THE UPSITE NEWS
Sample Copy News and Events of the Site Uptime Network®
The Environmental Footprint
For several years now, The
Uptime Institute has been
preparing our Network members
for the higher heat load densities
of the future. Our projection is
that water-cooling will be back
before 2005. Some people have
responded by looking in the rear
view mirror, (namely, by looking
to the past for relevant trends)
and they have concluded that
there is nothing to worry about.
Recently, I was speaking with
one of our members from a
hardware manufacturing
company, and what he had to
say was profound. He said that
two years ago, only their top-
end servers were above 10kW
per rack. Now 10kW per rack is
common for next, next
The environmental footprint is a
way of communicating how much
floor space must be devoted to
cooling a given rack.
generations of products across
multiple product lines across the
entire company. The impact of
Moore’s Law has become very
significant in data center power
consumption!
Postulated in 1965 by the
founder of Intel, Gordon Moore
predicted that the number of
transistors on a chip would
double every 18 months at least
for the next five years (1970).
But his prediction has held for
Also in This Issue . . .
• Site Uptime Network Benchmarking
• Abnormal Incident Query Capability on the Web
• Uptime Awards Announced
Issue No. AA
by Kenneth G. Brill
the last 35 years and looks good voltages. There are huge power
for at least another ten. We are savings if these processes can
to the point where power be made more efficient. Look for
consumption per high-end chip large bulk AC to DC power
has become extremely continued on page 4
significant!
Last fall, I was a speaker at the
Intel Technology Symposium. The
symposium’s content was
primarily on how to increase the
power density (watts/cubic inch)
of the AC to DC power conversion
components for 1 RU and 2 RU
servers. (Interestingly, 36-39% of
the power consumption is
devoted to getting the AC input
Doors with insufficient free openings
converted to DC and then the had to be removed from the backs of
DC converted down to chip these high-heat load cabinets.
Network Expands to Fifty-One
Seven New Members Welcomed
At the Houston fall 2002 meeting, Network principals voted to
expand the number of member companies per group from sixteen to
seventeen companies resulting in a total of fifty-one Network
members. We are welcoming several new members to the Network
for 2003. Each has been on the waiting list.
In Group 1, we welcome Bank One, Cisco Systems, and
Progressive Insurance. Group 2 will have four new member
companies: Bayer Corporation, Carlson Companies (the travel
services provider, not the engineering firm), Iron Mountain, and
State Farm. In Group 3, the new member is Thomson Legal
and Regulatory.
Primarily due to financial constraints, Defense Information Systems
Agency, Procter & Gamble, United Airlines, and USAA were unable
to renew their membership in 2003. Each departing company has
expressed their regrets and thanked their fellow members for their
shared experiences.
Members will have the opportunity to introduce themselves to the
new companies at group meetings this spring!
THIS IS A SAMPLE COPY OF THE UPSITE NEWS.
IT IS FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
© 2003 The Uptime Institute®
Sample Copy News and Events of the Site Uptime Network®
Site Uptime Network
Benchmarking
For members of the Site Uptime Network,
benchmarking represents the unique opportunity to
share ideas, concerns, and solutions with other
members in order to achieve higher levels of
quality performance and customer satisfaction.
Statistical analysis of trends across multiple
facilities provides an early warning for problems
that would not have been obvious to a single site
operating in isolation. By establishing “best
practices” for infrastructure uptime performance,
Network members have the statistical data and
criteria to help justify budgets as well as promote
procedural or organizational change.
As part of the annual membership fee, Network
members can submit and receive benchmarking
statistics for up to three data center sites and
participate in other Network special projects.
