Iceland Data Center Market

Iceland is promoting itself as the best place for data centers and what makes Iceland perfect are its climate, geographical proximity and the availability of energy resources. Recently Verne Global has opened a large data center powered by renewable resources and Iceland government hopes similar facilities will follow. Verne Global opened its data centre in Iceland in October 2011. The investment in the first phase of the data centre is estimated at around ISK 20 bn., and the total investment for this project is estimated at ISK 80 bn. articulated in four phases. Iceland placement between Europe and the U.S. means that companies in the U.S. can run their Web services for both continents in one location, potentially saving money. Iceland has abundant hydropower and geothermal power (100% clean power); it can offer data center services for the same price or less than Web services powered by fossil fuel-based grids in other locations. Gartner estimates that data centers account for around 0.5% of all global carbon emissions. The electricity cost in Iceland is about four cents per kilowatt hour, and customers can get 20-year fixed price contracts. The U.S. average is about 10 cents per kilowatt hour.

The data center industry has been and will continue to be highly dependent on power, both to power the servers and cool the environment. The greatest expense data centers face is power and most of that is used to chill the racks of servers. Worldwide, data center energy use increased 56% from 2005 to 2010, according to a report from Stanford's Jonathan Koomey, which was commissioned by The New York Times.  Maximum safe operating temperature for data center equipment is 81 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius). The latest high-density circuits, one rack of computer servers (19 inches wide and about six feet tall) can emit as much heat as multiple kitchen ovens. Without massive air conditioning to remove the heat, the servers will happily cook themselves to death. And power for those air conditioners is not free. In Iceland the highest temperature ever recorded in Iceland is 79 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Celsius). The average daily high in July in Iceland's capital of Reykjavík is a non-sweltering 56 degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees Celsius). Air conditioning in Iceland is a matter of just opening the windows.

Iceland remote and secure location is an attractive option for data centers specializing in disaster recovery back-up. Its mid-Atlantic location makes Iceland an ideal base for companies with business in both North America and Europe. Iceland is currently connected to neighboring Greenland, Scotland and Denmark through submarine lines that then connect to larger markets in Europe and North America. The three undersea cables offer a total throughput of eight trillion bits (or about 37 Blu-Ray discs worth of data) per second to both Europe and North America. A fourth is due to come on-stream in 2012 and, it is claimed, will have the lowest latency across the Atlantic. It's a 2,734-mile cable system that Iceland IT players have described as game-changing. The new cable system called the Emerald Express is set to link Iceland to the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and mainland Europe.

Natural calamities like volcano eruptions and earthquakes are the disadvantages. Iceland sits atop an active volcanic rift and In 2008 Iceland was hit by an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale. Volcano and earthquake activity is well-mapped, and data centers and power plants are located strategically with those risks in mind. But data center operators can build their data centers with these concerns in mind and part of the data center design and operations include mitigating any environmental impacts to protect the data center campus. Another disadvantage is IT talent pool in Iceland is not that large, and it is not easy to shift existing data center personnel to Iceland. Existing employees may not be interested to move there and this might increase cost for the data center operators as they have to install Remote Infrastructure Management Technologies. Iceland is still recovering from the Global Financial crisis three years ago as it is one of the biggest causalities of the crisis and financing is still a problem in the country. Infrastructure for the supply chain is also a cause of concern in Iceland.

With renewable energy and clean energy factors becoming significant factors for internet, eCommerce and other technology companies Iceland may become a crucial location for their data center strategy. Customers of these companies want to use the services that are environmentally conscious. Iceland government is also supporting the data centers market with the necessary policy support and infrastructure support. Low power costs, cool climate and low cost of infrastructure like land & buildings are the attractions for the data centers to locate to Iceland. But Iceland is facing stiff competition from Scotland lately as it had some success attracting data centers, touting cold air and green electricity derived from wind and water power.

Data Center Skills – Facility Management

Facility management is about power, cooling and fire protection, and physical access controls. Managing the space, power, cooling, installing equipment and conducting all change management and configuration management has slowly become integrated and IT and facilities management have to work together. But the real issues are power and air conditioning. Air conditioning is the number one consumer of power. Servers generate lot of heat and high density racks consume lot of power, and a similar amount of power is needed to dissipate this heat. That makes the planning and layout of the data center, and the provision of power and air conditioning equipment, crucial.

Facility Management department help design the layout of the racks to maximize the efficiency of the cooling systems. With the help of software tools and packages facilities managers manage the amount of power that must be supplied in a given area of data center, and corresponding cooling capacity needed to remove the resulting heat. Facility management software and tools are being developed that help in efficient use of the power and cooling resources so as to reduce the cost and avoid technical failures due to power and cooling failures.

