Best of the Data Center Blogs, August 9th

Here’s a roundup of some interesting items we came across this week in our reading of data center industry blogs:

Is Cloud Computing Really Cheaper? - At Forbes, Reuven Cohen discusses cloud economics. "Is cloud computing really cheaper? I set out to attempt to get an answer. Many of the people I spoke to have described cloud costing as a 'Dark Art', a surprise at the end of the month. The most common response was 'it depends.' Not satisfied, I continue on with my mission. I set forth asking as many people as I could 'Is Cloud Computing really cheaper?'" Worthwhile reading.

7 Quick Tips for an Aging Data Center - Bob Wooley on the Schneider Electric Data Center Blog. "With the continuous upward trend in power density, energy costs, and the expense of building new facilities, more organizations are finding themselves trying to squeeze additional life from their existing data center properties. You can help combat the ticking clock of an aging data center by adhering to a strict maintenance methodology. Consider the following tips to assist in maintaining an aging data center."

Call Me Ishmael - From Chris Crosby at the Compass Datacenters blog: "When I was in high school we had to read Herman Melville’s Moby Dick for AP English. ... In the data center industry our own version of the novel is being played out between Greenpeace, serving as a poor substitute for Gregory Peck as Ahab, and Apple in the role of our favorite gargantuan marine mammal. ... Apple is free to do whatever their stockholders are willing to put up with in building their facilities, including using whatever 'alternative' methods they choose, but if they are implementing them to placate this collection of 'green is good, business is bad' enthusiasts they are placing our entire industry at risk.

Your Data Center is Killing Our Planet - At the Pervasive Big Data blog, Paige Roberts bemoans the current state of server utilization, and what to do about it: "When your business has to crunch through an ever bigger mountain of data to get the answers it needs, the current solution is still to throw more boxes at the problem. Doesn’t anyone else see what’s wrong with this picture? Why do our IT guys have to jump through so many hoops just to get the software to do what any modern analytics application should already be designed to do?"

FCoE ‘versus’ iSCSI – The Mystery is Solved - From the Cisco Data Center Blog, a look at storage protocols: "The FCoE 'versus' iSCSI debate continues to rage on, even after all this time. In general, as I’ve mentioned before, this is a false dichotomy: FCoE and iSCSI are different tools in the Data Center toolbox, and each has different types of implementations and for different reasons."