Oooooh, churlish. But funny! Frankly, I don't see the need for IBM to get involved. The current market has been building data centres for decades. Now, I can see IBM using this to push the "greenness" of their mainframes when compared to blade systems, but that's not the case here. Quite the opposite, in fact. Unless they plan to provide more innovation in design (greater physical security and structural integrity, use of geothermal to assist heating/cooling, using slanted instead of flat roofing, using biodiesel (from refined used vegetable oil) to 1) provide emergency power generation and 2) make the entire neighbourhood smell like Krispy Kreme, etc.
I'm not even an architect and *I* have designed data centre requirements and layouts. With those considerations included. And I'm just a mainframe security bod. This sounds like an expansion of IBM's "grid" commitment - which is a fine thing for broader development or analysis within a business (or an Internet universe) to share existing PC "slack time". However, the mainframe is far more cost and energy efficient (as well as far, far more secure) than a batch of PCs. -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Veilleux, Jon L Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 07:31 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: IBM in big push to build data centers for clients I hope they use IBMLINK as an example of their expertise! Jon L. Veilleux [EMAIL PROTECTED] (860) 636-2683 -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ed Gould Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 6:03 AM To: [email protected] Subject: IBM in big push to build data centers for clients Blue Cloud? >http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071115/tc_nm/ ibm_cloud_dc_3;_ylt=AgFJHOwzBc3cj5DdxfAfDF4E1vAI< Watch the wrap. SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - IBM (IBM.N) is staking out a major new source of business helping clients like banks or retailers manage data centers on a par with Internet players such as Google or Microsoft, a top official said on Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT Bill Zeitler, the executive in charge of IBM's hardware business, said the initiative to set up customers with the technology, software and services to operate data centers could rank in significance with IBM's support for Linux in recent years or its push to get businesses on the Internet the 1990s. IBM has dubbed its new strategy "Blue Cloud." The name is a play on IBM's corporate nickname "Big Blue" and "cloud computing," the trend by Internet powerhouses to array huge numbers of computers in centralized data centers to deliver Web-based applications to users, rather than making their customers run such programs on their local machines. IBM, which pioneered centralized data centers decades ago, is looking to arm its customers with technology similar to what it has long offered in the form of hosted services for clients who rely on IBM to operate their data centers for them. It now wants to help customers build data centers for themselves composed of thousands of low-cost personal computers, equipping them with the data-crunching power of consumer Internet giants Google Inc (GOOG.O), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O). "I think Google and Amazon are on to something," Zeitler said. "Our particular focus is taking these standards of Internet computing and bringing them to the mainstream in the commercial world." BIG BUSINESS, BUT HOW BIG? Zeitler declined to say how much revenue its cloud computing strategy might produce, saying IBM was still sizing up prospects. "We think this is a big move in the market and we are going to make a big move behind it," said Zeitler, a 38-year IBM veteran whose full title is senior vice president and group executive of IBM's Systems and Technology Group. In its initial phase, IBM plans to make 200 IBM researchers available to work with clients, which may include both businesses large and small, university research centers as well as government agencies. The first products of the program are set to be available in spring of 2008, IBM said. One initial customer of IBM's Blue Cloud strategy will be the government of Vietnam, and it is working with a non-US automaker, the Armonk, New York-based computer company said. IBM plans to unveil plans for Blue Cloud at an event in Shanghai on Thursday, where it said it will demonstrate a cloud computing system running on IBM's BladeCenter brand servers and low-cost Intel-class microprocessors. It said it also intends to offer a mainframe-class cloud computer system next year. HOW CLOUD COMPUTERS WORK The basic idea is to make corporate data centers operate more like the Internet by enabling computing to be spread across a large, distributed pool of computers, rather than on local machines or remote server farms. This lets organizations switch to resources to where they are be needed, virtually gaining access to computers and storage on demand. The older approach of running individual applications on separate servers means as little as 10 percent of a stand-alone computer's capacity is used. While big Internet players run networks that tie together hundreds of thousands of computers, large commercial customers may operate tens of thousands of servers, Zeitler estimated. As part of the strategy, IBM will offer services and products that allow customers to implement "cloud computing" strategies of their own, rather than forcing them to rent space in other data centers and risk exposing business secrets. Companies are struggling to pack more computers into cramped data centers while coping with surging electricity demand. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html This e-mail may contain confidential or privileged information. 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