Thursday, May 6, 2010

Where are salesforce.com data centres located?

from forcedotcom.com blog:

>>With this in mind, I'm sure that the majority of salesforce users frankly don't care where the data centres are providing that the service is available. However as a SFDC admin / developer / geek I'm interested in this stuff, and I think its useful for admins to have a basic understanding in case it comes up (which it undoubtedly will). The diagram below shows a graphical representation of where salesforce.com data centres are located:






















Main Production DC:
San Jose, California
Asia Pacific Production DC: Singapore
Backup Production DC: Reston, Virginia
R&D Lab & Tape Archive: San Francisco, California

Salesforce do not own any of these data centres, they use co-location facilities that at present are being run by a company called Equinix. For further details about why Equinix were chosen, and for much more information on force.com infrastructure I recommend watching the video below. This is a recording taken from Dreamforce '09 - a presentation was given by Claus Moldt, SVP Technical Operations at salesforce.com (Claus previously worked at eBay where he was responsible for their techincal infrastructure).

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

DDW: Stereotactic Surgery (CK) Beneficial in Pancreatic Cancer

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>DDW: Stereotactic Surgery (CK) Beneficial in Pancreatic Cancer

** Digestive Disease Week (DDW) May 1-5, 2010 in New Orleans is the world's largest gathering of physicians and researchers in the field of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery **

http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/DDW/19942

By Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: May 05, 2010
Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston.


NEW ORLEANS -- Stereotactic radiosurgery may be an alternative for patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer that is traditionally unresectable, researchers said here.

Multi-session Versus Single Session CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Spinal Metastases

Presentation title: Multi-session Versus Single Session CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Spinal Metastases: The Georgetown & University of Pittsburgh Experience. Oral Abstract

"Spinal SRS offers good palliation, good local control, and low toxicity for treating metastatic tumours of the spine using either the SS or MS approach. Initial pain response seems better with SS radiation. Long-term local control appears to be better with MS. It's not possible to claim superiority of one treatment scheme over the other because of the possible biases inherent in a nonrandomised study," concluded Dr. Henderson.

NYSE Euronext Opens European Liquidity Data Center

from securitiesindustry.com:

>>NYSE Euronext Opens European Liquidity Data Center

The initial co-location phase comprises more than 40 high-frequency trading firms scheduled for installation and testing prior to the migration of the main matching engines for the NYSE Euronext, NYSE Liffe, NYSE Arca Europe and Smartpool markets, which is due for completion by the fourth quarter of 2010. Customer consultations for the second phase will begin in the summer with scheduled installations commencing in November.

Equinix Continues European Expansion as Fourth Data Center in Zurich Opens

Equinix Continues European Expansion as Fourth Data Center in Zurich Opens

New Equinix ZH4 International Business Exchange data center to provide 2,300 gross square meters of additional capacity in Switzerland

Zurich, Switzerland, May 5, 2010 – Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), a provider of global data center services, today announced it has opened its fourth International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center in Zurich, Switzerland, more than doubling its capacity in the city. The new 2,300 gross square meter IBX data center, called ZH4, has been built to meet the rising demand for premium colocation and interconnection data center services in the region, particularly from global and local network service providers and financial services firms. The $13.5m investment in the ZH4 IBX data center is part of Equinix’s $2.0 billion expansion program to grow data center operations globally between 2007 and 2010.

The addition of Equinix’s fourth IBX data center in Zurich provides extra capacity for approximately 500 cabinet equivalents, increasing the company’s overall data center space in this strategic market to a total of 4,760 square meters.

Located in central Zurich on the same campus as Equinix’s ZH1 and ZH2 IBX data centers and just 1.5 km from the nearby ZH3 IBX data center, the new ZH4 IBX data center builds on the rich network density at Equinix’s existing facilities, providing customers with a wide range of connectivity options and immediate access to more than 70 networks. Carriers operating within the Zurich campus include Belgacom ICS (International Carrier Services), Cablecom, Cogent Communications, Gas&Com, Global Crossing, Level 3 Communications, Sunrise, and VTLWaveNet, part of the Viatel Group.

The ZH4 IBX data center also offers a variety of other premium data center services including colocation, interconnection and peering, direct cross-connects between networks, and access to the Equinix Exchange central switching fabric. To ensure resilient dual-site solutions, all four of Equinix IBX data centers in Zurich are connected via redundant networks.

“At a time when demand for data center space in Switzerland is at an all time high, we are delighted to offer our customers and prospects a new IBX data center which provides increased capacity, security and resilience to meet the critical needs of their operations,” said Frits van der Graaff, general manager for Equinix in Switzerland.“Based in central Zurich, the ZH4 IBX data center will be able to support the established telecommunications and financial industries, as well as attract customers from other growth sectors.”

