and innovations. [DC Knowledge]
Designing active-active and DR data centers. [ipSpace]
Six facts in high-availability data center design. [DC Knowledge]
Mega data center design: what DuPont Fabros learned from building its biggest facility yet. [DC Knowledge]
How to build a server room: back to basics. [The Register]
Lack of procedure plagues DC industry. [DC Knowledge]
Switch claims Reno site will be world’s largest data center. [DC Knowledge]
DC consolication checklist. [DC Knowledge]
Five data centres you can't live without. [The Register]
Inside the Social Network's data center. [Russ White] [UCSD PDF]
Data Center 2.0 -- the emerging trend in colocation. [DC Knowledge]
Why data centers look the way they do. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook sued: Data center designs 'nicked' for Open Compute. [The Register]
Why you need to x-ray your data center. [ReadWriteWeb]
Four steps to a successful data center migration. [DC Knowledge]
Video tour of Google's South Carolina data center. [DC Knowledge] [YouTube]
Data center design: five key areas of focus. [DC Knowledge]
Security is key: five data center protection questions to keep your data safe. [DC Knowledge]
How Facebook is hacking together a better data center. [Gizmodo]
See what’s buried in the Swiss bunkers turned into secretive data centers. [Wired]
Facebook turned off entire data center to test resiliency. [DC Knowledge]
The last data center on Earth? The case for ‘As-a-Service’ everywhere. [Wired]
The road to software-defined data center. [DC Knowledge]
Software-defined data centers: what lies ahead? [DC Knowledge]
The home data center: man cave for the Internet age. [DC Knowledge]
Data center design: customization vs. personalization. [DC Knowledge]
Redefining system architecture with data at the core. [DC Knowledge]
Four big advantages of multi-tenant data centers. [DC Knowledge]
The data centers of tomorrow will use the same tech our mobile phones do. [Wired]
Google: from 112 servers to a $5B-plus quarterly data center bill. [DC Knowledge] [Google+]
How to better align your data center’s physical infrastructure. [DC Knowledge]
Deutsche Telekom touts new data center as ‘Fort Knox’ for German data. [DC Knowledge]
10 of the strangest data center outages. [DC Knowledge]
Get the humans out of the data center. [DC Knowledge]
On policy in the data center: the solution space. [Network Heresy]
Building the part of Facebook no one ever sees. [Gizmodo]
Survey: enterprise data centers fail more often than colos. [DC Knowledge]
Five reasons modern data centers use environmental sensors. [DC Knowledge]
Data center migragion -- critical lessons learnt. [DC Knowledge]
Top 9 mistakes in data center planning. [DC Knowledge]
Data center security lessones from Heartbleed and Target. [DC Knowledge]
Why data centers are popping up in Iowa. [ReadWriteWeb]
What will the data center of 2025 look like? [DC Knowledge]
Creating next-gen visibility in the modern data center. [DC Knowledge]
Equipping the next generation of data center professionals. [DC Knowledge]
The software-defined data center: potential game changer. [Network Computing]
6 considerations in choosing a data colocation provider. [DC Knowledge]
How Facebook flipped the data centre hardware market. [The Register]
New data center design drives efficiency gains for DuPont Fabros. [DC Knowledge]
Professional labeling essential to data center security and audit compliance. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook rethinks how it builds data centers: Lego or IKEA? [DC Knowledge]
Google's first data center. [DC Knowledge] [Google+]
Disasters and recoveries. [ipSpace: part 1, part 2]
Converging the modern data center layers. [DC Knowledge]
Five great ways to optimise your data center. [DC Knowledge]
Google Glass: a vision for the future of DC maintenance. [DC Knowledge]
Understanding and mitigating risk from DC threats. [DC Knowledge]
Unifying the DC operations with true DCIM. [DC Knowledge]
Tips for preventing data center outages. [Network Computing]
10 key considerations for a successful DCIM project. [DC Knowledge]
AMS-IX opens Internet exchange in the New York market. [DC Knowledge]
Want a unified data center? Don't forget to defrag the admins. [The Register]
7 attributes that help counter data center downtime. [DC Knowledge]
DR site selection: factors and approach. [DC Knowledge]
Next-generation data centers require next-generation security. [DC Knowledge]
The importance of designing seismic certified data centers. [DC Knowledge]
The pros and cons of underground data centers. [DC Knowledge]
A guide to successful data center migration. [DC Knowledge]
Five tips to help secure your data center. [DC Knowledge]
Best practices for lifting and handling data center equipment. [DC Knowledge]
Video: inefficient data center design. [DC Knowledge]
From the ground up: building and efficient data center. [DC Knowledge]
Cut DC costs and complexity by unifying and simplifying DCIM. [DC Knowledge]
Defining the new data center operating system. [DC Knowledge]
Infographic: overcoming data center barriers. [DC Knowledge]
DCIM integration: are IT management tools enough? [DC Knowledge]
A storm of servers: how the leap second led Facebook to build DCIM tools. [DC Knowledge]
What the inside of an NSA data center looks like? [DC Knowledge]
Five tips to boost your DC IQ. [DC Knowledge]
In DR planning, don't neglect home site restoration. [DC Knowledge]
Intel details new visions for the data center. [WSJ ATD] [WSJ]
Learn to unlock the full business value of DCIM. [DC Knowledge]
Important geographic and risk mitigation factors in selecting a data center site. [DC Knowledge]
Using DCIM to create a common data center management approach. [DC Knowledge]
LINX housing IT infrastructure in Interxion London. [DC Knowledge]
Understanding the value and scope of data center commissioning. [DC Knowledge]
Debunking the myths and fears of converged infrastructure. [DC Knowledge]
Cisco's data center strategy takes a sharp turn toward applications. [Cisco]
The changing data center landscape. [Juniper]
The modern data center: an integrated world. [DC Knowledge]
Aging infrastructure and evolving threats -- Data Center 2.0 is redefining security. [DC Knowledge]
Modernising vs revolutionising. [DC Knowledge]
Storm-proofing data centers for hurricanes and tornadoes. [DC Knowledge]
Modernising vintage data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Inside Facebook's new Luleå data center. [DC Knowledge] [Ars Technica] [BBC News] [Engadget]
The final phase of construction on a data center facility. [DC Knowledge]
Is building a data center a sign of failure, not success? [ReadWriteWeb]
The hidden beauty of the data center. [DC Knowledge] [DC Knowledge]
The hidden cost of system sprawl. [DC Knowledge]
The robot-driven data center of tomorrow. [DC Knowledge]
Data center design for a mobile environment. [DC Knowledge]
Understanding data center commissioning and its benefits. [DC Knowledge]
Equinix unveils new crown jewel for Ashburn Campus. [DC Knowledge]
Why data centers are shifting towards converged infrastructures. [DC Knowledge]
The Facebook special: how Intel builds custom chips for giants of the web. [Wired]
DCIM: inside the information bubble. [DC Knowledge]
Data center designs for evolving hardware. [DC Knowledge]
The billion dollar data centers. [DC Knowledge]
How to ensure your monitoring meets your needs. [DC Knowledge]
DCK executive guide to data center design. [DC Knowledge]

