Marc Cram
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Thoughts on Quantum Computing
Marc Cram
January 18, 2022Quantum computing is different from today’s conventional computers. Modern computers rely on strings of 1’s and 0’s to represent information and perform Boolean logic functions or perform arithmetic operations. The realm of the quantum computer is different ...
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- Industry Insights
Hyperscale Data Centers: Thoughts On Support and Service?
Marc Cram
September 19, 2017Your hyperscale data center operates on a lean budget. You want to install your hardware and be done with it until you decommission it for the next efficiency-driven replacement cycle. But real world hardware does fail, and when it does, you want your suppliers to be both knowledgeable and responsive. They need to be able to troubleshoot remotely or on site, and get you answers and replacement product quickly so that your application can be restored.
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- Hyperscale
Hyperscale Data Centers: Do You Use A Bespoke Power Solution...Or Not?
Marc Cram
August 28, 2017You have a deadline, and you have your goals. Your hyperscale data center design needs to maximize power efficiency. Use free air cooling or adiabatic cooling. And support ambient air operating temperature of 25-35oC, with hot aisle exhaust temperatures approaching 60oC. You need lots of outlets – C13s, C19s, or even something that allows you to blind mate servers to the power strip. And it needs to meet regulatory requirements in most major geographical regions around the world.
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- Hyperscale
What comes first, the network or the application?
Marc Cram
May 03, 2017If you believe many of today’s publications, sensor-laden driverless cars look to become a part of everyday life over the next decade. The processing power needed to handle the flood of data for driving, along with vehicle to vehicle, vehicle to highway, and vehicle to dispatch/management communications is likely to be huge. Edge computing, putting compute infrastructure close to the point of use (beside or over the highway, for example) will likely be called for along with deploying 5G wireless communications for transporting the data.
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Three Questions for Your Edge Application
Marc Cram
April 19, 2017Your centralized hyperscale data center is up and running in a stable fashion. Now the software team has come up with applications that are so bandwidth intensive that you are going to have to do some extensive pre-processing in every major locale to reduce network traffic and latency times. Sounds like some form of edge computing is needed, whether that is edge, mobile edge or even fog computing. And wherever distributed/edge computing is called for, intelligent remote power management is a requisite.
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Hyperscale Demands...
Marc Cram
April 07, 2017Utility power should just be there. Always on. Never failing. Today’s hyperscale data center designs frequently count on the electric utility to supply them with a stable source of clean renewable energy. Alternatively, some use locally generated power with the utility as a backup. Combining robust software stacks that incorporate ...
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Datacenter Models: Private Cloud
Marc Cram
September 16, 2016Private cloud is a term that is easily misunderstood. "Private cloud computing is defined by privacy, not location, ownership or management responsibility," Gartner’s Tom Bittman says. A private cloud is dedicated to a single customer, and may reside in customer owned premises, or in the cloud provider’s premises. Operating your IT in a private cloud offers many of the same benefits of public cloud, such as scalability and energy efficiency.
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Datacenter Models: Public Cloud
Marc Cram
September 14, 2016Most everyone in the IT field today is aware of the availability of public cloud infrastructure from Amazon, Microsoft, Google, IBM/Softlayer, and others. Public cloud services are the most rapidly growing segment of IT according to Gartner and other industry analysts. The benefits of adopting public cloud are numerous, such as scalability, flexibility, and the ability to operate without capital expenditures. In many cases, relying on public cloud can be greener than a custom built datacenter.
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What Type of Datacenter User Are You?
Marc Cram
September 12, 2016While both “cloud” and “cloud-first” are the new go to IT solutions for many companies, there remain a large number of situations where a complete outsourcing of your hardware infrastructure is not practical. In that circumstance, colocation of your IT should make the short list for consideration, whether it is driven by the needs for expansion, proximity, or interconnect. Colocation offers the advantages of highly efficient buildings, support for multiple locations, and access to some of the best interconnections available in the industry.
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- Colocation
Smart Cities Need Fog Computing with Intelligent Power
Marc Cram
April 26, 2016Mainframes and Moore’s law led to personal computers. Client-server applications became possible with the first local area networks. Cellular radio systems and Wi-Fi, along with Moore’s law (again) combined with improved battery technology have made laptops, tablets, cell phones, and augmented reality headsets key drivers of internet activity today. Tomorrow’s applications will be more widespread, and possibly less visible. Think smart cities, where the lamp posts and the sidewalks work together to guide you to your destination so you don’t have to watch your progress on a map application on your phone. The solar powered talking trash bin on the corner can call a driverless Lyft for you. Need to make a phone call? Put your hand on the glass of the bus stop shelter and you can have a video call for a few micro-cents.
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