A Little Spring Cleaning

In theory, firms can free up a lot of rack space in their datacenters by deploying more virtual server running on systems sporting the latest generation of Intel and AMD processors. However, this leads what I usually refer to as the "Miller Lite" dilemma. When US beer brewer Miller launched its Miller Lite light beer line, it failed to gain traction with the health-conscious public, so it turned its eyes toward its core consumers with the famous "Tastes Great, Less Filling" tag line. Since the new product was less filling, Miller drinkers could enjoy much more of it. The same is true with processors.

The idea of shrinking a corporate datacenter into a smaller footprint through the use of more efficient hardware platforms, infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and software-as-a-service (SaaS) seems to be a nice idea, but how practical is it?

The demand for computing resources will always outstrip the amount of computing resources available. Replace a 1U two-processor server with a 1U server running four multi-core processors and your traders will find more than enough jobs to run on it.

As least one benefit for firms is that the industry is moving to pod-based datacenters, which incorporate all necessary datacenter equipment into a chassis the size of a standard shipping container. Just add the power and network connection and you are up and running. Visit any major bank headquarters these days and you won't be surprised to see a couple of these containers sitting in the parking lot connected to a portable generator. They will not completely replace the typical datacenter, but they will useful in meeting computing demands.

Rob Daly, Editor

Comments? Send them to me at rob.daly@incisivemedia.com