Posts Tagged ‘colocation’
07 - 30 - 10
By: Darren Bonawitz
One of the often overlooked issues in colocation cabinets is cabling. When a company is hurrying to move equipment into a facility, cable management is not usually at the top of its list for concerns. IT staff members are more worried about just getting their infrastructure operational rather than focusing on the aesthetics of the cabling in their cabinet(s). Even if the cabling is managed effectively day one, it is very common to see a gradual “rats nest” develop over time as equipment is added or replaced.
Cable management is more than about cosmetics though, and a lot of IT professionals have come to appreciate the value of clearly labeled and organized cabling. What a lot of people fail to consider is the effect cabling can have on proper equipment cooling. That may sound odd, but visualize for a moment a tangled web of cables at the back of a cabinet. What happens is the cables each take up a certain volume of space and effectively reduce the path for hot air rejected from equipment to properly exhaust out the back of the cabinet.
Hot air that should have been easily transferred to the hot aisle now becomes trapped within the cabinet and then recirculates. This causes in-cabinet ambient temperatures to rise and can lead to equipment temperature increases and possibly even unnecessary failure.
07 - 23 - 10
By: Darren Bonawitz
Many companies are turning to renewable energy to power their facilities and decrease their carbon footprints. With data centers being one of the largest users of energy, turning to renewable energy may be in the near future. But is this plausible? Renewable energy must first scale to accommodate data centers to meet their power requirements. Secondly, renewable energy must be cost-effective solution for data centers because even one center per kilowatt hour (kWhr) higher in a data center is a considerable strain on profits. Finally in order to rely solely on renewable energy it has to be a reliable option.
We won’t get there without research and baby steps in the right direction, coupled with innovation incentives to entrepreneurs and researchers to keep driving them towards creating better solutions.
To learn more about data centers and renewable energy visit datacenterknowledge.com
07 - 16 - 10
By: Darren Bonawitz
Here is a special feature about Umzuzu, detailing who its clients are, how it is associated with 1102 GRAND and why it does business in Kansas City.
Company Description: Umzuzu – We are Cloud Brokers specializing in Google Apps and the Google Solutions Marketplace. We help companies eliminate on premise hardware.
Who are its clients: Any business currently using email. Commonly we help people migrate off legacy platforms like Exchange 2010.
How it is associated with 1102 GRAND: We use the flexible bandwidth resources of 1102 GRAND to migrate large volumes of data to the cloud. When faced with a client that has low bandwidth to their offices, we copy the data locally, then “sneaker-net” it over to 1102 GRAND where it can be liberated to the cloud.
Why Kansas City: Cost of living. Entrepreneurial hotbed of activity.
Best Part of Doing Business in Kansas City: The community isn’t so large that you get lost. You can grow your reputation and live on it. The same names often come up, you get to know the people in town that can get a job done.
Benefits of Working in Kansas City: BBQ. Interesting diversity of culture and food in the KC area. The professional landscape is diverse as well, from manufacturing to professional services, it is hard to pigeonhole KC into a particular market (like aviation for Wichita.)
07 - 09 - 10
07 - 02 - 10
By: Darren Bonawitz
With the first hurricane of the season already here and gone, 1102 GRAND, Kansas City’s Data Center and Midwestern Internet hub, reviewed disaster recovery tips for companies at risk for earthquakes, hurricanes, blackouts, wildfires, tornados, ice storms, or the most common disaster risk of them all – people themselves.
Here are tips for disaster recovery.
1. Ensure you disaster recovery plan is flexible and scalable
2. Right size the solution to meet requirements and budget
3. Don’t assume – establish requirements with management
4. Prioritize recovery initiatives to meet company objectives
5. Document, document and document some more
6. Do not forget about redundancy with passwords – store them offsite too
7. Schedule semi-annual or annual requirement reviews
8. Disaster recovery is not “set it and forget it” – test regularly
9. Disaster recovery is more than just data – think through all facets of operations
10. Ensure at least two team members know each recovery procedure
06 - 10 - 10
By: Darren Bonawitz
Thank you for taking the time to read our blog. Here is a special feature on Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. about who it is, who it serves, how it’s associated with 1102 Grand, and why Kansas City!
Company Description: Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. (MHM) is a national independent CPA firm – 3rd largest in Kansas City and 8th largest in the country – that is dedicated to providing high quality audit and attest services including: Financial Statement Audits, SAS 70 Audits, Employee Benefit Plan Audits, Reviews and Agreed Upon Procedures. They are guided by their core values of competence, integrity, respect and value, and with more than 30 locations nationwide, they are a nationally recognized alternative to the Big Four.