Benchmarking includes the following surveys that
are requested of each new member company:
! Static Site Infrastructure Profile—includes uptime
objectives, data center characteristics, methods
of operation, organizational reporting
relationships, staffing ratios for 24-hour x 7-day
coverage, and other non-financial/operating data
! Quarterly Site Profile Update—quarterly updates
of common risk factors in the data center
environment. This includes circuit changes, UPS
load changes, engine generator hours, and
SAVEs (number of outages avoided due to site
infrastructure or staff performance)
! Equipment Survey—types and models of
infrastructure equipment installed (this is an adjunct
to the Abnormal Incident Reporting database)
In addition to the surveys above, each Network
group selects an annual benchmarking project as that
year’s focus. Past projects have included Data Center
Operating Costs, Salary Ranges, Electrical Preventive
Maintenance Frequency, and Mechanical Preventive
Maintenance Frequency. Principals require that
annual benchmarking reports be provided only to
those companies who participate in the actual survey.
New members may elect to complete these surveys in
order to receive the survey results.
For questions, please contact Marsha Aitken,
Benchmarking Coordinator, at (505) 946-3447 or
msa@upsite.com!
Page 2
Abnormal Incident Query
Capability on the Web
At the request of our Principal members, the
Institute has added a new function to the pass-
word-protected Network members' website.
Members now have three options for submitting
Abnormal Incident Reports (AIRs) to the Institute:
1.By fax using our hard copy form at (505) 982-
8484. Please contact Marsha Aitken at
msa@upsite.com to receive this form.
2.By e-mail attachment using the AIR software
that many members have resident on their
computers.
3.By entering the incident directly on TUI's
Network members' website at:
www.upsite.com.
Steps for using the website entry process are:
1.Click on the "Network Members' Lobby" button.
2.Enter your company's User Name and Pass-
word (your company's principal Network
member has this information) .
3.Click on the "AIRs on the Internet" button.
4.To enter the incident, click on the text "Enter
and Abnormal Incident Report".
5.Complete each requested field (the color red
indicates a required field).
6.Click on the "Submit" button when all fields
are complete.
The AIR website now provides the option to print
what you have submitted.
At the fall meeting, the Institute staff announced
the initiation of a development project to create an
online AIR history file and query capability on the
password-protected Network members' website.
Scheduled for completion in May 2003, this effort
should provide the same functionality as is pres-
ently available with the Institute's AIR software
package. Essentially, members will be able to go
on-line to enter new incidents, to look at all
incidents in the collective Network database (they
will see actual incidents only from within their own
group and synopses of incidents from the other
two groups), and to run queries on the collected
data. In addition, an area of the Network mem-
bers' website will list all Flash/AIR instructive
reports and Manufacturer's Bulletins.
Please call David Boston at (727) 517-9100 if
you have any questions!
Sample Copy News and Events of the Site Uptime Network®
Fall Keynote Speaker a Success
"Eradicating Human Error in the US Nuclear Navy"
presented by Domenic Alcaro, was the highest rated
keynote address to date. Collectively, Network
attendees in Houston rated this session 3.76 on a scale
of 1 to 4, with 3 defined as "Met All Expectations" and
4 as "Exceeded Expectations." Domenic mixed a
history of the Navy's focus on procedural rigor for
operating the nuclear submarine fleet with humorous
stories and personal photos. The end result of these
efforts is a highly successful safety record extending
forty-five years.
Many of the human and procedural practices
described in Domenic's presentation have a close
correlation to data center facilities operations. Examples
are: the practice of involving at least two individuals for
each critical operation (one utilizing a check list, the
other doing the activity), using a "repeat back" policy to
ensure the person about to change a system's operating
status fully understands the intended step in the
procedure, and cross-training on emergency procedures
with the individuals who operate the systems in
adjacent compartments.
Among the comments listed on Member evaluations
were:
♦ Fantastic, outstanding, excellent.
♦ Very well done, great pertinent info.
♦ Provided several excellent ideas/processes to
build upon.
♦ Useful examples that can be applied to our
operation.
♦ Very informative and nice to know that our efforts
to formalize checklist procedures are worth the
effort.
Domenic also interacted with Network meeting
participants during a follow-on discussion of parallels
between the Navy and data center working
environments !