Designing for high availability and system failure. [DC Knowledge]

Making robust data center design decisions. [DC Knowledge]
Learn how DCIM can save you 30% in data center operations costs. [DC Knowledge]
The importance of networking in data center TCO. [DC Knowledge]
Converging the data center infrastructure: why and how. [DC Knowledge]
The rise of the worker-friendly data center. [DC Knowledge]
How to introduce modern architectures and best practice to the data center. [The Register]
Cisco + Microsoft team to target the data center. [DC Knowledge] [Cisco]

Cisco ports Nexus 1000V virtual switch to Microsoft's Hyper-V. [The Register]
Installing a cloud services router 1000v in VMware ESXi 5.1. [CCIE Blog]
Installing the cloud services router CSR1000v in VMware Fusion. [CCIE Blog]

How can you save up to 30% in data center operation costs? [DC Knowledge]
Managing the data center -- one rack at a time. [DC Knowledge]
Five essential keys to success when relocating a data center. [DC Knowledge]
DCK guide to modular data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Business justifications for a custom data center. [DC Knowledge]
An in-depth guide for data center transformation. [DC Knowledge]
Timelines and potential pitfalls of a custom data center. [DC Knowledge]
Colocation communities are a match for cloud. [DC Knowledge]
Are carrier hotels reliable enough? [DC Knowledge] [John Savageau]
Inside ViaWest's Tier 4 data center. [DC Knowledge]
Custom data centers: responsibilities of the stakeholders. [DC Knowledge]
How Sandy has altered data center disaster planning. [DC Knowledge]
A roadmap for data center transformation. [DC Knowledge]
New eBay metrics help save millions in data center costs. [ReadWriteWeb]
Video: how Facebook manages data centers at scale. [DC Knowledge]
Understanding IT risks. [DC Knowledge]
Microsoft joins Open Data Center Alliance. [DC Knowledge]
10 considerations in building a global data center strategy. [DC Knowledge]
Whatever happened to High Availability? [DC Knowledge]
A forgotten data center cost: lost capacity. [DC Knowledge]
Navigating data center performance challenges with KPIs. [DC Knowledge: part 1, part 2]
Is your DR plan ready? Tips to help you weather the storm. [DC Knowledge]
New approaches to data center consolidation. [DC Knowledge]
Microsoft's evolving data center design. [DC Knowledge]
Microsoft's $1 billion data center. [DC Knowledge]
Transitioning to your own data center. [DC Knowledge]
Video: what lurks beneath your raised floor? [DC Knowledge]
Inside the Gozi bulletproof hosting facility. [Krebs]
Creating data center strategies with global scale. [DC Knowledge]
Decrease costs and gain a competitive advantage by improving DCIM. [DC Knowledge]
Top five data center issues: DCIM to the rescue. [DC Knowledge]
Disaster recovery is not business continuity. [DC Knowledge]
North Carolina's data center corridor: from fibre to servers. [DC Knowledge]
Don't let your data center be overtaken. [The Register]
Why data center managers shouldn't feel threatened by colocation. [DC Knowledge]
2013: say goodbye to the traditional data center. [ReadWriteWeb]
Timelapse of the NCI supercomputer being built. [HardOCP] [YouTube]
Is the future of data centers small and distributed? [EtherealMind]
Colocation decision checklist and best practices. [DC Knowledge]
Inside Facebook's NC data center campus. [DC Knowledge]

Video: Facebook's next-generation servers. [DC Knowledge]

Colocation planning: environmental control and managment. [DC Knowledge]
Video: Level 3's Omaha data center. [DC Knowledge] [YouTube]
In Phoenix, the birth of a data center. [DC Knowledge]
Colocation selection: analysing the workload. [DC Knowledge]
Evaluating a colocation facility. [DC Knowledge]
Colt wants to future-proof the data center. [DC Knowledge]
Sandy's lessons about disaster recovery. [DC Knowledge]

After Sandy, Verizon confronts 'catastrophic failure' at NY cable vault. [DC Knowledge] [The Verge] [ExtremeTech]

Data center maturity: training to make your data center more efficient. [DC Knowledge]
Four reasons to build data center capacity off-site. [DC Knowledge]
Disaster recovery: boost confidence in your plans. [DC Knowledge]
Where servers meet saunas: a visit to Google's Finland data center. [Wired]
Google's data centers: an inside look. [Google Blog] [DC Knowledge] [NZ Herald] [ExtremeTech] [HardOCP] [Google] [Wired] [Stuff] [THG]

Imperial Stormtrooper at Google's data center. [Gizmodo]

Can your data center survive an earthquake? How to know your risk. [DC Knowledge]
Colocation's changing distance factor. [DC Knowledge]
Early warning systems: data center monitoring. [DC Knowledge]
Inside the Oak Ridge supercomputing facility. [DC Knowledge]
Video tour of an Equinix data center. [PacketLife]
Modern data center classifications: which one is right for you? [DC Knowledge]
Factors that lead to successful data center strategies. [DC Knowledge]
Automating data center asset management: it's about time. [DC Knowledge]
Calculating data center costs in virtual environments. [DC Knowledge]
Goodbye silos -- the benefits of converged data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Decrease your costs by improving DCIM. [DC Knowledge]
Guide to data center colocation. [DC Knowledge]
Do you control your data center, or is it controlling you? [DC Knowledge]
Density: more than a metric. [DC Knowledge: part 1, part 2]
10 safety tips on electrocution for the network engineer. [EtherealMind]
An Olympian infrastructure challenge. [DC Knowledge]
Data center disaster preparedness: 6 assurances you should look for in a data center provider. [DC Knowledge]
Key factors impacting TCO. [DC Knowledge]
Integration of data center services and systems. [DC Knowledge]
How Apple's North Carolina data center got built. [TUAW] [GigaOM: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4]
Still no sign of data ships on the horizon. [DC Knowledge]
Applying DCIM in colocation data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Rapid evacuation of a data center. [DC Knowledge] [Slashdot]
Notes from the road: DCIM simplified. [DC Knowledge]
Enabling data center and cloud service management. [DC Knowledge]
What lies ahead for the future of DCIM? [DC Knowledge]
Courting disaster: denial is NOT an option. [DC Knowledge]
Data center governance. [DC Knowledge]
Demand design: beyond 'keeping the lights on'. [DC Knowledge]
DCIM yields return on investment. [DC Knowledge]
How do I select a DCIM tool to fit my data center? [DC Knowledge]
HP developing 'net-zero' data center concept. [DC Knowledge] [Geekzone] [Wired]
The inside scoop on Facebook's data centers. [DC Knowledge]