Electrical Engineers, Power cooling and Air conditioning specialists, Mechanical engineers with IT knowledge and capable of handling dashboards and performance management software are in high demand. As data centers are becoming bigger and bigger and power consumption rising rapidly and development of power cooling systems and technologies a new breed of engineers are in demand. Data centers are being constructed in large numbers across the world and rapid explosion in data and its storage, the demand for the engineers and cooling specialists with specific skills are in high demand. Cable and networking equipment handling is another skill that is required. Servers and storage devices have to be connected and need to be maintained so as to avoid the failures that cost data centers significantly.

Fire specialists are another critical area of data center facilities management. Fire protection systems like sprinklers, smoke detectors, and fire extinguishers are must for any data centers. For big data centers fire protection and suppression systems requires the expertise of a fire engineer to ensure the protection of property, continuity of business and most importantly life safety in the data center are upheld.

Physical security also plays a large role with data centers and access to the site is usually restricted to selected personnel, with controls including bollards and mantraps. Video camera surveillance and permanent security guards are always present if the data center is large or contains sensitive information on any of the systems within. The use of finger print recognition man traps is starting to be commonplace.

Cleaning a data center is a delicate process that requires the services of highly-trained professionals who know how to safely handle mission critical equipment. Exterior Hardware Cleaning Tops of Floor Cleaning and under floor Plenum Cleaning services are usually performed at scheduled intervals, ranging from once per year to once a day. Data centers have to be cleaned not only to protect the health of the employees but also protect the hardware, software and other equipments from damage and repairs.

Some of the jobs require higher skills and some lower skills in the data center facilities management. But the fact is both facilities and IT teams have to work together for the efficient running of the data centers. Communication between the two teams must be effective and they should supplement each other constantly for the profitable running of the data centers and smooth functioning.

Data Center Skills – Network Administration

Networking is critical for smooth functioning of data centers. Responsibilities of a Network Administrator include maintain network hardware & software components, network routing, network security, Administer (LAN, WAN, intranet, or extranet) networks, Analyze network failures and fix associated defects, network balance, scalability, performance, disaster recovery, administration policies, etc. Network administrators have to get themselves trained in the latest technologies like automation and virtualization. The traditional network administration is changing as new models and architectures are being developed in the data center market.

Some of the prominent certification programs:

Cisco Data Center Networking Infrastructure Design Specialist- The Cisco Data Center Networking Infrastructure Design Specialist certification validates an individual's knowledge of selecting and integrating Cisco Data Center products to design a highly scalable, efficient, and high performing Data Center networking solution based on Cisco Data Center Architecture. The following products are covered in learning materials:  Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches Service Modules and Nexus 2000, 4000, 5000, and 7000.

Cisco Data Center Networking Infrastructure Support Specialist - The Cisco Data Center Networking Infrastructure Support Specialist validates an individual's knowledge of installing, configuring, and troubleshooting Cisco Data Center products to maintain a highly scalable, efficient, and high performing Data Center Networking environment. Cisco Data Center Networking Infrastructure Support Specialist professionals understand how to deploy and optimize the following features and benefits: Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches Service Modules and Nexus 2000, 5000, and 7000.

Cisco Data Center Networking Sales Specialist – The Cisco Data Center Networking Sales Specialists demonstrate an overall understanding of Data Center networking architecture, and the features and benefits of the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches, Cisco 4948 Switches, and Cisco Catalyst Blade Switch families. Cisco Data Center Networking Sales Specialist professionals understand how the Cisco Catalyst and Blade Switch families of products are used in a Data Center Network environment and can identify the most effective Cisco Catalyst or Blade Switch family product(s) to address specific customer requirements.

Cisco Data Center Storage Networking Design Specialist - The Cisco Data Center Storage Networking Design Specialist certification validates an individual's ability to select and integrate Cisco storage products in order to design a highly scalable, efficient, high-performing storage networking solution based on converged architecture. Cisco Data Center Storage Networking Design Specialist professionals understand how to utilize and employ the features and benefits of the Cisco MDS 9000 Series Multilayer Director and Multilayer Fabric Switches to create a highly available storage network design. In addition, this certification covers the use of Cisco NX-OS and provides a technology overview of Cisco Unified Fabric, Cisco Nexus, and Cisco Unified Computing System products.

Cisco Data Center Storage Networking Support Specialist - The Cisco Data Center Storage Networking Support Specialist certification validates an individual's understanding of how to deploy and optimize the features and benefits of the Cisco MDS 9000 Series Multilayer Director and Multilayer Fabric Switches in order to maintain, implement, and troubleshoot a highly available storage network. In addition, this certification covers the use of Cisco NX-OS and provides a technology overview of Cisco Unified Fabric and Cisco Nexus products.

The Sun Certified Network Administrator for Solaris follows the Sun Certified System Administrator Certification and focuses on networking skills in the Solaris OS. This exam will test candidates on their knowledge of Network Interface Layers, Transport, Network Applications and configuring the Solaris IP Filter. It is recommended that candidates have three or more years experience in networking prior to this certification. The Solaris System Administration certification is a prerequisite for this certification. This certification requires a passing score on exam number 310-302. The certification is targeted at Network Administrators working in technical positions in the Solaris OS.