One of the comments I got back from Verari was that their solution is capable of 13 Petabytes of storage, going well beyond the 600 TB I used as a benchmark.
So since a single Petabyte is 1024 TB, you basically double the storage for the sake of math and keeping it in line with my earlier benchmark of 600TB:
Petabyte = 1024 Terabytes
The new computations then look like this:
At ~$200 KW, you’re looking at $120,000 month in base rent for a 600kw solution ($200*600)
So for 13.3M gigabytes you’ll pay about 130,000 per month (keeping numbers round) which means you’re at one cent per gig on cost. And more efficient and that is with the drives fired up 100% of the time.
Microsoft needs to implement these to archive email at these prices... Or Live Apps data.
Mark
Friday, January 16, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Low cost 600TB backup...
I forgot to include this little tidbit too in my previous post...
If the bandwidth charges were whirring through your head like the electric meter on Clark Griswold's house after putting up the Christmas lights - try this:
When the container is ordered ship it to your office loading dock. Plug it in, and throw a strand of fiber out the window and plug that in. Voila, 600TB at the speed of light, no bandwidth charges. It's a bit of a hack, but, cha ching!
If the bandwidth charges were whirring through your head like the electric meter on Clark Griswold's house after putting up the Christmas lights - try this:
When the container is ordered ship it to your office loading dock. Plug it in, and throw a strand of fiber out the window and plug that in. Voila, 600TB at the speed of light, no bandwidth charges. It's a bit of a hack, but, cha ching!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
600 Trillion Bytes per box - ROI of Pod Container Storage
I read recently that the IRS stores 15 to 20 Terabytes of data for each year of tax returns.
If the number is 20 Terabytes, 600/20 = 30 years of tax records storage is possible with a single container/POD. Since they go back 10 years for most practical applications of retrieval this means, at least conceptually, that the IRS and any other entity that stores records electronically (lawyers) will pay for 66% of records they seldom or never need to access for legal, operational, or other reasons.
For other organizations (banks, brokerages) it is 4-7 years where records need to be accessed on a 'regular' basis and after four years the trend falls off a cliff and after 7 it's hello abyss. So let's look at what a company might pay to store all this data and then let's look at what they would save if they thought differently about how they actually implemented their storage both in dollars and in energy efficiency.
1024 Gigabytes (GB) = 1 Terabyte (TB). I will round it to 1000 to keep it simple.
I will also assume that the cost per GB is $.50 - 50 cents US, so cost per TB is $500 USD. So that means in raw Capex you're at $300,000 ($500*600) for a container of raw storage.
Let's look at Opex now. We have power, cooling (subset of power), and space.
Power for a container is 350-600kw. If I use 600 or the max draw/densities I have seen, then 1TB = 1 KW of power for keeping the equipment fired up. At $200/kw or $200/Tb you're at $120,000 per month in base rent. Here is where the containers leave the data centers in the dust - PUE.
A data center PUE (Power Utilization Efficiency) looks at how much additional power is needed to power the cooling and facility in which the computing equipment is stored. Most data centers are at 1.7 for a PUE, meaning for every Kw of power needed to power the computers, an additional .7 Kw is needed for cooling it and ultimately powering the chillers, the A/C, etc.
POD Containers are 1.08 to 1.3. What does this really mean?
That you will save .4 to .6 per Kw in a container per month in power alone.
In real dollars that means per TB of storage, saving .5 Kw (mean average) equates to cutting my Opex by about a 1/3 over a traditional data center FOR THE SAME FUNCTION - storage of data.
So we lop off $40K/ month, which means that over a year we save $480K ($500k to round it). This covers the cost of the storage ($300k) and then some. You can look at it as free storage plus $200K, or a substantial reduction in Opex, or $200K to do other things with.
Bottom line is a POD/container pays for itself in under a year, is FAR more efficient than a data center day to day and that's not only good for our bottom lines, but it's good for our environment, and is responsible computing.
I will take a look at an even smarter solution for older records using MAID - Massive Arrays of Idle Disks.
Want help crunching your numbers? Email me -
mark.macauley@gmail.com
If the number is 20 Terabytes, 600/20 = 30 years of tax records storage is possible with a single container/POD. Since they go back 10 years for most practical applications of retrieval this means, at least conceptually, that the IRS and any other entity that stores records electronically (lawyers) will pay for 66% of records they seldom or never need to access for legal, operational, or other reasons.
For other organizations (banks, brokerages) it is 4-7 years where records need to be accessed on a 'regular' basis and after four years the trend falls off a cliff and after 7 it's hello abyss. So let's look at what a company might pay to store all this data and then let's look at what they would save if they thought differently about how they actually implemented their storage both in dollars and in energy efficiency.