Who it Serves: While MHM provides services to a variety of industries and companies, their primary focus includes mid-sized and growing companies (public and private) in the construction, nonprofit, life sciences, manufacturing, financial institutions and other professional services industries.
How it is Associated with 1102 GRAND: We provide SAS 70 services to 1102 GRAND.
Why Kansas City: MHM’s roots in Kansas City can be traced back to 1954 when Ernest D. Mayer opened a small accounting practice. After years of steady growth, Mayer Hoffman McCann’s tax practice merged with CBIZ, Inc. in 1998 while MHM began to focus strictly on audit and attest services, and continued to acquire other independent CPA firms across the country. Even though MHM quickly became one of the Top Ten accounting firms in the nation, they recognized Kansas City as both a strategic location and strong foundation for the company, so remained in the area and established it as their national headquarters.
The Best Part of Doing Business in Kansas City: There is such a vast amount of different businesses and industries in the Kansas City area, that as a Consultant, we learn so much about how these businesses operate, what their target market is, where they can improve, etc. We can then help them by applying the services our company provides or introducing them to others that can assist.
The Benefits of Working in Kansas City: I have lived in Kansas my entire life so helping small, medium and large sized businesses locally is very rewarding.
The Economic Incentives to Living in Kansas City or the Metro Area: There are a lot of areas you can reside in Kansas City that are safe and have great schools and not have to pay a premium to live there. I think convenience is also a big factor as you can get around the city without having to wait in traffic for the most part.
06 - 03 - 10
By: Darren Bonawitz
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday it predicts an “active” to “extremely active” hurricane season this year. Coastal companies would be wise to turn to, or at least seriously consider, the Midwest for their data center disaster recovery solutions. Unfortunately, memories fade as time passes, and that means that the destruction from events such as Hurricane Katrina often are overshadowed by more recent events such as the economic turbulence which caused jobs and budgets to be slashed at many companies. Those companies and people directly affected by Katrina may find it more difficult to forget, but it is easier for those not directly impacted last time even though they are still at risk for future hurricane disasters. So whether your company has never had a disaster recovery plan or you started to develop a plan but shelved it due to budget cuts, now is the time to revisit the discussion and act. If NOAA’s prediction is correct, you will be glad you made the investment.
According to www.usatoday.com , “federal forecasters predict anywhere from 14 to 23 named storms to form in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.” This is the highest prediction made by federal forecasters since 1998 when they began to issue hurricane forecasts.
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04 - 16 - 10
I want to share this article written by David Twiddy from the Kansas City Business Journal.
Tech firms hope KC Next expands, connects industry
Building on recent efforts to showcase Kansas City’s bioscience and animal health industries, a group of business leaders is rolling out a program to spotlight the area’s information technology community.
KC Next had its debut at an April 1 networking event for the tech sector. Organizers plan similar events in coming months with no set goals or timetables other than to build up the local industry.
“We’re hoping KC Next is going to be the group that brings together technology visionaries from all aspects of the industry, and the result is the development of innovative ideas and trying to ensure that we maintain that intellectual capital in the Kansas City region,” said Darren Bonawitz, co-owner of 1102 Grand, an Internet hub and colocation facility.
Read more
04 - 13 - 10
04 - 07 - 10
Posted By: Greg Elliott
Here is an article I ran across on nplusoneit.com written by John Stanley. This particular post focuses on the SEC’s ruling on climate change.
The SEC ruling and your data center, Part 1
Posted by John Stanley
This is Part 1 of a multi-part post on the SEC’s recent ruling on climate change. This post provides a brief summary of the ruling itself. One or more subsequent posts will drill down into the possible effects on data centers.
SEC: Climate change is material to your business
In late January, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruled that public companies must disclose to investors the risks they face related to climate change. The SEC ruling does not create new rules or modify existing ones–it merely provides interpretive guidance regarding the risk disclosure rules already on the books.
The ruling describes four particular areas where climate change risks (and opportunities) may trigger disclosure requirements:
Impact of legislation and regulation – Risks may include costs to purchase allowances under a “cap and trade” scheme, cost to retrofit facilities in compliance with new standards, or reduced demand for carbon-intensive goods/services sold by the company. Interestingly, the SEC states explicitly that “a registrant should not limit its evaluation of disclosure of a proposed law only to negative consequences” (p.23). For example, there may be opportunities to profit from selling allowances, or from an increase in the demand for a company’s (low carbon) products.
International accords – Similar to the impact of domestic legislation, international accords may affect business.
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