The Facebook data center FAQ. [DC Knowledge]

What functionality is important for DCIM solutions? [DC Knowledge]
The Apple data center FAQ. [DC Knowledge]
Data center real estate showing maturity. [DC Knowledge]
Integrated approach to DCIM yields best results. [DC Knowledge]
Why do I need DCIM? [DC Knowledge]
A glimpse inside Google's data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Data center design models and trends. [DC Knowledge: part 1, part 2]
UK data bunker features 12-ton blast door. [DC Knowledge]
Comparing the efficiencies of fixed vs chassis switches. [Brad Hedlund]

Are fixed switches more efficient than chassis ones? [ipSpace]

Why flexibility in DCIM is so imporant. [DC Knowledge]
Open Compute shakes up server supply chain. [DC Knowledge]
Choosing a data center colocation site. [DC Knowledge]

How to choose a green colocation provider. [DC Knowledge]
Colocation buyer's guide. [DC Knowledge]

6 questions for your next data center provider. [DC Knowledge]
Coolest job in tech (literally): running a South Pole data center. [Ars Technica]
The four trends driving the future of data center design. [DC Knowledge]
Inside GoDaddy's Phoenix data center. [DC Knowledge] [DC Knowledge]
Data centers will be manned by engineers sleeping in these pods during the Olympics. [Gizmodo] [Wired]
Visa shows off data center "moat". [The Register]
Understanding uptime and data center tier levels. [DC Knowledge]
Scalable, virtualised, automated data center. [ipSpace]
What's the true meaning of DCIM? [DC Knowledge]
The build or buy decision is all about risk. [DC Knowledge]

Data center build or buy: factors to consider. [DC Knowledge]

Data center site selection factors. [DC Knowledge]
Notes from the road: tearing down the silos. [DC Knowledge]
Data center expansion: build or buy? [DC Knowledge]
The Facebook data center project in Luleå. [DC Knowledge]
How Cisco chooses data center locations. [DC Knowledge] [Cisco]
Looking towards big, bold and broad data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Trends for 2012: data center design and operations. [DC Knowledge]
World's data centers refuse to exit ice age. [Wired]
Infographic: the ever-expanding data center. [ReadWriteWeb]

GIF attached below: IS03103_Data-Center-Info-2011.gif

The rise of the local data center. [ComputerWorld] [GeekZone]
Global colocation: consolidation vs diversification. [DC Knowledge]
Problems with Cat6A cables in data center. [EtherealMind]
Rackspace: 'We want to be your OpenStack maniac'. [The Register]
Lights-out data center? Why isn't everyone doing it? [Kip and Gary]
Why Gigamon scares the crap out of me. [Evil Routers]
Can open hardware transform the data center? [DC Knowledge]
Video: Facebook's North Carolina data center. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook to build massive Arctic data center in Sweden. [HardOCP] [Gizmodo] [THG UK] [Gizmodo] [DC Knowledge] [Coolest Gadgets]

Facebook's Swedish data center will be subject to Snoop Law. [The Register]

Video: 60 Hudson and the hidden Internet. [DC Knowledge]
Microsoft data center design evolves in Iowa. [DC Knowledge]
Data center fabric architectures (EuroNOG 2011). [IOS Hints]
Data center design remains a key area of interest. [DC Knowledge]
Discover the key to a more cost-effective data center. [Alcatel-Lucent]

Data center connect solution. [Alcatel-Lucent]
PDF attached below: HP-ALU_Cloud-Ready-Datacenter_EN_StraWhitePaper_RMK0591100801.pdf
PDF attached below: HP-ALU_DCNC_solution-brief.pdf

Rayburn: Akamai needs to evolve. [DC Knowledge] [Streaming Media Blog]
Optimising data center design -- 7 best practices. [DC Knowledge]
Video: Cisco's new Raleigh data center. [DC Knowledge]
Gmail: greener than your email? [DC Knowledge]
How the Skype deal can pay off for Microsoft. [DC Knowledge]
Building cost-effective data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Just when you thought it was safe to enter the data center. [The Register]
Video tour: Atlanta's 56 Marietta data center hub. [DC Knowledge]
Building a greenfield data center. [IOS Hints]
The 3 layers of data center management. [DC Knowledge]
Google: at scale, everything breaks. [ZDNet]
A look inside Amazon's data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Steve Jobs provides a look inside the iDataCenter. [DC Knowledge] [The Register]
Video: Cisco's new data center. [DC Knowledge]
Video: Google's data center best practices. [DC Knowledge]
Data center fabric architectures. [IOS Hints]
Video: inside Google's newest data center. [DC Knowledge] [Business Insider]
How Facebook brings a new data center online. [GigaOM]
Top 5 data center white papers. [DC Knowledge]

Case Studies on Data Center Virtualization
Power Monitoring for Modern Data Centers
2011 US Data Center Market Drivers
Guide to Risk Mitigation for Financial Services
Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM)

Video: Google's data center security. [DC Knowledge] [WSJ ATD] [Business Insider] [The Register]
Closer look: HP's Suwanee data center. [DC Knowledge]
Photo tour of Facebook's new data center. [Scobleizer]
Closer look: Next Generation Data's megasite. [DC Knowledge]
Strategies to cut data center costs. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook opens its server, data center designs. [DC Knowledge]

Facebook unveils custom servers, facility design. [DC Knowledge]
Open Compute project. [James Hamilton]
Facebook open sources its servers and data centers. [GigaOM]
Facebook's new data center: smarter, greener and doggone it, people like it. [WSJ ATD]
Closer look: Facebook's Open Compute servers. [DC Knowledge]
Building efficient data centers with the Open Compute project. [Facebook] [Facebook]
Facebook's Open Compute project. [marco.org]
Video: inside Facebook's server room. [DC Knowledge]
Video: Facebook's 'penthouse' cooling system. [DC Knowledge]
Video tour of Facebook's data center now up. [Scobleizer]

Introduction to data center 3.0. [Network Janitor]

PDF attached below: Introduction to Data Center 3.0.pdf

Requirements for building today's data centers. [DC Knowledge]
To the Death Star: tour of LucasFilm's data center. [DC Knowledge] [All Things Digital]

The secret to some of Lucasfilm's magic: nVidia GPU chips. [All Things Digital]

How Japan's data centers manage earthquakes. [DC Knowledge]

Quake & tech: cable damaged, flash supply risk. [DC Knowledge]
Despite the quake, Japan's Internet connections are going strong. [All Things Digital]
Keynote: Internet held up well after Japan quake. [DC Knowledge]
Major Tokyo data centers fuel up for blackouts. [DC Knowledge]
Japan quake: multiple undersea cables damaged. [DC Knowledge] [WSJ] [Light Reading]

