When data center services - like Amazon’s S3 - go down, it’s often blamed on “human error.” But what is this “human error?” If an engineer can bring down a cloud service by mistyping a command, maybe the error was made by the humans who initially designed the system.
In our latest issue of the DCD Magazine, our cover feature puts the spotlight on the symbiotic relationship between data centers and the humans who design, build and run them.
The April/May issue is out now – available to view online, or as a print publication delivered to your door (registration required), entirely for free.
What’s in the magazine
In addition to our cover feature, our magazine is brimming with features and opinions from our global editorial staff. Here’s just a short selection of some of what is in this issue.
Re-shaping data center servers
When DCD designer Fay Marney saw what Dan Robinson was writing about - the changing shape of servers - she immediately left for the local craft store. Soon Fay, and fellow designers Chris Perrins and Holly Tillier, were hard at work crafting little works of play-doh art. Then the DCD editorial team, as well as people from various sections of the company, came along and built things that could generously be described as “shapes.”
The top 10 beautiful data centers
As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the editorial department, and we at DCD have used that eye to judge the data center world. We list the data centers that took our breath away, from a James Bond villain’s lair to a to a NATO ammunition store, we dug up what we think is the best.
But maybe you know better. There will be a public vote in this year’s DCD Awards for our first ever prize for data center design. If you have suggestions, be sure to let us know at [email protected]
Finding new data center frontiers
Building a data center is hard. Building a data center in Angola is harder.
What does it take to set up a data center in a frontier market filled with insects, bullets, rocketing temperatures and thick humidity? DCD finds out.
Open source IoT protects Mexican bank
Grupo Elektra-Banco is using Raspberry Pi and Arduino to predict and avoid equipment failures. DCD talks to to the people behind this innovative DCIM solution.
Tying down the cloud
Data center companies have come to terms with the cloud. Now, they’re hoping that private/hybrid interconnects will guarantee them a place in the new cloud services world order.
The Software-Defined Supplement
This edition of the DCD Magazine also comes with an additional software-defined supplement, sponsored by Juniper Networks. Here’s a sample of what’s in the issue.
Peace, love and SDN
Software-defined networking is changing the role of switches, and the companies that make them. Max Smolaks is looking at the example of Contrail, an open source software project that’s being commercialized by Juniper Networks.
Let’s aim for business defined!
The real benefit of the software-defined data center comes when you connect it to a layer of business logic, analyst Chris MacKinnon explains.
Automatic for the people
Software-definded products are promising more automation, but how are they actually delivering it? Dan Robinson investigates different approaches to SDDC.
And more!
From everyone here at DCD, we hope you enjoy this issue. We’re already working on our next one, and can’t wait to share it with you too.
If you have any comments, suggestions, or questions, be sure to let us know in the comments below or at [email protected]