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Pimp My Datacenter

Posted by kdawson on from the rack-and-cable-porn dept.

snydeq writes "InfoWorld has put together an in-depth, hands-on feature detailing the complete pimp-out makeover of Hawaii Institute of Geophysics' 1950s-era server room into a bona-fide 21st century datacenter equipped with 'some of the glitziest and most functional gear known to datacenter-building man.' The project — completed neither on time nor on budget — resulted in improved rack and cable management, more efficient cooling, higher security, and a wealth of remote management functionality to keep University of Hawaii IT staff from having to leave the beach to service glitches. Editorial coverage includes essential tips for completing a datacenter overhaul, video interviews, and deep-dive coverage of the technologies implemented, including state-of-the-art datacenter-planning software, power and cooling equipment, out-of-band management systems, physical security solutions, remote rebooting capabilities, and more."

10 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. Sigh by jaxtherat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Pimp My Datacenter Maybe I'm just too old to get it (26), but when did pimps become cool, and the word pimp become a verb commonly used to describe a process of improvement? I mean, when I was growing up, a pimp was a scumbag who hooked women (and some men) with drugs and threats and made them turn tricks. Hardly something laudible.

    Yes, I know "get off my lawn" etc...
    --
    http://www.zombieapocalypse.tv/
    1. Re:Sigh by maxume · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It happened at least 10 years ago (I'm 28). Maybe about 50 years ago. (Don "Magic" Juan Yo)

      More likely than 'when did become' is 'where' not including the area that you grew up in.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    2. Re:Sigh by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Isn't "Pimpmobile" one of Bender's top 10 most commonly used words?

      (see bouncy ball world war, featuring head of Nixon, Zap Brannigan, and Henry Kissinger)

  2. "deep-dive" ??? by Gothmolly · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is about as good an indicator as the phrase "best practice" that the speaker is a douche.

    --
    I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
  3. Wait a minute ... by ScrewMaster · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The project -- completed neither on time nor on budget

    including state-of-the-art datacenter-planning software

    Am I missing something?

    --
    The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
  4. I gotta agree. by khasim · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And the links to their videos ... are links to unrelated videos.

    And the "coverage" ... it's non-existent. WHY choose those items? Why THOSE items?

    I'm getting the feeling this is more about how someone could spend a HUGE budget instead of how someone could UPGRADE their data center.

  5. Tag: nophotos by RealGrouchy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let me get this straight: they are talking about an upgrade from a really old datacentre to a really new one (both of which would make or interesting visuals), and there are no photos in the article, which is split into two short pages of text.

    Then, when I click on the link for the videos, it's a bunch of 60-second clips of an interview!

    Totally lame.

    - RG>

    --
    Hey pal, this isn't a pleasantforest, so don't waste my time with pleasantries!
  6. Yawn . . . by jgaynor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There's nothing new about anything being done here. Here's what they're ooh-ing and ahh-ing over:

    - Hot Aisle / Cold Aisle
    - Environmental Monitoring (with Netbotz, how inventive)
    - At-a-glance rack power load
    - Hard & Soft Remote reboots (LOM, web-enabled PDUs)
    - Physical Access Control (card based(!), no biometrics)
    - Run-o-the-mill remote console and IPKVM
    - Good cable management
    - Paying people to move your crap for you

    I thought this was gonna be like an iris-scanning, fully Direct Current, liquid cooled, flywheel-UPSed, heat reclaming technological wonderland. Instead it's just more 'throw money at the first google hit.'

    1. Re:Yawn . . . by pimpimpim · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Really, who came up with the idea to ask an editor, and not a datacenter architect, to build this? Why did he get carte blanche to spend 400.000, no questions asked? Recently there was an article on slashdot that datacenter architects are in high demand, but this strikes me as being ridiculous.

      --
      molmod.com - computing tips from a molecular modeling
  7. Back in 2005 by kilodelta · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I should have submitted the datacenter I was responsible for moving.

    It went from two locations (One a closet, the other an ill suited room) to a brand new datacenter with redundant power, cooling, etc.

    Only moved 45 servers but still, on-time and on-budget. The planning process is what kept it sane.