Criminals, critters cause utility outages. [DC Knowledge] [Pingdom]
Making data center design more people-friendly. [DC Knowledge]
Fabric computing: Gartner's view for the future data center. [Juniper]
Facebook's expansion: how big, how fast? [DC Knowledge]
Intel's datacentre strategy. [DC Knowledge]
The Swiss "Fort Knox" data center. [DC Knowledge] [Wired]
Inside Cisco's new Texas data center. [DC Knowledge]
Five simple rules for transforming your data center. [DC Knowledge]
How to prevent downtime due to human error. [DC Knowledge]
Google & Facebook: a tale of two data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Ten unique data center designs. [DC Knowledge]
HP unveils "butterfly" data center design. [DC Knowledge]
Capacity planning at Internet scale. [DC Knowledge]
A day in the life of a Facebook engineer. [DC Knowledge]
Google: how we're making the web faster. [DC Knowledge]
Video view: Google’s data center technology. [DC Knowledge]
Juniper's "3-2-1" data center architecture. [Juniper] [DC Knowledge]
Level 3 refines its content delivery network. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook amassing data center space. [DC Knowledge]
The world's largest data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Earthquakes and data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Building mission critical data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Avatar, Hollywood and the data center. [DC Knowledge]
Data center density hits the wall. [Computer World]
The data-crunching powerhouse behind "Avatar". [DC Knowledge]

Network Virtualisation

Making the dream of NFV a reality. [DC Journal]
A guide to the key elements of NFV usage. [GazettaByte]
Network Function Virtualisation - NFV:

NFV overview. [ipCisco]
NFV infrastructure. [ipCisco]
NFV and SDN. [ipCisco]

How useful is microsegmentation? [ipSpace]
Software-defined data centers: VMware designs. [Network Computing]
Virtualization in the WAN: where it's headed. [Network Computing]
Hyperconvergence in the network. [Russ White] [ECI Telecom]
Hyperconverged infrastructure: what companies should think. [DC Journal]
What is a hyperconverged infrastructure? [ipSpace]
Three key things to rethink in an era of hyperconverged infrastructure. [DC Knowledge]
To YANG or not YANG, that is the question. [ipSpace]
IT automation: what to automate and when? [DC Knowledge]
One third of AT&T's network is now virtualised. [DC Knowledge]
L3 virtualisation and VRFs. [ipSpace]
Deploying network virtualization in the enterprise. [Network Computing]
Running BGP between virtual machine and ToR switch. [ipSpace]
Server virtualisation slides. [The Next Platform]
STP on virtual switches. [ipSpace]
SSL termination on virtual appliances -- another myth busted. [ipSpace]
Do you speak NFV? Time to go back to school and learn. [The Register]
Can virtual routers compete with physical hardware? [ipSpace]
Learning by doing: orphaned DVS uplink. [Network Inferno]
Virtual appliances and shorter lifecycles. [EtherealMind]
Should I use a traditional firewall in a microsegmented environment? [ipSpace]
Do we still need subnets in virtualised networks? [ipSpace]
Open platforms, open networks: the new IP. [ReadWriteWeb]
VMs compared. [The Register]
Hardware gateways in overlay virtual networks. [ipSpace, video]
Purge all the firewall rules. [Network Inferno: part 1, part 2]
How do I get started with SDN and virtualisation? [ipSpace]
The pros and cons of Open Compute. [The Register]
Availability zones in overlay virtual networks. [ipSpace, video]
Overlay networking as a method to scale flow networking and handling. [EtherealMind]
Myths that refuse to die: scalability of overlay networking. [ipSpace]
Cisco puts elastic in the fabric. [The Register]
Telco heavyweights pass packets in NFV demo. [The Register]
Why Cisco is warming to non-ACI data center SDN. [DC Knowledge]
Scaling overlay networks: the problem. [ipSpace, video]
OVN brings networking function to OVS. [Network Inferno] [Network Heresy] [Open vSwitch]
Implementing a zero-trust security architecture. [Network Inferno]
Overlay virtual networks in software-defined data centers. [ipSpace]
The network iceberg -- virtualisation. [Network Static]
Network programmability:

Phase 1: the configured network. [ipSpace]
Phase 2: the provisioned network. [ipSpace]

Connecting virtual routers to the outside world. [ipSpace]
Geneve -- ecosystem support has arrived. [Network Heresy]
Finally: a virtual switch that supports BPDU Guard. [ipSpace]
Physical networks in the virtualized networking world. [Network Heresy]
Virtual switch 101. [ipSpace]
An introduction to Zero Trust virtualization-centric security. [Brad Hedlund]
The DCK guide to the as-a-service revolution. [DC Knowledge]
Complex routing in Hyper-V network virtualisation. [ipSpace]
Is Open vSwitch control plane in-band or out-of-band? [ipSpace]
Overlay virtual networking solutions overview. [ipSpace]
Overlay networking & VXLAN means MPLS in the data center is dead. [EtherealMind]
Death to vMotion. [DC Overlords]
Packet forwarding in Amazon VPC. [ipSpace]
Virtual packet forwarding in Hyper-V network virtualisation. [ipSpace]
An update on using GRE tunnels with Open vSwitch. [Scott Lowe]
Network virtualisation and the end-to-end principle. [Network Heresy]
Can OpenStack be saved from itself? [ReadWriteWeb]
Don't leave network virtualisation to server admins. [Network Computing]
OpenStack adds F5 as member. [The Register]
The power of a consumable data center network design. [DC Knowledge]
OpenStack Quantum (Neutron) plug-in: there can only be one. [ipSpace]
What are the benefits of enterprise-level virtualisation? [Lifehacker]
Migrating a cold VM into a foreign subnet. [ipSpace]
Why is network virtualisation so hard? [ipSpace]
Network virtualisation gets physical. [Network Heresy]
Software defined data centers and the blending of cultures. [Network Janitor]
Visibility, debugging, and network virtualisation. [Network Heresy: part 1, part 2]
Smart fabrics vs overlay virtual networks. [ipSpace]
What is a distributed firewall? [Brad Hedlund]
Virtualisation acceleration in the real world. [DC Knowledge]
Selling management on virtualised infrastructure. [DC Knowledge]
Network virtualisation and spaghetti wall. [ipSpace]
What is the software defined data center, and why is it important? [WSJ ATD]
The secret to OpenStack's success. [ReadWriteWeb]
Dynamic routing with virtual appliances. [ipSpace]
Introduction to how overlay networking and tunnel fabrics work. [EtherealMind]
Network virtualisation at TOR switches? Makes as much sense as IP-over-APPN. [ipSpace]
Scale, SDN, and network virtualisation. [Network Heresy]
What is network virtualisation? [Brad Hedlund] [ipSpace]
Hyper-V 3.0 extensible virtual switch. [ipSpace]
Open Compute will begin building network switches. [DC Knowledge]

