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Rising Enterprise Data Disasters Blamed on Human Error

Paul Lilly — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:24:14 -0600

A rising number of data flubs has caused some to question whether the benefits of cloud computing truly outweigh the risks, but is that really a fair assessment? The eggheads at Kroll Ontrack don't think so, who point out that the recent spike in data losses with corporate enterprises is simply the result of human error.

"While advanced storage options such as virtualization and cloud computing offer corporations storage optimization, human processes are still at the root of these solutions, instructing the technology as to how to perform," said Phil Bridge, managing director at Kroll Ontrack UK. "The complextity of these systems often requires a steep learning curve. With reported IT spending at a low, human error is increasingly common."

According to Kroll Ontrack, some of the biggest mistakes attributed to the human element include pulling the wrong drive while trying to pull a failed disk in a RAID array, accidentally deleting a business-critical database and restoring it with a corrupt or incomplete backup, attempting to force failed drives back online when rebuilding a bad array, accidentally deleting files, volumes, virtual machines, or a SAN LUN with no backup in place, and reformatting the wrong SAN LUN during a server migration.

Kaboom! Data Firm Makes Its Point by Blowing Up a Server

Paul Lilly — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:08:14 -0600

We have to hand it to keepgoing.biz, because if you're going to get your point across, you might as well go all out in a high powered YouTube video that ends in a bang (literally). The victim, in this case, is a server.

To demonstrate the benefit of disk-to-disk backups with multiple offsite backups at data centers in separate states, keepgoing.biz posted a video of company president Jon Klaus and others firing rounds at a computer server with shotguns and an assortment of other weapons. The video culminates with the server being blown to bits.

So what's the point?

"Businesses rely on their servers and data being protected and safe," a voice over narrates. "When a server fails, data is often lost, putting your business at risk. Keepgoing.biz backs up your data continuously and restores it completely in minutes, no matter what happens."

Because, you know, a good IT is always prepared for a Colt M2 .50 caliber heavy machine gun firing rounds in slow motion at an exposed server that happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

All joking aside, keepgoing.biz's 2 minute video is worth every second. Check it out here.

HP Expands Data Center Products, Doubles Its Blade Server Density

Paul Lilly — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:05:50 -0600

HP on Monday launched a whole bunch of new hardware and software products, including a blade system the OEM claims can fit two systems in the physical space of one.

The company's ProLiant BL2x220c G6 combines two server nodes in a single blade chassis and supports up to two 4-core low voltage Intel Xeon 5500 series processors per node. And according to HP, the G6 increases memory capacity by 33 percent over previous generation blade server products.

HP's G6 is one of several products aimed at extending the company's Extreme Scale-Out (ExSO) portfolio introduced in June. The goal, HP says, is to cut back the total cost of ownership while also increasing data center capacity.

"The ExSO portfolio was created to meet the demanding needs of scale-out as well as high-performance computing customers that require highly efficient and powerful computing infrastructures," said Steve Cumings, director of Marketing for the Scalable Computing and Infrastructure organization at HP. "We will continue to add to this portfolio, delivering innovative solutions based on our deep understanding of scale-out data centers and enabling our customers to gain more value from their infrastructure."

More info here and here.

IBM Introduces New Security Product for Virtual Environments

Paul Lilly — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:04:41 -0600

IBM is taking virtualization security to the next level with a new product designed to safeguard enterprise virtual server infrastructures, the company said.

The product -- IBM Virtual Server Security for VMware vSphere -- purports to help growing companies stay protected as they consolidate their data centers. IBM said it has been working with clients to simplify and optimize their virtual infrastructures, and that this product allows those same businesses to put up a shield against next-gen security threats.

"Clients are asking for solutions to secure their data centers as they move from a traditional environment to virtual deployments. To that end, IBM has built this solution based on feedback of hundreds of customers looking to answer this urgent need," said Brian Truskowski, general manager, IBM Internet Security Systems (ISS).