1024 Gigabytes (GB) = 1 Terabyte (TB). I will round it to 1000 to keep it simple.
I will also assume that the cost per GB is $.50 - 50 cents US, so cost per TB is $500 USD. So that means in raw Capex you're at $300,000 ($500*600) for a container of raw storage.
Let's look at Opex now. We have power, cooling (subset of power), and space.
Power for a container is 350-600kw. If I use 600 or the max draw/densities I have seen, then 1TB = 1 KW of power for keeping the equipment fired up. At $200/kw or $200/Tb you're at $120,000 per month in base rent. Here is where the containers leave the data centers in the dust - PUE.
A data center PUE (Power Utilization Efficiency) looks at how much additional power is needed to power the cooling and facility in which the computing equipment is stored. Most data centers are at 1.7 for a PUE, meaning for every Kw of power needed to power the computers, an additional .7 Kw is needed for cooling it and ultimately powering the chillers, the A/C, etc.
POD Containers are 1.08 to 1.3. What does this really mean?
That you will save .4 to .6 per Kw in a container per month in power alone.
In real dollars that means per TB of storage, saving .5 Kw (mean average) equates to cutting my Opex by about a 1/3 over a traditional data center FOR THE SAME FUNCTION - storage of data.
So we lop off $40K/ month, which means that over a year we save $480K ($500k to round it). This covers the cost of the storage ($300k) and then some. You can look at it as free storage plus $200K, or a substantial reduction in Opex, or $200K to do other things with.
Bottom line is a POD/container pays for itself in under a year, is FAR more efficient than a data center day to day and that's not only good for our bottom lines, but it's good for our environment, and is responsible computing.
I will take a look at an even smarter solution for older records using MAID - Massive Arrays of Idle Disks.
Want help crunching your numbers? Email me -
mark.macauley@gmail.com
How much is One Trillion
With all of the talk about a Trillion dollar budget/bailout/deficit/cost of Iraq I had to try to wrap my brain around it and here is what I found for explanations:
A trillion dollars is so large a number that only politicians
can use the term in conversation...
Here is some perspective on TRILLION:
1 TeraByte (TB)
Trillion = 1,000,000,000,000.
The USA has not existed for a trillion seconds.
Western civilization has not been around a trillion seconds.
One trillion seconds ago – 31,688 years – Neanderthals stalked the plains of Europe.
or this:
Let's start with one billion. If you spent $1,000 per day, every day without fail, you would spend $365,000 in a normal year.
You would spend $36,525,000 in a century (assuming 25 leap years per century).
So, if you started spending $1,000 per day starting January 1, 0000, you would be spending $1,000 per day through the end of the Roman Empire, the collapse of the Mayan civilization, the Middle Ages, the Crusades, the Black Plague, the Renaissance, the European conquest of the New World, the Industrial Revolution, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, World Wars I and II, the Cold War, the end of the 20th Century and would finally reach one billion dollars a little more than one-third of the way through the 28th century.
Now do that 999 more times and that gets you to one trillion dollars
A trillion dollars is so large a number that only politicians
can use the term in conversation...
Here is some perspective on TRILLION:
1 TeraByte (TB)
Trillion = 1,000,000,000,000.
The USA has not existed for a trillion seconds.
Western civilization has not been around a trillion seconds.
One trillion seconds ago – 31,688 years – Neanderthals stalked the plains of Europe.
or this:
Let's start with one billion. If you spent $1,000 per day, every day without fail, you would spend $365,000 in a normal year.
You would spend $36,525,000 in a century (assuming 25 leap years per century).
So, if you started spending $1,000 per day starting January 1, 0000, you would be spending $1,000 per day through the end of the Roman Empire, the collapse of the Mayan civilization, the Middle Ages, the Crusades, the Black Plague, the Renaissance, the European conquest of the New World, the Industrial Revolution, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, World Wars I and II, the Cold War, the end of the 20th Century and would finally reach one billion dollars a little more than one-third of the way through the 28th century.
Now do that 999 more times and that gets you to one trillion dollars
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Good things to Happen in 2009
Well 2008 marks this blog being up for just over a year. In this time the blog has had more traffic than I imagined, and I have met some great people along the way. 2009 promises to be an even better year, as my employer has asked me to blog more often and share some thought leadership with our customer base and the industry at large. That is a huge crdibility boost as was being named to one of the top bloggers to watch in 2008 by VMWare.
I only hope that I will live up to expectations.
Topics I will be very focused on are the container based computing offerings out there - Verari, HP, Sun, and Rackable to name a few.
Areas of interest are - how do we compute in a more energy efficient way within the data center/power/cooling footprint that we have, and what should we consider if we are making a move - being green or saving some green.