Facebook crashes into networking with open switch. [The Register] [Ars Technica] [Wired] [ReadWriteWeb]

Server Guy's guide to virtual networks. [ipSpace: PDF]
Open vSwitch under the hood. [ipSpace]
Virtual firewall presentation from Troopers 13. [ipSpace] [ipSpace PDF]
Resiliency of VM NIC firewalls. [ipSpace]
OpenStack: control freak is a platform, just like Android and iOS. [The Register]
Virtualisation: the next frontier. [DC Knowledge]
Ericsson readies carrier-grade OpenStack for telcos and SPs. [The Register]
Steps to protect your data center after virtualisation. [DC Knowledge]
OpenStack isn't our saviour from lock-in or support costs. [EtherealMind]
OpenCompute servers and the impact on networking. [EtherealMind]
OpenStack 101: what is OpenStack? [DC Knowledge]
Hyper-V network virtualisation (WNV/NVGRE): simply amazing. [ipSpace]
The truth about virtualisation security. [Juniper]
Virtual firewall taxonomy. [ipSpace]

What exactly are virtual firewalls? [ipSpace]

Monitoring virtual data centers: how to avoid the virtual blind spot. [DC Knowledge]
Cisco rolls up its own OpenStack distro. [The Register]
Tunneling for network virtualisation. [Network Heresy]
Free, open-source VirtualBox lags behind VMware and Parallels. [Ars Technica]
OpenStack 1.0 specification available now. [EtherealMind] [Open Compute Project]
OpenStack rolls out new features with Folsom. [DC Knowledge] [The Register]
Infrastructure-as-code with OpenStack. [DC Knowledge]
OpenStack gets real. [GigaOM]
Security implications of virtualisation. [Juniper]
First look: Hyper-V 2012 targets VMware's air supply. [Ars Technica]
New ways to disaster recovery using virtualisation. [ReadWriteWeb]
OpenStack gains global traction. [DC Knowledge]
Designing scalable web applications. [ipSpace] [Scribd]
Ex-Akamai man: stop being faithful to your CDN. [The Register]
The great disk drive in the sky: how web giants are storing big -- and we mean big -- data. [Ars Technica]

Servers and Storage

Battle of the Infinibands. [Russ White] [TNP]
Infiniband quantum leap. [Russ White] [TNP]
Server performance vs health. [Network Computing]
Routing on hosts deep dive. [ipSpace, ipSpace MP4]
The smart way to move virtual machines. [DC Journal]
Server storage I/O converged / hyper-converged overview. [DC Journal]
Microsoft's open source data center hardware. [DC Knowledge]
FSAN unveils roadmap plans. [GazettaByte]
SAN and NAS basics. [Russ White] [FlackBox]
Serverless architecture pros and cons. [Network Computing]
Scale-out storage architectures. [Network Computing]
Networking advances that improve storage performance. [Network Computing]
Server virtualisation slides. [The Next Platform]
Fibre channel: what is it good for? [DC Overlords]
2015: The year storage was rocked to its foundations. [The Register]
VSAN: as always, latency is the real killer. [ipSpace]
Google gives the world a peek at its secret servers. [Engadget] [Google Blog]
Data centre disk use is spinning down – Wikibon report. [The Register]
At Facebook data centers, new protocol helps add servers faster. [DC Knowledge]
Snowden's NSA leaks have galvanised the storage world. [The Register]
A quick introduction to CoreOS. [Scott Lowe]

Part 1: introduction
Part 2: etcd
Part 3: fleet and docker

IBM demos 154TB tape. [The Register]
Sony nanotechnicians invent magnetic tape that stores 148 Gb per square inch. [The Register]
Connecting legacy servers to overlay virtual networks. [ipSpace]
It's storage's holy grail: VSANs, PSANs and virtual silos. [The Register]
Will micro servers put blade servers out to pasture? [Network Computing]
SSDs: a guide to using flash in the data center. [Network Computing]
FCoE vs FC farce. [DC Overlords]
Redundant server-to-network connectivity. [ipSpace]
Facebook reveals 700TB of tiered RAM and flash power Graph Search. [The Register] [GigaOM]
How Dropbox stores stuff for 200 million users. [DC Knowledge]
Storage disaggregation in the data center. [DC Knowledge]
Paradoxes of big data. [Schneier] [SSRN]
Google strengthens compute engine with load balancing. [DC Knowledge]
Planning for a cloud-ready distributed storage infrastructure. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook explains how 'TAO' serves social workloads, data requests. [ZDNet] [The Register]
Presto: Facebook reveals exabyte-scale query engine. [The Register]
Virtual appliance performance is becoming a non-issue. [ipSpace]
Google will track every task on ever data center server. [The Register]
How storage is shaping the cloud data center. [DC Knowledge]
As cloud wars heat up, server OEMs bet on OpenStack. [DC Knowledge]
Exposing the six myths of deduplication. [DC Knowledge]
Does dedicated iSCSI infrastructure make sense? [ipSpace]
Behind Blue Waters: assembly of Cray XE6 blades. [DC Knowledge]
6 tips for selecting HDD and SSD drives. [DC Knowledge]
7 considerations for big data adoption. [DC Knowledge]
Creating an effective data center warehouse strategy. [DC Knowledge]
Hot and cold VM mobility. [ipSpace]
Facebook reveals plan for new archival data center. [The Register]
Who needs HP and Dell? Facebook now designs all its own servers. [Ars Technica]
Big data: why it's not always that big, nor even that clever. [The Register]
Debugging Microsoft network load balancing. [ipSpace]
Facebook scales servers with retooled Chef. [DC Knowledge]
Experiencing heavy server load? Just slow down time. [DC Knowledge]
Truly these are the golden years of storage. [The Register]
Google reveals tape-tastic data center in video. [The Register]
The taxonomy of exascalar. [DC Knowledge]
Hyve brings Facebook's servers to your racks. [DC Knowledge]
Has big data reached its moment of disillusionment? [WSJ ATD]
Video: servers stacked like books on a shelf. [DC Knowledge]
Silicon photonics: the data center at light speed. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook builds exabyte data centers for cold storage. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook shatters the computer server into tiny pieces. [Wired] [HardOCP] [OCP] [Engadget] [DC Knowledge] [ReadWriteWeb] [The Register]

OpenCompute servers and the impact on networking. [EtherealMind]