Some of the automatic protection features of IBM's Virtual Server Security for VMware vSphere include Virtual Network Access Control (CNAC) to limit network access from a virtual server until security posture can be confirmed, rootkit detection, virtual infrastructure monitoring, and more.

The new product will be available in December 2009.

Image Credit: IBM

Survey: IT Admins Split on Server vs Cloud Computing

Paul Lilly — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:04:32 -0600

Ready for a shocker? Rackspace Hosting, a company which rents server space, surveyed 441 U.S. and U.K.-based IT decision makers at companies with anywhere between 100 to 500 employees and found that just over half of them -- 51 percent -- "would love to never have to buy another server again."

Rackspace's spin on the survey suggests that the time and money enterprises currently allocate to managing in-house servers would be better spent on increasing strategic initiatives within the company. This, of course, would require a shift to cloud computing services, such as those offered by Rackspace.

The survey also found that "on-site servers are causing stress for IT decision makers," with hardware issues and maintenance, after hours issues, and 24/7 availability listed as the main challenges.

But while Rackspace sees the data as overwhelmingly positive in favor of cloud computing, another way to look at it is that nearly half of IT admins remain skittish about off-site services. And understandably so, given the early-adoptance aspect and high profile data scares, like the recent glitch that caused T-Mobile Sidekick owners to lose their contacts.

Survey Details (PDF)

Image Credit: lonewolflibrarian.wordpress.com

AMD Unveils New Mobile, Server x86 Chips

Paul Lilly — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:30:07 -0600

AMD this week unveiled a newly revamped roadmap outlining a pair of all-new processor architectures, as well as plans for its CPU/GPU integration, ArsTechnica reports.

Let's start with 'Bobcat,' which is the codename for AMD's new mobile architecture. AMD says Bobcat was built from the ground-up and will compete with Intel's Atom and VIA's Nano platforms. According to one of the slides AMD showed, Bobcat is "sub one-watt capable," though expect higher-clocked parts to sip more juice than that. The 32nm part will support SSE 1 through 3, and is slated to ship in 2011.

On the server side, AMD also announced its "Bulldozer" architecture. As ArsTechnica explains it, a single Bulldozer "module" will appear as a single processor core to the OS with simultaneous multithreading (SMT) enabled. It's unclear how many instructions per cycle the front-end can dispatch, other than at least four and probably as high as eight. Bulldozer will also launch in 2011.

Image Credit: AMD via ArsTechnica

Fujitsu to Build Data Center Down Under (Sydney)

Paul Lilly — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:49:06 -0600

Fujitsu announced it is currently scoping out areas of Western Sydney, Australia hoping to find a location with enough power to build and run a new data center, TheWhir.com reports.

The IT services provider is already constructing new data centers in Perth and Melbourne, both of which address the lack of data center space in Australia. But one thing Fujitsu has found is that existing data centers in the country lack the necessary power to host boatloads of blade-based servers.

In addition to finding a location with the proper power requirements, Fujitsu wants an area with cooler temperatures in order to deploy new free cooling power reduction designs, just as it is currently doing in Perth and Melbourne.

IBM Shifting Focus to Zero-Emission Data Centers

Paul Lilly — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:48:43 -0600

IBM continues to focus on going green and is now hard at work developing technology that could lead to zero-emission data centers, according to a report at eWeek.com.

Bruno Michel, the guy in charge of Advanced Thermal Packaging at IBM's Zurich Research Laboratory, said he and his team have put their heads together trying to figure out new ways of reducing emissions and waste in data centers. Among the ideas being tossed around are chip stacking and liquid cooling.

"High-performance liquid cooling allows data centers to operate with coolant temperatures above the free cooling limit in all climates, eliminating the need for chillers and allowing the thermal energy to be reused in cold climates," Michel said.

According to Michel, his team has been able to remove 85 percent the heat load from high-performance compute nodes at a temperature of 60C.

As data centers continue to consume more energy, expect more companies to devote increasing amounts of R&D into reducing emissions.

Image Credit: datacenterknowledge.com