There are some fantastic things happening out there that will help us all compute more effectively, more efficiently, and spend our dollars more wisely. I will share what I know, what I hear, and what I believe and why. Wherever possible I will provide justifications, incluing how I came to the conclusion I did, and share that with the community. I firmly believe the tide raises all boats, and I'll do what I can to keep us floating higher in the water.
I only hope that I will live up to expectations.
Topics I will be very focused on are the container based computing offerings out there - Verari, HP, Sun, and Rackable to name a few.
Areas of interest are - how do we compute in a more energy efficient way within the data center/power/cooling footprint that we have, and what should we consider if we are making a move - being green or saving some green.
There are some fantastic things happening out there that will help us all compute more effectively, more efficiently, and spend our dollars more wisely. I will share what I know, what I hear, and what I believe and why. Wherever possible I will provide justifications, incluing how I came to the conclusion I did, and share that with the community. I firmly believe the tide raises all boats, and I'll do what I can to keep us floating higher in the water.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
A Billion Explained
This has little if anything to do with virtualization, however this email really blew my mind and I felt compelled to post it. Enjoy...
How many zeros in a billion? This is too true to be funny.
The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.
A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective.
A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth.
E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.
While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans ...
It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.
Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D)is asking Congress for
250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans Interesting number... what does it mean?
A.
Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans
(every man, woman, and child)
you each get $516,528.
B.
Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in
New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787.
C.
Or... if you are a family of four...
your family gets $2,066,012.
Washington , D. C - HELLO!
Are all your calculators broken??
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges ( tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax< br> Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemploy ment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal
Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago...
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt....
We had the largest middle class in the world...
and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What happened?
Can you spell 'politicians!'
And I still have to
press '1'
for English.
What happened?????
How many zeros in a billion? This is too true to be funny.
The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.
A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective.
A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth.
E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.
While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans ...
It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.
Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D)is asking Congress for
250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans Interesting number... what does it mean?
A.
Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans
(every man, woman, and child)
you each get $516,528.
B.
Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in
New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787.
C.
Or... if you are a family of four...
your family gets $2,066,012.
Washington , D. C - HELLO!
Are all your calculators broken??
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges ( tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax< br> Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemploy ment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal
Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago...
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt....
We had the largest middle class in the world...
and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What happened?
Can you spell 'politicians!'
And I still have to
press '1'
for English.
What happened?????
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Tech Target and Burton Group in Dallas
I am at the Advanced Virtualization seminar in Dallas being hosted by TechTarget and the Burton Group. The first half hour worth of presentation has been covering the decision points for what you use from the hardware up. The bottom line is performance and the filters that you will run your performance requirements through are hardware configs – memory, disk speeds, I/O.
Pick a platform, understand why and make sure it dovetails to current hardware strategy. If it’s a CPU intensive app - Limit number of virtual CPUs to <= physical cores. Benchmarks are 4:1 overcommit.
Chargeback
Akorri and Vkernel were mentioned and highlighted in the presentation. I asked the interesting question:
How much information is captured and reported in a chargeback report? In other words does the report capture chargeback information that includes power costs to support the virtual environment or is it just focused on the plug into the app and hardware?
Crickets.
No one has factored this into chargeback. This is VERY interesting to me, and here is why:
IT can tell Finance (and CIOs are reporting to CFOs more and more) what the computing costs are for application and virtual resource usage, yet the lowest common denominator (power) is left out of the equation, yet is a significant and crucial piece of the equation. So there may be an incredibly inefficient computing environment running that YOU or your department is paying for. If it’s YOUR money, don’t you want to make sure it’s being spent wisely and that your efficiency is being rewarded in what you are charged?
More later…
Pick a platform, understand why and make sure it dovetails to current hardware strategy. If it’s a CPU intensive app - Limit number of virtual CPUs to <= physical cores. Benchmarks are 4:1 overcommit.
Chargeback
Akorri and Vkernel were mentioned and highlighted in the presentation. I asked the interesting question:
How much information is captured and reported in a chargeback report? In other words does the report capture chargeback information that includes power costs to support the virtual environment or is it just focused on the plug into the app and hardware?
Crickets.
No one has factored this into chargeback. This is VERY interesting to me, and here is why:
IT can tell Finance (and CIOs are reporting to CFOs more and more) what the computing costs are for application and virtual resource usage, yet the lowest common denominator (power) is left out of the equation, yet is a significant and crucial piece of the equation. So there may be an incredibly inefficient computing environment running that YOU or your department is paying for. If it’s YOUR money, don’t you want to make sure it’s being spent wisely and that your efficiency is being rewarded in what you are charged?
More later…
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