Solid state storage is taking over the data center -- slowly. [ReadWriteWeb]
This custom data center rack has 160 Mac Minis crammed inside of it. [Gizmodo]
What is big data? [Gizmodo]
Video: Facebook's next-generation servers. [DC Knowledge]
Beyond hardware: software defined storage. [DC Knowledge]
How Amazon followed Google into the world of secret servers. [Wired]
Peta, exa, yotta, and beyond: big data reaches cosmic proportions. [ReadWriteWeb]
Video: big thinkers on big data. [DC Knowledge] [YouTube]

Video: peer research on big data analytics. [DC Knowledge] [YouTube]

The sticking power of tape storage int he age of big data. [DC Knowledge]
Unlock your capacity by unplugging your ghost servers. [DC Knowledge]
Don't use IPv6 RA on server LANs. [ipSpace]
Why everyone -- not just geeks -- should care about big data. [Wired]
Dell's blade data-center-in-a-box better than HPs. [The Register]
The "appliance" approach to big data and private cloud. [Brad Hedlund]
Big data bites back -- how to handle those unwieldy digits. [The Register]
Sparse Data -- the next big thing is small. [DC Knowledge]
Google's Dremel makes big data look small. [Wired]
How big data became so big. [NYT]
Virtualisation of data centers: new options in the control and data planes. [DC Knowledge]
Hypervisor 101: understanding the virtualisation market. [DC Knowledge]
Big data: what do you think it is? [ReadWriteWeb]
VMware vs Microsoft: Ars OpenForum debates who's best at virtualisation. [Ars Technica]
At Amazon, SSD boosts cloud power for database apps. [DC Knowledge]
Meeting security challenges in virtualised data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Where in the world is Google building servers? [Wired]
Google set up 'raw' server service. [BBC News]
Facebook's new server, storage designs. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook's new windmill server design. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook's storage design prototype. [DC Knowledge]
HP unveils next phase in extreme low-energy server initiative. [GeekZone]
Server efficiency: aligning energy use with workloads. [DC Knowledge]
New DoS tool lets a single PC bring down an Apache server. [Ars Technica]
Storage: a secret weapon to lower TCO in the data center. [DC Knowledge]
Study: server failures don't rise along with the heat. [DC Knowledge]
Reducing server power consumption. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook: server management systems 'a big headache'. [The Register]
What will the servers of the future look like? [DC Knowledge]
Blade servers 101. [DC Knowledge]
Server virtualisation is not enough. [The Register]
Surprise -- Cisco's blade servers are number three in the market. [WSJ ATD]
A UNIX comparison -- HP, AIX and Solaris. [DC Knowledge]
Big data meets big storage: an in-depth look at Isilon's scale-out storage solution. [Ars Technica]
SeaMicro servers power launch of Firefox 4. [DC Knowledge]

Video: SeaMicro's low-power servers. [DC Knowledge]

A visit to Silicon Valley’s hot new hardware company: hyper energy-efficient microserver maker SeaMicro. [Scobleizer]
The value of UNIX for mission-critical workloads. [DC Knowledge]
Digging deeper into Microsoft's server designs. [DC Knowledge]
Introduction to Ethernet storage. [The Register]
A look inside a microserver-powered data center. [DC Knowledge]
Skype: overloaded servers caused ripple effect. [DC Knowledge]
Network ZEN -- storage traffic isn't so important. [Etherealmind]
Should a networking engineer care about servers and storage? [Etherealmind]

Power / Energy / PUE

How Microsoft is keeping its cloud more efficient than your data center. [DC Knowledge]
Know the difference between three-phase and single-phase power. [DC Knowledge]
Energy efficient data centers. [Russ White] [DC Journal]
Latest Microsoft data center design gets close to unity PUE. [DC Knowledge]
Performance indicator, Green Grid’s new data center metric explained. [DC Knowledge]
Why reliable power protection is critical for data center operators. [DC Knowledge]
Large UPS battery considerations. [DC Journal]
Facebook data centers: huge scale at low power density. [DC Knowledge]
Stop making a big stink about data center PUE. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook's new Fort Worth data center will be powered entirely by wind. [Gizmodo] [Facebook]
How Microsoft got rid of big data center UPS. [DC Knowledge]
Why Your high-efficiency data center needs good PDUs. [DC Knowledge]
Google using machine learning to boost data center efficiency. [DC Knowledge] [Ars Technica] [Engadget] [Wired] [The Register]
Safeguarding equipment while reducing power consumption. [DC Knowledge]
Apple, Google, Facebook earn high marks from Greenpeace. [DC Knowledge]
The evolving PUE of containerised data centers. [Network Computing]
Ultra-green Europeans scorn Facebook's data centre blueprint. [The Register]
Taking a truly holistic view of data center efficiency. [DC Knowledge]
An overlooked problem: dynamic power variations. [DC Knowledge]
Augmenting power monitoring and control at data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Greenpeace to Facebook: 100% renewable is not green enough. [DC Knowledge]
Google powering Finnish server farm with Swedish wind farm. [DC Knowledge]
Are you suffering from PUE envy? [DC Knowledge]
Going off the grid: Delaware data center will generate its own power. [DC Knowledge]
Gaining more efficiency from power distribution within data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Design for efficient operational energy management. [DC Knowledge]
Microsoft: centralisation is driving energy efficiency. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook unveils live dashboard for PUE, water use. [DC Knowledge] [Wired]
A model-based approach to data center energy management. [DC Knowledge]
Mapping a course to data center efficiency. [DC Knowledge]
Visualising trends in "energy per operation". [DC Knowledge]
Take the heat from data centers' PUE pitch. [The Register]
Video: solving power connector confusion. [Network Sherpa] [YouTube]
Are low PUE ratings hitting their limit? [DC Knowledge]
Data center efficiency: the past and the future. [DC Knowledge]
Follow-the-moon scheduling to lower energy costs. [DC Knowledge]
Retrofitting on-site power systems. [DC Knowledge]
The truth about dual power feeds. [DC Knowledge]
Google answers critics with wind power. [Wired] [The Register]
Joyent uses Trellis to peer into app power use. [DC Knowledge]
Factors that impact data center energy efficiency. [DC Knowledge]
Energy efficiency: measuring a facility's power use. [DC Knowledge]
Power when you need it: parallel generators expand options. [DC Knowledge]
Greenpeace under fire again after regrading of Apple's data center energy plans. [MacRumors]
Energy efficiency in today's data center. [DC Knowledge]
Debunking data center power myths. [DC Knowledge]
Impact of a data center's energy cost on TCO. [DC Knowledge]
Annals of bad luck: when primary, backup and second packup power fail. [Ars Technica]
Microsoft data plants will tap landfills, sewage for power. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook, eBay among uptime green IT winners. [DC Knowledge]
Greenpeace: Apple falling short of sourcing clean power. [TUAW] [MacRumors] [AppleInsider] [HardOCP] [MotherJones] [Gizmodo]

Apple: Greenpeace's cloud math is busted. [DC Knowledge]

