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Intel SSD 910 Series Delivers High Performance and Reliability for Data Center Tiering and Caching

Intel — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:09:26 +0000

Intel introduced today the Intel® Solid-State Drive 910 Series (Intel® SSD 910 Series), a super high-performing SSD to address rigorous data center storage demands driven by cloud computing, virtualization and online transactions.

PCIe-based 400GB and 800GB Intel SSD 910 Series provides extreme performance, endurance and reliability for rigorous data center demands.
Intel SSD 910 Series offers easy-to-install, seamless post-deployment server storage upgrade with no changes to existing server design.
Using Intel High Endurance Technology, Intel SSD 910 offers 10 full drive writes a day for 5 years for 30x endurance.*

The Intel SSD 910 Series delivers accelerated storage performance, endurance and reliability critical to today’s data center performance applications. It includes Intel High Endurance Technology and optimized multi-level cell (MLC) 25-nanometer NAND flash memory, that allows up to 10 full drive writes a day for 5 years, or a 30x endurance improvement* over its standard MLC-based flash products, for a cost-effective storage solution.

The Intel SSD 910 is PCIe-based and offers an easy-to-install, seamless post-deployment server storage upgrade that requires no changes to existing server design. It can be used in storage tiering and caching of hot files for high-performance processing and access to mission-critical data. One Intel 910 SSD can replace multiple 15K rpm hard disk drives (HDDs) to not only save on space and power consumption, but also improve sequential performance and storage scalability and reduce latencies. It is built using an Intel controller and Intel SSD management firmware. The firmware is optimized for less wear and includes NAND error reduction and system error management.

“The Intel SSD 910 Series is a complete solution that delivers on all fronts: high performance, endurance and reliability, making it ideal for replacing I/O-intensive HDDs,” said Roger Peene, director of data center SSD marketing for the Intel Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group. “As a leader in SSD technology, data center IT professionals can have confidence in a tier-one, easy-to-install SSD solution backed by Intel quality, reliability and technical support.”

“Supermicro works closely with leading technology companies so we can offer our customers Data Center Optimized (DCO) server solutions with the highest performance and highest efficiency,” said Tau Leng, general manager of High Performance Computing at Super Micro Computer Inc. “With the Intel SSD 910, server systems can achieve higher levels of CPU utilization to take advantage of increased processing power from advanced products like the Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-2600 Series. This is yet another example of working with Intel to test and qualify products, so we can lower our customers’ total cost of ownership and reduce their time-to-market.”

The Intel SSD 910 Series expands Intel’s offerings for data center applications with its first entry in the 900 family of its highest-performing, PCIe-based SSDs. The Intel SSD 900 Family joins Intel’s other high-volume SSD solutions for the data center including the Intel 700 SSD Family of SATA-based SSDs with High Endurance Technology and the Intel SSD 300 Family of SATA SSDs for a broad range of server and storage applications.

Performance measures of the Intel SSD 910 Series 800GB drive include 2 gigabytes-per-second (GB/s) sustained sequential reads and 1GB/s sequential writes; up to 180,000 4K random read Input-Output Operations Per Second (IOPS) and 75,000 4K random write IOPS. It comes in 400GB and 800GB capacities. Samples are now available for data center customers to begin quality and validation cycles. General production availability is scheduled for mid-2012.

Pricing for the Intel SSD 910 Series is $1,929 for the 400GB capacity and $3,859 for 800GB. It comes with a 5-year limited warranty. See full warranty details at: www.intel.com/support/ssdc/hpssd/sb/CS-029645.htm

*Based on 8K random writes and comparing Intel HET SSD solutions to SSD solutions based on standard Intel MLC NAND flash memory.

Datalink Deploys Virtual Data Center Infrastructure at Cook County Health and Hospitals System

Datalink — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:59:44 +0000

Datalink, a leading provider of data center infrastructure and services, today announced that it has completed the deployment of a new, nearly $3M unified virtual data center infrastructure for the Cook County Health and Hospitals System (CCHHS) of Cook County, Illinois. Servicing the operational needs of nearly two dozen CCHHS facilities across the Chicagoland area, the private cloud solution dramatically speeds up access to patient care data for thousands of clinicians and staff personnel while giving the CCHHS a data center infrastructure that is ready for future growth.