Lurking Vulnerability: When underfloor drains are tied to
sewer lines without backflow prevention valves, sewer
backup problems can become very costly.
Page 3
Record Number Receives
Recognition for Uptime
Accomplishments
A record number of members collected uptime
awards at the fall meeting in Houston. In total, nine
member companies took home awards from fourteen
data center sites. This uptime achievement is also
reflected in the Network's collective average for a
record low in downtime events per reporting site (.3
per site).
Verizon received the greatest number of awards,
as well as the award for the most consecutive years
of uptime recorded to date by a member company.
The company earned a one-year award, a three-year
award, a four-year award, and a seven-year award.
American Express and BellSouth each
accomplished six years of consecutive uptime.
BellSouth also earned a three-year award.
Next in terms of consecutive uptime achieved was
Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, with a
five-year award.
(i)Structure was the newest member collecting
awards this year. The company received a four-year
and a three-year award.
Boeing celebrated four years of uninterrupted
uptime and BP North America rounded out the group
receiving a three-year award.
Receiving one-year uptime awards were Hewitt
Associates and United Parcel Service.
The Institute staff commends all of the award
recipients for their outstanding accomplishments.
Award applications and instructions are available
through Nancy Reynolds at nlr@upsite.com. To
receive an award at this year's fall meeting, the
Institute must receive completed submittals by July
1, 2003.
Continued on page 4
Best Practice overwhelmed by a Lurking Vulnerability:
Example of good signage, “DO NOT TOUCH ANY OF THESE
WIRES,” attempting to mitigate poor cable management.
Sample Copy News and Events of the Site Uptime Network®
Record Number Receives
Recognition for Uptime
Accomplishments
Continued from page 1
The Institute's award approval
process involves reviewing signed
documentation from both
Facilities and Information
Technology (IT) department heads
and, then a confirmation phone
call by the Institute to the IT
department head to validate that
the Institute's rigorous definition
of uptime (no momentary loss of
power or overheating condition
was experienced by a single
computer hardware component
during the uptime window
claimed) was utilized when the
application was submitted!
An extremely neat main grounding
bus bar installation.
Halon release and abort controls are well
protected from accidental activation.
Page 4
The Environmental Footprint
Continued from page 1
supplies to serve an entire rack from the user’s environmental
of servers. This will make dual perspective, the space required
power more feasible by bringing is 10 racks and the economic
costs down.) People were more buying decision should be made
than a little shocked when I told on the basis of the 10 racks of
the conference that increasing required environmental footprint.
the cubic power density was My next editorial will further
irrelevant because most data develop the environmental
centers soon will be unable to footprint idea and advocate a
cool even the current level of shift in metrics from watts/ft 2 –
rack power consumption. gross to watts per rack as the
Instead of the technologists fundamental measure of a
figuring out how to make things computer room’s cooling
smaller, we as an industry need capacity !
to recognize we have potentially
reached a point of diminishing
returns in making things
smaller.
The only way hardware
designers are going to be
motivated to look at tradeoffs
between continued rapid
technology compaction and the
resulting site infrastructure
resources consumed will be
when IT begins evaluating
competing technology speeds
and feed (mips and terabytes)
on the basis of how much
computer room space is
required. This is a revolutionary
shift! The environmental
footprint is a way of
communicating how much floor
space must be devoted to
cooling a given rack. For
example, if a rack consumes Blanking panels have been installed in
10kW and the data center is these racks to prevent hot air from re-
capable of cooling 50 watts/ft 2 circulating back to the rack face.
gross (1,000 watts per rack),
then for every 10kW rack, the
computer room layout planner
needs to allow for nine empty THE UPSITE NEWS
racks to bring the average Published by
across 10 racks down to 50 THE UPTIME INSTITUTE
watts/ft 2 . From the computer 1347 Tano Ridge Road
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87506
hardware manufacturer’s
Fax (505) 982-8484
perspective, the product Tel (505) 986-3900
footprint is just one rack, but www.uptimeinstitute.org