PUE is about efficiency, not performance or cost. [DC Knowledge]
Measuring to improve: comprehensive, real-world data center efficiency numbers. [Google] [DC Knowledge]
Data center PUE -- what does it mean? [DC Knowledge]
Power monitoring for modern data centers. [DC Knowledge]
To contain power costs, look at your servers. [DC Knowledge]
The network's role in data center efficiency. [DC Knowledge]
The importance of real-time power monitoring. [DC Knowledge]
Energy efficient trends for 2012. [DC Knowledge] [DC Knowledge]

Data center energy efficiency guide. [DC Knowledge]

Going beyond PUE for data center efficiency. [DC Knowledge: part 1, part 2]
Circuit breaker guidelines for data centers. [DC Knowledge]
PUE: where's the beef? [DC Knowledge]
Why Google needs to peep at the world's most efficient data center. [Gizmodo] [The Register]
Google's energy story: high efficiency, huge scale. [DC Knowledge] [Google]
How Google's data centers use renewable energy. [DC Knowledge] [HardOCP] [NYT]
DCIM: creating a holistic and efficient data center. [DC Knowledge]
PUE 2 -- the sequel. [DC Knowledge: part 1, part 2]
Task force updates guidance on measuring PUE. [DC Knowledge]
Taking a bird's eye view of energy. [DC Knowledge]
Google: no 'secret sauce' in recipe for efficiency. [DC Knowledge]
Uptime Institute: the average PUE is 1.8. [DC Knowledge]
Video demo: how a rotary UPS works. [DC Knowledge]
Properly auditing data center power. [DC Knowledge]
Improving energy efficiency in data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Visualised: ring around the world of data center power usage. [Engadget]
Greenpeace seeks data center energy disclosure. [DC Knowledge]

PDF below: dirty-data-report-greenpeace.pdf
Greenpeace: Apple's power 'dirty, dangerous'. [DC Knowledge]

JouleX: software for tracking energy use. [DC Knowledge]
Data centers gripped by power struggle. [The Register]
PUE: time to start grading the curve? [DC Knowledge]
Power considerations when siting data centers. [DC Knowledge]

Cooling / Airflow / CRAC

GRC guide to DC cooling. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook’s new DC cooling design means it can build in more places. [DC Knowledge] [The Register]
Cooling systems for high-power-density data centers. [DC Journal]
Ten simple ways to fine-tune your data center cooling system. [DC Knowledge]
Impact of cooling and efficiency in modern data center design. [DC Knowledge]
How to reuse waste heat from data centers intelligently. [DC Knowledge]
Why you should never overlook under-rack airflow. [DC Knowledge]
Google redesigns data center cooling every 12 to 18 months. [DC Knowledge]
The problem of inefficient cooling in smaller data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Modular cooling system enables on-demand data center capacity. [DC Knowledge]
Keeping the airflow going in smaller data centers. [DC Knowledge]
IBM wants to cool data centers with their own waste heat. [ExtremeTech]
Strategies for evaluating data center aisle containment. [DC Knowledge: part 1, part 2]
Air circulation in data centers: rethinking your design. [DC Knowledge]
Top 5 reasons why environment sensors are in all modern data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Amazon using heat from its data centers to warm its new HQ. [Gizmodo]
Safely avoid overcooling your data center. [DC Knowledge]
NSA exploring use of mineral oil to cool its servers. [DC Knowledge]
Free cooling concepts for your data center. [DC Knowledge]
The 10 most common cooling mistakes data center operators make. [DC Knowledge]
Water-cooled solutions for high-density rack cooling. [DC Knowledge]
How to save money and safely avoid overcooling your data center. [DC Knowledge]
Environmental monitoring: you can't manage what you don't monitor. [DC Knowledge]
Data center optimisation: intelligent hot and cold aisle containment. [DC Knowledge]
NSA will cool its secret servers with waste water. [DC Knowledge] [Gizmodo] [Network Computing]
Challenges in using outside air economisers and how to overcome them. [DC Knowledge]
Verizon tries out alternative cooling methods. [DC Knowledge]
Top7 reasons data centers don't raise their thermostats. [DC Knowledge]
Giving attention to data center cold spots. [DC Knowledge]
Using airflow containment to reclaim power capacity. [DC Knowledge]
IBM robot maps data center temperature and humidity. [DC Knowledge]
The Azure Cloud, exposed to the azure sky. [DC Knowledge]
Better airflow creates opportunities to improve cooling capacity and reduce operating costs. [DC Knowledge]
Keep your servers cool, and your business hot. [DC Knowledge]
Water consciousness continues in the data center. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook tests immersion cooling. [DC Knowledge]
Granular fan control lowers cooling energy costs. [DC Knowledge]
Retrofitting cold-aisle cocooning doesn't mean massive disruption. [DC Knowledge]
US DoD to cool servers with hot water. [DC Knowledge]
Three steps to keeping your cool in cold weather months. [DC Knowledge]
Data center containment provider due diligence. [DC Knowledge]
The evolution of Facebook's data center cooling. [DC Knowledge]
Data center containment components and considerations. [DC Knowledge]
Benefits of data center containment. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook servers get hotter, but run fine in the south. [DC Knowledge] [Wired]
Approaches to data center containment. [DC Knowledge]
Six steps to improve data center cooling efficiency. [DC Knowledge]
Reclaim wasted cooling capacity. [DC Knowledge]
Why you don't monitor DC temperature? [Evil Routers]
Ten cooling solutions to support high-density servers. [DC Knowledge]
Halting airflow leaks in data centers with aisle containment. [DC Knowledge]
How much containment is enough? [DC Knowledge]
Airflow is important -- terminology is key. [EtherealMind] [Network Sherpa]
Improving cooling systems efficiency. [DC Knowledge]
What are the impacts of server airflow leakage in data centers? [DC Knowledge]
Intel is cooling entire servers by submerging them in oil. [Gizmodo] [Hexus]
Data center water use moves to the forefront. [DC Knowledge]
Large scale water cooling system chills Europe's fastest supercomputer and warms its operators. [Gizmodo]
Hot water cooling? Three projects making it work. [DC Knowledge]
Study: server failures don't rise along with the heat. [DC Knowledge]
Airflow impedance: the silent enemy of data center cooling. [DC Knowledge]
Power dense data centers seek thermal controls. [DC Knowledge]
Google embraces thermal storage in Taiwan. [DC Knowledge] [Wired]
Smart data center design for more effective cooling. [DC Knowledge]
Video: Dell's fresh air data center solution. [DC Knowledge]
Google flushes heat from data center with toilet water. [Ars Technica]
Preventing IT equipment overheating in winter. [DC Knowledge]
Google's new data center is an abandoned paper mill in Finland. [Gizmodo]
Norway's fjord-cooled data center. [DC Knowledge] [Gizmodo] [Coolest Gadgets]