Serving more than 500,000 patients each year, the Cook County Health & Hospitals System is a comprehensive, integrated system of healthcare facilities throughout Chicago and suburban Cook County. The John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital, Provident Hospital, and Cook County Department of Public Health are among the many entities in the CCHHS.

Datalink served as strategic advisor on the project, as well as designed and deployed compute, network, and storage components into a single, unified architecture—FlexPod™. Based on a Datalink-validated reference architecture, the FlexPod solution features technologies from NetApp, Cisco, and VMware and is designed to deliver high-performance, highly available, and secure access to data. Datalink leveraged the capabilities of the virtual data center infrastructure and also deployed highly efficient and reliable site-to-site and failover disaster recovery capabilities. In addition, Datalink upgraded CCCHS’ backup operations with new infrastructure and software from Quantum and Symantec. Datalink design and deployment practices were based on notable virtual data center certifications, including: VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX), VMware Certified Professional (VCP), Cisco Data Center Storage Networking (DCSN) and Networking Infrastructure (DCNI), Cisco Data Center Architecture (DCA), and NetApp Virtualization and Data Center Specializations.

“Datalink provided the right-sized solution that fit our operational and financial needs,” said Marlon Burns, Chief Technical Officer of Cook County Health and Hospitals System. “Datalink demonstrated the expertise and experience to seamlessly and effectively implement our virtual data center. The private cloud solution delivers measurable data center efficiencies and enables our staff to quickly access the data they need to care for our patients.”

Datalink will be meeting CCHHS’ ongoing support needs through its OneCallSM unified support services. Datalink unified support services supplement original equipment manufacturer (OEM) support programs and provide streamlined solution-level assessment and resolution. Leveraging the support services teams, best practices, and data center expertise of OneCall, Datalink will assume ownership of each reported incident, conduct initial triages, and resolve issues. Should incidents be escalated to OEMs, Datalink will shepherd all incidents until a resolution is achieved.

“The CCHHS deployment is a prototypical example of how a unified solution covering architecture, delivery and support, aligned with business goals, can drive real value for customers,” noted Paul Lidsky, President and CEO, Datalink. “This integrated program provides Cook County Health and Hospitals System with an infrastructure that delivers performance today and a migration path for the future.”

The revenue of the project was recognized in the third quarter of 2011.

HP delivers enterprise cloud computing services for US Army

Hewlett-Packard — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 20:44:49 +0000

HP Enterprise Services today announced it has been selected by the U.S. Army to provide the Department of Defense and other federal agencies with enterprise cloud computing services under the Army Private Cloud contract (APC2). .

With the Department of Defense facing new technical, security and budget challenges, the new contract will help the Army utilize industry capabilities via cloud offerings. The Army will use this contract to acquire specific cloud computing services to consolidate data centers by establishing a secure, cost-effective private cloud.

The APC2 is an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract (IDIQ) award with a $249 million ceiling over a one-year base period and four one-year options. The Army divided this contract to acquire enterprise cloud computing services in two suites. HP has been selected to provide services for both suites.

The first suite will provide savings by using private cloud computing capacity for commercial or government-owned buildings.
The second suite will utilize mobile, containerized data centers for contingency operations or when rapid or temporary cloud computing is needed. For example, HP Performance-Optimized Data Centers (HP PODs) can be quickly deployed into overseas tactical situations or as flexible additions to U.S.-based computing solutions.

“A highly flexible and innovative contract, along with reliability and scalability for long-term needs, is important for the Army and our federal clients,” said Marilyn Crouther, senior vice president and general manager, U.S. Public Sector, HP Enterprise Services. “As a leader in data center outsourcing with extensive experience with the Army and Department of Defense, HP is uniquely qualified to partner with the Army in achieving its IT objectives in both fixed and deployed environments.”

