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Shadow IT is a good thing for IT organizations...and here's why...
Shadow IT is a good thing for IT organizations...and here's why. It is important to first understand what Shadow IT is and why it happens. Shadow IT is commonly referred to when non-IT organizations delve into the delivery of technology solutions...without IT's involvement. It happens for a number of reasons. But the most common is when there is demand for a technology solution and it is believed (right or wrong) that IT is not able to assist or deliver the solution. This could be due to timing, availability, experience, bureaucracy, or a number of other factors. The bottom line is that the non-IT organization believes they can address a need better than the IT organization can. In general, is Shadow IT a bad thing? Yes, but has the opportunity to evolve into a very good thing. Shadow IT (as it is often implemented today) is a reaction to a problem with a solution that is not ideal. The solution is a non-IT or trying to provide IT services. Unfortunately, this is often not their core competency and furthermore distracts from their core mission. So, why is this new? In the past, it was hard for non-IT organizations to leverage technology without the assistance of IT. People were also not as familiar with technology. In the cloud-based world, leveraging technology is far easier. In addition, knowledge workers today are more familiar with technology than in past generations. For those that build shadow IT organizations, the believe is that it is the path of least resistance; build yourself or leverage IT. While not an ideal situation, it is often the only choice. More of the SOA World article from Tim Crawford |
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Wholesale, Colocation, Cloud or Hybrid - It's Your Choice
When a company's existing IT infrastructure approaches its maximum capacity-and many companies face this problem regularly-the question arises as to what approach to take to remedy the situation. One option, of course, is construction of a new data center. But many companies (particularly those whose business isn't directly related to IT) may not want the hassle of dealing with peripheral concerns like operating and maintaining cooling and power distribution infrastructure or even servers and other IT equipment. For such organizations, the alternative is to choose an option somewhere on the broad outsourcing spectrum, which ranges from hybrid cloud to colocation to the public cloud. No one option is "correct"-each company must do the work of evaluating the choices and selecting the one that delivers the best financial and functional features. Here are some considerations to take into account when you're researching the alternatives.
When Your Own Data Center Doesn't Fit the Bill
In some cases, construction of a company-owned data center is not negotiable: compliance issues, data security concerns or other matters dictate that the company must own and control all aspects of its IT implementation. But apart from these extreme cases, some level of outsourcing can be beneficial. Certain companies might choose to outsource everything through the public cloud, whereas others may choose to outsource just facilities through colocation. And still others might elect for the middle of the road: a hybrid cloud approach that combines some in-house IT infrastructure with some public cloud infrastructure.
More of the Data Center Journal article from Jeff Clark
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A Glimpse Inside Google's Data Centers
A photo Google released last week showing servers in one of its facilities. Click for larger version of the image. (Photo: Google) It's been a while since we've had a good look at the inner realms of a Google data center, where the company houses its servers. Oh sure, we've seen networking rooms, chillers and piping and water treatment plants. But we haven't seen one of the company's production server environments since 2009, when Google published video of containers packed with servers. By then Google had already moved away from containerized designs, and some Google-watchers indicated that the servers and designs featured at the event were already several generations old. Last week Google published photos of some of its 900,000 servers as part of a larger presentation that explains how an email makes its way across the Internet. The images (one shown above, another at the end of this article) show rows of racks, fully packed with servers and bathed in the green light of the LEDs on each server tray. So let's take a closer look and see what else these photos might be able to tell us about Google's data center environment: More of the Data Center Knowledge article from Rich Miller |
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Five ways to improve data center power efficiency you might not have thought of
While few doubt the importance of maximizing the energy efficiency of their corporate data centers, executive vice president of data center technology for Las Vegas-based Switch, Mark Thiele's talk at Interop this week showcased just how much companies might still be missing.
He cited five big areas to focus on including:
1. Understand airflow
Thiele says that basic thermodynamics makes the raised floor model less efficient than it could be. Given that cold air tends to sink, while warm air tends to rise, he asserts, "why would you push cold air from the bottom?"
2. Get rid of zombie servers
If there are legacy machines still running in the data center and nobody knows they're there, do they still draw power? Absolutely. Thiele says that taking careful inventory can reveal "zombie servers" that companies might not even know they still had.
More of the Network World article from John Gold
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CIA's View Of Mobile, Internet Use: By The Numbers
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency recently reported some interesting information on mobile phone and Internet usage: There's a huge gap between the number of mobile users and the number of Internet users worldwide. And the gulf that divides them will only continue to widen.
China owns the top spot on both lists, with 859 million mobile phone users and 389 million Internet users. You might notice a difference of about 500 million people between those two numbers. The difference highlights how pervasive mobile technology has become, especially in regions where the wired Internet isn't available.
India has the second-highest number of mobile phone users, with 752 million, but it ranks sixth in Internet use, with 61.34 million. Nearly 700 million people in India use mobile phones but don't use the wired Internet. Why not? They don't have access to computers--their mobile handsets are the only connection available.
More of the InformationWeek article from Eric Zeman
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Insider Info
What Does Your Data Center Power Cost?
| What does your data center power cost? Do you have a clear understanding of the monthly recurring expense to operate the computer systems that support your company?
The costs of data center power can be broken down into three categories:
1. Power for the IT and networking equipment -The power required to actually operate the servers, storage, switches, routers and appliances that are in the data center
2. Power to cool the IT equipment - The power required to run enough air conditioning to keep the IT equipment cool. A rule of thumb is that for every kilowatt of power required to operate IT equipment, a kilowatt of power is required to cool that equipment.
3. Overhead (operating expense) for UPS systems, generators, and air conditioning - The costs of maintenance and repair of your power conditioning systems, emergency generators, and air conditioning systems.
We have all heard the old axiom that whatever you measure, you control.
The first step to managing your data center power costs is to measure data center power for both IT equipment and the cooling. You don't have to buy expensive technology to measure the power. You can have your electrician measure the circuits that feed the data center and the associated cooling.
The next step is to set goals on optimizing long-term power utilization and overhead costs. We'll talk more about that next month.
Need more information on your data center power costs? Call the experts.
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Bandwidth Street Prices
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3 Mbps Ethernet
$250
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10 Mbps Ethernet
$400-$700
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50 Mbps Ethernet
$1000-$1500
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100 Mbps Ethernet
$1800-$3500
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Bulk bandwidth per Mbps
$6-$20
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Dark Fiber
$1800-$4500
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What We Do
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Lifeline Data Centers provides
- N+N redundant facilities with 99.995% uptime: F5 tornado resistant building, redundant power and cooling, security, fire suppression, and 24x7 access
- Customized private cages and rack space for your computer systems and communications equipment
- Private caged staging and storage space
- Technology office space
- Multiple carriers, carrier neutrality, and no monthly cross connect fees*
- Remote backup services for disaster recovery
- Systems monitoring and notification
- 24x7 NOC Services
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