In Norway, fjord keeps financial data cool. [DC Knowledge]

New from Intel: the data center sauna. [DC Knowledge] [HardOCP] [Intel]
Focus on fans deliver cost savings on cooling. [DC Knowledge]
Video: cooling a data center with ground water. [DC Knowledge]
The cost of data center cooling. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook: 85 degrees in the 'cold' aisle. [DC Knowledge]

Facebook cools new data center with hot southern air. [DC Knowledge] [Engadget]
Facebook auto-cools servers with air pressure sensors. [Wired]
Facebook revises its data center cooling system. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook's servers stay warm en route to Arctic Circle. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook will ice backup data in 'sub-zero' building. [Wired]
A rare look inside Facebook's Oregon data center. [GogaOM]

Video: solving big problems with HPC & water cooling. [DC Knowledge]
Chiller-less data center is Google's top performer. [DC Knowledge]
Airflow issues: silent enemy of efficient cooling. [DC Knowledge]
Cooling: comfort or precision? [DC Knowledge]
Air cooled data centers are hot! [The Register]
Selecting the right airflow containment solution. [DC Knowledge]
Energy efficiency guide: aisle containment. [DC Knowledge]
Microsoft eliminates server fans despite PUE hit. [DC Knowledge]
DeepGreen: Swiss lake-cooled data center. [DC Knowledge] [JH Blog]
The data center temperature debate. [DC Knowledge]

Modular / Container-Based / POD-Based Data Centers

Understanding the types of prefabricated modular data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Understanding and evaluating containerized and modular data centers. [DC Knowledge]
A day in the life of a modular data center factory. [DC Knowledge]
How Facebook's new Swedish data center is like your Ikea bed. [Wired] [The Register]
Pre-fabrication: a new way of architecting data centers. [DC Knowledge]
The evolving PUE of containerised data centers. [Network Computing]
Four things colos should consider when evaluating modular construction solutions. [DC Knowledge]
Schneider Electric unveils prefab data centers. [Network Computing] [DC Knowledge]
Inside a BladeRoom. [DC Knowledge: article 1, article 2, article 3]
Modular data center due diligence. [DC Knowledge]
The modular data center market. [DC Knowledge]
Why consider a modular data center? [DC Knowledge]
What is a modular data center? [DC Knowledge]
Digital Reality powers up its POD architecture. [DC Knowledge]
Going modular in Iceland to slash BMW's costs and carbon. [DC Knowledge]
What are the pros and cons of modular deployments? [DC Knowledge]
Four myths of the container data center market. [DC Knowledge]
IO receives first ever modular UL certification. [DC Knowledge]
Top 10 reasons modular data centers are not containers. [DC Knowledge]
Is Apple going modular at its North Carolina iDataCenter? [DC Knowledge]

Apple erects 'tactical' data center with own 'man traps'. [Wired]

Visualising the modular design difference. [DC Knowledge] [Ada's Journey Blog]
Modular data centers: is anyone buying? [Wired]
The state of the modular data center. [DC Knowledge]
Inside IO's modular data center assembly line. [DC Knowledge]
DCK guide to modular data centers: due diligence. [DC Knowledge]
Airbus deploys modular data center. [DC Knowledge] [The Register] [Geekzone]
Video: Dell's latest modular data center. [DC Knowledge]
James Bond meets the modular data center. [DC Knowledge]
Video: walk-through of the HP EcoPOD module. [DC Knowledge]
Video: what does 'modular' mean? [DC Knowledge]
POD Architecture 2.0 -- Prefabricated data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Colt adds flexibility to its modular designs. [DC Knowledge]
Cisco delivers containerised data center. [Cisco]

Cisco rolls out its data center containers. [DC Knowledge]
Cisco rolls out data center pods. [The Register]
Closer look: Cisco's new container. [DC Knowledge]

Can containers remake the data center geography? [DC Knowledge]
HP moves beyond the container. [DC Knowledge]
eBay pursues modular data centers. [DC Knowledge]
Google patents "tower of containers'. [DC Knowledge]
Two-phase modular cooling for the data center. [DC Knowledge]

Rack- and Cabling-Related Articles

Factors to consider when cabling a data center. [DC Journal]
Network cabling. [ipCisco]
Rethink DC cabling to improve energy efficiency. [DC Knowledge]
Five trends in data center cabling. [DC Journal]
Network cabling primer. [Network Computing]
LinkedIn finds friends to join its 'Open19' data centre standards effort. [The Register]
Overcoming data center cabling challenges. [Russ White] [DC Journal]
Google gives Facebook’s Open Rack a 48V makeover. [DC Knowledge]
Intel releases rack scale design to Open Source. [DC Knowledge]
Cable management: tackling tangles. [Network Computing]
The Register guide to cabling. [The Register]
What is the correct way to diagram a Patch Panel? [StackExchange]
Will Cat8 cabling force a topology change in the data center? [DC Knowledge]
Rack best practices? [Reddit]
Rack cabling. [Reddit]
How is rack cable management done in dense POPs? [Reddit]
Patch panel problem. [StackExchange]
Cable pathways: a data center design guide and best practices. [DC Knowledge]
Intel continues to rethink the rack of the future. [DC Knowledge]
What's the difference between these Ethernet cables? [Lifehacker]
Meet the future of data center rack technologies. [DC Knowledge]
The 'Symphony of Cables' at Equinix. [DC Knowledge]
Cable management decisions in the data center. [DC Knowledge]
This custom data center rack has 160 Mac Minis crammed inside of it. [Gizmodo]
Physical security: rack security and protection. [DC Knowledge]
Boost rack densities without racking your brain. [DC Knowledge]
Open rack design guide is released. [DC Knowledge]

PDF attached below: Open_Compute_Project_Open_Rack_Design_Guide_v0-5.pdf

Top 20 practical cabling tips for network engineers. [EtherealMind: part 1, part 2]
Size differences -- Cat5 and Cat6 cable bundles. [EtherealMind]

Problems with Cat6A cables in data center. [EtherealMind]

Facebook's open rack revealed. [DC Knowledge]
Data center racks getting taller, wider, deeper. [DC Knowledge]
Facebook unfriends 19-inch data center racks. [The Register]
Video: cabling a rack at SoftLayer. [DC Knowledge]
Rack hygiene. [DC Knowledge]
How Facebook tames high-density racks. [DC Knowledge]

Applications

How much does network latency matter to application performance? [Packet Pushers]
Using Wireshark to identify application signatures. [Network Computing] [YouTube]
Using the network to diagnose application problems. [Network Computing]
There is no paradigm shift -- good applications were always network-aware. [ipSpace]
What should networks do for applications? [Network Heresy]
Measuring end-to-end application performance. [DC Knowledge]