Under the terms of APC2, HP will team with world-class partners, including 10 small businesses and Alabama A&M University, to provide a wide range of critical services. Available for both fixed and deployed locations, these services include network connectivity, information assurance, certification and accreditation support, application migration, private cloud operations and maintenance, supply chain risk management, service support and service delivery.

Freescale Targets Data Center Market with Latest QorIQ AMP Series Processors

Freescale — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:59:23 +0000

As cloud computing provides processing capabilities for a growing number of popular services targeting consumers and businesses, the world’s public and private data centers are evolving quickly to keep up with demand. Virtualization and other processing advancements have helped data center servers keep pace with performance requirements, while complementary embedded multicore communications processors have begun playing a larger role due to their ability to help manage, classify and service the enormous amounts of data flowing across and within the cloud.

Worldwide communications processing leader Freescale Semiconductor is helping to evolve the world’s data centers with the T4240 and T4160 embedded multicore processors from its QorIQ Advanced Multiprocessing (AMP) series. Featuring 24 virtual cores and based on Freescale’s dual threaded e6500 Power Architecture® core, the previously announced T4240 processor has achieved the highest CoreMark benchmark performance-per-watt profile and overall performance score ever recorded for an embedded processor. In addition, Freescale today unveils its new software- and pin-compatible QorIQ AMP series T4160 processor featuring 16 virtual cores achieving 1.8 GHz within a 25W power envelope.

The T4240 and T4160 products deliver a compelling combination of hardware acceleration, fabric-based interconnect technology, high speed I/O, hardware-assisted virtualization and next-generation 64-bit Power Architecture cores for applications in the data center, as well as other networking and industrial segments. Both products will be manufactured using 28nm process technology.

To meet stringent data center power efficiency requirements, AMP series products also utilize cascading power management technology, which is an advanced approach that reduces energy consumption using a variable-mode power switch, allowing customers to modulate the power of the cores and other processing units with independence and precision.

The T4240 and T4160 processors incorporate a broad array of highly advanced technologies ideally suited for data center applications including:

Dual threaded, 64-bit Power Architecture e6500 cores with 40-bit real address memory and one Terabyte of physical address memory;
Second generation hardware-based hypervisor technology designed to simplify development and enable the safe and autonomous operation of multiple individual operating systems, allowing them to share system resources, including processor cores, accelerators, memory, interconnects and other on-chip functions;
50 Gbps of packet parse, classify and distribute acceleration;
Support for both 10G and 1G Ethernet, allowing the flexibility for multiple 10G and 1G Ethernet interfaces;
20 Gbps of IPSEC forwarding performance, including a crypto acceleration engine (SEC) with 40 Gbps of performance for SSL and other security protocols;
A new 20 Gbps data compression engine (DCE), as well as a regular expression pattern matching engine for application recognition and data loss prevention;
New functions supporting quality of service including data center bridging (DCB) and egress traffic shaping, designed to eliminate loss due to queue overflow and accommodate efficient allocation of bandwidth on link;
System interconnect technologies including PCIe rev 3.0 with SR-IOV to facilitate high-speed peripheral expansion.

“Data center technology is evolving at remarkable speed, and many of our customers are rapidly adding bandwidth while battling latency by flattening the data center network,” said Brett Butler, vice president of Freescale’s Networking Processor Division. “Interestingly, the data center of the future is beginning to mirror the architecture of our embedded SoCs, driven by the same requirement to deliver the highest network and content processing performance at the lowest cost of ownership. The technology demands associated with this trend are Freescale’s traditional communications processing strengths.”

Availability
Samples of the T4240 and T4160 are planned for mid-2012. The devices are also part of the Freescale Product Longevity program, with 10 years of assured supply.

