Top data center stories from October 2014

October was a month of retooling and reflecting in the data center industry. Companies left in the wake of the cloud made moves to remain relevant. Other, more established cloud entities are doubling down to protect their interests and prepare for the next wave of new technology. Consumers continue to come out on top as the cloud becomes more stable.

Rackspace catches the reboot bug
Last month, data center giant Amazon made the news when it decided to schedule a surprise infrastructure-wide update that would require the firm to reboot several of its cloud servers. The company eventually released a vague press release explaining the issue, pointing toward a security problem caused by Xen hypervisor. In the first week of October, host Rackspace performed the same security check on its own servers, according to Data Center Dynamics. Unfortunately, just like Amazon, Rackspace has been very secretive as to the exact nature of the security flaw that spooked both companies. All that is clear is that the problem requires software updates and a server shutdown to be resolved.

Department of Defense considering data center containers
The Department of Defense launched a Request for Information in the first week of October that asked private companies for tips on how the government organization could streamline its data center facilities and take advantage of the cloud. Security needs for the department are extremely high, so on-premise data centers may be set up to manage highly classified information. FCW reported that the government is strongly considering having modular data center components integrated into the cloud off-site, then transported to its final destination to guarantee security. If this scenario does not play out, the DoD will likely lease space from a private data center, on the condition that the state's infrastructure is housed separately and securely from other customers. Security concerns will ultimately decide which method the DoD chooses, and both implementation strategies have downsides to go with their strengths.

Cloudscaling acquired by EMC
Cloudscaling represents yet another acquisition of a small vendor by a larger tech company. Hewlett-Packard, Oracle and Cisco have all recently made their move to gobble up rising tech companies with innovative, promising apps. EMC hopes to build on Cloudscaling's technology in an effort to expand its own own cloud platform support services. The smaller vendor originally focused on acquiring enterprise clients in need of security and compliance solutions. Cloudscaling provides a private cloud that sits behind a company's own firewall, offering a high level of user control. For businesses trading secure information this feature could be a key selling point, so it's no surprise that EMC made a move to enter the market. Bloomberg reported that the deal cost EMC just under $50 million, according to Forbes.

Multi-story facility takes efficiency to next level
Clise Properties and the Graphite Design Group approached the Seattle, Washington, design review board with plans for a new data center near the close of October, said Data Center Knowledge. The 12-story building would include 8 11,000 square feet floors dedicated to hosting data center infrastructure and is planned to be strategically positioned near the Amazon Rufus 2.0 campus. The building's design was notable because it recycled data center heat and pumped the hot air into the heating system. Heat collected from the company's data center would be released to other nearby office buildings as well, demonstrating the benefits an efficiently run data center can offer the surrounding community. Construction on the new data center is expected to complete by 2017.