Microsoft Generation 4 Datacenter Vision

As part of the overall Online Strategy, Microsoft is expanding its global datacenter facilities globally.

Building large datacenters is not only path Microsoft is taking. Modular datacenter also form an important part of the strategy. Check out this video to get an idea of the concept :

 

<a href="http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=b4d189d3-19bd-42b3-85d7-6ca46d97fe40" target="_new" title="Microsoft Generation 4.0 Data Center Vision">Video: Microsoft Generation 4.0 Data Center Vision</a>

 

If you are in any way interested in Microsoft’s strategy with regards to datacenters, please check out the weblog of Michael Manos.

Michael is General Manager for Global Foundation Services, basicly the entity repsponsible for the strategy, implementation eand operations of Microsoft’s Global Datacenter Infrastructure.

Michael wrote a blogpost (or better article) on the Modular datacenter strategy That’s very interesting :

Data Centers are a hot topic these days. No matter where you look, this once obscure aspect of infrastructure is getting a lot of attention. For years, there have been cost pressures on IT operations and this, when the need for modern capacity is greater than ever, has thrust data centers into the spotlight. Server and rack density continues to rise, placing DC professionals and businesses in tighter and tougher situations while they struggle to manage their IT environments. And now hyper-scale cloud infrastructure is taking traditional technologies to limits never explored before and focusing the imagination of the IT industry on new possibilities.

At Microsoft, we have focused a lot of thought and research around how to best operate and maintain our global infrastructure and we want to share those learnings. While obviously there are some aspects that we keep to ourselves, we have shared how we operate facilities daily, our technologies and methodologies, and, most importantly, how we monitor and manage our facilities. Whether it’s speaking at industry events, inviting customers to our “Microsoft data center conferences” held in our data centers, or through other media like blogging and white papers, we believe sharing best practices is paramount and will drive the industry forward.  So in that vein, we have some interesting news to share.

Read on : Michael Manos’ blog

And if you still haven’t had enough, check out this interview with Michael on TechEd Online : Datacenter Leadership