Supermicro Servers Offer Industry-First N+N+N Redundant UPS Module Technology

Super Micro Computer, — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:21:33 +0000

Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMCI), a global leader in high-performance, high-efficiency server technology and green computing, today unveiled its new, innovative, patent pending redundant uninterruptable power supply (UPS) technology providing a cost-effective infrastructure solution for mission-critical server and storage operation. The PWS-1K03B-1R is an industry-first redundant battery backup UPS module contained in the same form factor as a Supermicro redundant AC power supply (76W x 360D x 40.4H mm). This module is hot-swappable and fits Supermicro 1U/2U/3U/4U chassis providing high output power in 1200W/1.5min and 1000W/3min options. These can be implemented in 1+1+1 (2 AC modules + 1 UPS Module), 1+2 (1 AC + 2 UPS @ 2000W) or 2+2 (2 AC + 2 UPS @ 2000W) configurations. For Supermicro's 1U servers, the PWS-206B-1R (54.5W x 220D x 40H mm) provides UPS protection in 200W/5min and 100W/15min options.

"Innovation and total server reliability drive product development at Supermicro," said Charles Liang, President and CEO of Supermicro. "Our new redundant, UPS modules strengthen Supermicro server and storage solutions with the most robust protection against power disruption, eliminating power delivery as a single point of failure. Using less than 1W at 99.9% power efficiency to maintain a full charge, we are lowering power consumption with a cost-effective infrastructure solution and saving our customers $2K/rack/year when compared to single-rack 20KVA online UPS systems running at 95% efficiency."

Supermicro's UPS battery backup modules are designed for high-availability, easy maintenance and are completely self-contained hot-swappable units, charging and delivering power through the internal connector. In the event of an AC power interrupt, reaction time of the module is real-time for the battery to take over and maintain load, providing time for failsafe switchover to an alternative power source or an orderly shutdown. Incorporating the latest rechargeable Lithium-Ion cell technology, these modules features I2C/Smart battery monitoring through remote management and provide long-life durability with 500 full charge/discharge cycles. This technology is ideally suited for environments with AC reliability issues or in need of backup power solutions. Supermicro's servers configured with the redundant UPS feature provide maximum system protection for Enterprise and SMB server deployments running mission-critical HPC, cloud computing, data center and storage applications.

The PWS-206B-1R has been deployed to early adopter customers and will ramp to full production in February. The PWS-1K03B-1R will be widely available in the April 2012 timeframe.

Microsoft Brings the Cloud Down to Earth for Enterprises

Microsoft — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:00:42 +0000

In an online broadcast today from Microsoft Corp. headquarters, Satya Nadella, president of Microsoft Server and Tools Business, laid out how Microsoft's private cloud solution will help businesses move faster, save money and better compete in 2012. He highlighted how companies, such as webcast participants Lufthansa Systems, T. Rowe Price and Unilever, can use Microsoft System Center 2012 to build and operate private clouds for the delivery of business applications across both private and public cloud platforms. System Center 2012 is available today in a Release Candidate as a single, integrated private cloud management solution for the first time.

"IT leaders tell me that private cloud computing promises to help them focus on innovation over maintenance, to streamline costs and to respond to the need for IT speed," Nadella said. "We are delivering on that promise today. With System Center 2012, customers can move beyond the industry hype and speculation, and progress into the here and now of private cloud."

All Together Now: Private Cloud Simplicity and Best Economics

New advances in System Center 2012 demonstrate Microsoft's commitment to easing the acquisition, deployment and economics of private cloud computing.

"A private cloud is our answer to corralling our server infrastructure into a single entity we can use to more rapidly deliver services that really matter to our business," said Peter Daniels, vice president of IT at T. Rowe Price. "System Center 2012 is truly a game changer."

System Center 2012 integrates eight separate component products into one unified solution, streamlining installation and reducing the time it takes to deploy from days down to hours. The number of product versions has also been simplified, so customers will be able to choose between the Standard and Datacenter editions of the product, based on their virtualization requirements. And because System Center 2012 Datacenter edition licensing covers unlimited virtual machines, customers can continually grow their private clouds without additional licensing costs for virtualizing their infrastructure and applications.

The Microsoft Private Cloud: Built for the Future. Ready Now

Lufthansa Systems and Unilever are also relying on System Center 2012 and the Microsoft private cloud.

"We are making the move to cloud computing across our company, and after looking at our options, Microsoft offers the right solutions for us," said Holger Berndt, head of Microsoft Servers at Lufthansa Systems. "With the integrated approach and technology, we can use the people and skills we have in place now to build the private cloud services we need to meet the complex IT requirements of our customers. Microsoft brings it all together, including the clear path to public cloud on Windows Azure."

