Looking at data center power of the future

By Robert Mullins

February 26, 2008 12:00 PM ET

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Cloud computing

"Cloud computing," one approach Almaden researchers are pursuing, has already manifested in the Blue Cloud initiative that IBM launched three months ago. Under the Blue Cloud architecture, enterprises can get Internet-like access to processing capacity from a large number of servers, physical and virtual. By not having to add machines locally, enterprises save on the cost of powering up and outfitting new computing facilities. Cloud computing could also help reduce ongoing energy consumption, because organizations will not need to accommodate capacity that they will not use all the time.

This spring, IBM will take the concept further, offering BladeCenter servers with power and x86 processors, as well as service management software -- a "'Cloud in a Box,' so to speak," says Dennis Quan, a senior technical staff member at IBM's Silicon Valley Lab.

Cloud computing will mature in coming years as enterprises increasingly turn to IT to serve their markets, Quan says. Certainly Web 2.0 sites posting user-generated content will proliferate, driving the need for cloud computing. But demand will come from mainstream enterprises, too. "Financial services firms are saying, 'We've run out of space ... so what can we do?'" he says. "They need to have a compute infrastructure that's scalable."

Liquid cooling

Liquid cooling, once featured in IBM mainframes and Cray supercomputers, may be returning to data centers as an alternative to air conditioning, says Tommy Minyard, assistant director of

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