"Our private cloud will help us meet our goal of doubling Unilever's business without increasing our environmental footprint," said Mike Royle, enterprise services IT director at Unilever. "Working with Avanade, we are betting on System Center 2012 as the management platform to extend our investments in virtualization toward private cloud, to automate processes, and to ensure the reliability of our infrastructure and application services."

Bermuda’s Largest Real Estate Company Adopts Cloud Computing

QuoVadis Services — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:57:59 +0000

Bermuda's largest real estate management company, Bermuda Realty Company Limited (trading as Coldwell Banker Bermuda Realty) has adopted a Private Cloud computing solution from QuoVadis Services' offshore datacentre as the backbone of its computing needs.

“Bermuda Realty has a long tradition of developing innovative services for the local real estate sector,” said company president Brian Madeiros. “This has lead to a considerable investment in IT infrastructure. By moving to cloud hosting, we have made the conscious decision to focus our resources on the real estate services at the heart of our business, and to outsource the underlying technology platforms to IT and managed datacentre specialists like QuoVadis and their partner CCS Group.”

QuoVadis is providing both production and disaster recovery hosting for Bermuda Realty’s server environments, as well as virtual desktops for all employees. The Private Cloud solution is based on QuoVadis’ multimillion dollar Infrastructure on Demand platform.

“In this economic environment, both international and Bermuda companies are paying particular attention to their in-house costs of supporting and operating IT infrastructure. At the same time, they have concerns about hosting their IT overseas for jurisdiction or support reasons,” said Ian Cook, General Manager of CCS. “Working with the QuoVadis offshore cloud computing platform, CCS can create solutions that leverage the power of cloud computing but are customised to local company requirements and are backed up by experienced Bermuda support teams.”

With cloud hosting, companies outsource their server computing requirements to a hosting provider, reducing their own costs of buying in-house hardware or maintaining a datacentre. Virtual desktops expand on that idea, so a user’s software and files are not tied to an individual desktop computer. Rather, they operate from a central cloud server, so that users can access their office work environment from any computer when securely connected to the QuoVadis offshore cloud.

“The QuoVadis offshore cloud allows companies to reduce their business risk and overall cost of IT by leveraging our high performance computing platforms and managed datacentre technologies,” said Gavin Dent, CEO of QuoVadis Services. “It’s an appealing formula for many businesses faced with steep upgrade costs, replacing their variable upfront IT capital expenditures with predictable monthly fees.”

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Now on Dell Cloud with VMware vCloud Datacenter Service

SUSE — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:40:27 +0000

SUSE today announced that SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server is the first Linux distribution for Dell's new VMware software-based cloud offering, Dell Cloud with VMware vCloud® Datacenter Service. SUSE Linux Enterprise offers the broadest application portfolio, as well as optimization with the VMware cloud infrastructure suite. Now, Dell customers can efficiently run a wide range of ISV applications, on demand with maximum performance, while receiving streamlined support from Dell and SUSE across the Dell public and private cloud offerings.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server delivers the reliability, interoperability and performance customers need in order to easily leverage the benefits of cloud. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server has the broadest ISV support among enterprise Linux operating systems, with nearly 8,500 application certifications, expanding customer choice in cloud environments.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is optimized for the VMware vCloud architecture. An integrated partnership with Dell ensures customers receive streamlined support as they manage workloads across public and private cloud infrastructure.

"Dell Cloud is about enabling customers to do business on their terms. That means providing access to the right hardware, applications and data as customer demand warrants," said Ricky Santos, vice president, Cloud Solutions, at Dell. "Partnering with SUSE enables us to deliver outstanding performance and support for customers who desire scalable Linux services on-demand."

Dell Joins Elite Group of Cloud Providers that Work with SUSE
SUSE powers many of today's top global cloud providers including the Dell public and private cloud offerings, Amazon Web Services, Fujitsu, IBM, Intel, 1&1, Tencent, SGI, Verizon and Vodacom Business. This is because SUSE Linux Enterprise Servers help IT organizations deliver mission-critical IT services efficiently and cost-effectively in cloud environments.

"SUSE helps companies run their businesses more efficiently, increasing resource utilization and reducing risk," said Michael Miller, vice president of global marketing and alliances, SUSE. "Dell Cloud customers can now leverage SUSE's extensive application portfolio, and deliver mission-critical IT services scalably on a pay-per-use basis, using Dell's new enterprise-class public and private cloud infrastructure, saving time and money."

Accenture to Build First Next Generation G-Cloud Data Center Environment in France

Accenture — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:27:22 +0000

The French Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (DILA) has awarded Accenture (NYSE: ACN) a three-year contract to design, build and deliver its Next Generation Data Center, the G-Cloud, in France. The contract supports the government’s strategic technology goals to create savings by controlling costs.

Accenture will work with DILA to build a more flexible IT infrastructure to increase access, availability and performance of nationwide public services offered to French citizens. The information will be stored on the country’s first government cloud.

DILA, one of the branches of the prime minister’s central administration, oversees administrative information, legal distribution and public announcements. DILA’s decision to create the G-Cloud enables the government to standardize new services for citizens and administration officers.

“Now is the time to make the cloud real, to provide a real solution with working systems that will help DILA meet the growing needs of its citizens,” said Jerome Vercaemer, managing director of Accenture’s Health & Public Service group in France. “Cloud computing is not a theory. It is a reality that will help streamline operations and help pool government resources.”

The G-cloud will be fully operational by March 2012, he said.

“We are excited by the transition to the cloud. We want to take advantage of all the benefits in terms of cost control, agility and reactivity to better meet new needs,” said Jean-Francois Imokrane, chief information officer of DILA.

Accenture will be supported by three subcontractors, Cisco UCS, NetApp and VMware.

CA continues cloud implementation success with turnkey cloud platform

CA Technologies — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:28:04 +0000

CA Southern Africa has announced that ViaWest, a privately owned data centre and managed services provider, is using the CA AppLogic turnkey cloud platform and CA Process Automation as the backbone of its new Xen-based KINECTed Cloud - Innovator service.

Developed with and delivered on the CA AppLogic platform, KINECTed Cloud - Innovator provides software developers with a flexible, customisable and secure on-demand infrastructure with the scalability, storage and computing power needed to build and test new environments.

Gary Lawrence, MD, CA Southern Africa, says the new ViaWest service offering combines the CA AppLogic platform, CA Process Automation and an integrated customer-accessible service catalogue to deliver a comprehensive packaged cloud solution.

“This enables ViaWest to quickly create, deploy and offer new business services through the cloud, as well as onboard new customers rapidly and with ease. It also enables them to offer a Web-based front-end for self-service purchase and delivery, and automates pay-as-you-go billing, cost allocations and charge-backs. Moreover, back-office functions are integrated, which in turn provides more efficient customer management,” says Lawrence.

ViaWest customers benefit through access to Web-based self-service ordering, automated configuration and deployment, scalable, secure, and managed environments, and unique customer-defined offerings based on their specific requirements.

KINECTed Cloud - Innovator complements ViaWest's hybrid services portfolio, offering a comprehensive suite of solutions from test/development to production, and from managed services to co-location, complex hosting and more.

“ViaWest chose the CA solutions because it facilitates the deployment of an IaaS cloud very quickly, while also providing the ability to easily add additional services at an attractive price point,” notes Lawrence.

He adds that for customers looking for a turnkey, yet sophisticated self-service user experience, CA Technologies solutions satisfy that. “Developers enjoy the fact that the CA AppLogic platform allows them to become more agile and operate more efficiently by quickly and easily designing and testing complex applications with the exact middleware and system configuration they will have in production.

“The CA Technologies-powered KINECTed Cloud - Innovator service helps ViaWest drive new revenue and build margin. Our cloud platform and integrated automation offerings help ViaWest improve operational efficiency and reduce risks. They also help simplify the delivery of services and provide a broad set of choices for targeting specific markets with differentiated cloud services,” concludes Lawrence.