The ZH4 IBX data center provides customers with a highly resilient yet energy efficient data center infrastructure, providing industry leading uptime with a standard provision of two N+1 Uninterruptable Power Supplies (UPS) to each cabinet. Alongside Equinix’s three other Zurich based IBX data centers, ZH4 operates entirely on ecologically produced energy generated from solar and hydro power, as certified by Naturemade Star, the Swiss label for green power production and green electricity products.

“Our investment within Switzerland marks our ongoing commitment to expanding operations not only within Europe, but globally,” said Eric Schwartz, president, Equinix Europe. “Our global reach means that customers looking to expand their operations can confidently grow with us knowing that we can support their business needs now and in the future.”

NYSE, colocation providers battle it out on data center regulation

from SearchDataCenter.com

>>NYSE, colocation providers battle it out on data center regulation

NYSE tries to strong-arm on standards
The NYSE has built and is equipping a 400,000-square-foot data center in Mahwah, N.J., about 35 miles from Wall Street. It plans to use only 40% of the data center floor space for its own equipment; the rest will be designated for colocation.
I don't see any need for any type of regulation.
Jeff Paschke,
senior data center analyst, Tier 1 Research

The benefits to hosting at a specific exchange are quicker access to market data and transactions. But some financial companies choose third-party data center providers such as Equinix because these third parties have access to multiple trading platforms rather than just, for instance, the NYSE.

Third-party data center colocation providers say their facilities provide hosting for multiple industries, not just the financial sector. And they argue that their ability to provide third-party hosting for multiple exchanges helps offset the benefits that exchange customers get by hosting their servers directly at the exchange.

"The New York Stock Exchange has opted to build out its own colocation facilities in New York and London," said John Knuff, the global business development director at Equinix. "Since their core offering is exchanges and they are granted licenses issued by the government, they operate under regulatory statutes and have to operate within a tight framework."

CYBERKNIFE STORIES: A special treatment at Mercy Medical Center is giving cancer patients another chance

from whotv.com:

Dr. Philip Colletier is Vance's oncologist. "The thing we like to do is to give patients hope. Patients want two things, a plan and some type of hope." And the hope once again came in the form of Cyberknife. Dr. Colletier says without it Vance wouldn't be here today. "It's painless and it's seamless and the patient doesn't even know it's happening."

The first CK in Mexico?

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>The first CK in Mexico?

** Muguerza Hospital is in Monterrey, Mexico. The writer is a 20-year-old medical student in Monterrey. **

http://imedgeek.wordpress.com/2010/05/04/medicine-politics-do-not-mix/

IMEDGEEK'S BLOG

Medicine & Politics do not mix. May 4, 2010
imedgeek @ 6:42 am

....

By Sunday I was so tired. I only slept around five hours everyday of the week. Believe me studying for the test was not the most time-consuming thing next to every other thing I had to do.

There was this cancer conference about radiosurgery with a new technology called the Cyberknife. It was really interesting, but I felt like I was part of an infomercial. The first Cyberknife in all Latin America was bought by Muguerza Hospital this month.

Equinix BoD new member

William K. Luby has been elected to the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Equinix effective April 30, 2010 pursuant to the merger agreement by and among Equinix, Switch and Data, and Sundance Acquisition Corporation, dated October 21, 2009, as amended on March 20, 2010 (the “Merger Agreement”). In addition, pursuant to the Merger Agreement, Mr. Luby has been nominated for re-election to the Equinix Board at Equnix’s 2010 annual meeting of stockholders to be held on June 10, 2010.

link

LOANS: Equinix loan upsized to US$200m

The US$170m-equivalent five-year amortising loan for four Asian subsidiaries of Equinix has been closed and upsized to US$200m following commitments from five banks in general syndication. The banks joining are Commerzbank, Citigroup, HSBC, Indian Bank and OCBC.

link

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

India wants more CK

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>India wants more CK


** Pimpri-Chinchwad is a municipality in western India, about 136 km west of Mumbai. **

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Will-upgrade-cancer-care-facility--Yogesh-Bhel/614687

Express News Service, India
May 04, 2010

Will upgrade cancer care facility: Yogesh Bhel


PIMPRI-Chinchwad Mayor Yogesh Behl on Saturday said the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will make all efforts to upgrade the health facilities required to treat cancer patients. “We are trying to set up a cancer hospital and get advanced machinery to treat those afflicted by the disease,” he said.

Inaugurating the Free Shri D M More Medical Information and Help Centre at Kasarwadi on Saturday, the mayor said the civic body was in talks with corporates and social organisations to get the CYBERKNIFE machinery which is known to successfully treat patients. “Since the PCMC itself is struggling for funds, we are trying to get outside help to provide best medical care for those afflicted by the life-threatening disease,” the mayor said amidst applause.

Behl said NCP chief Sharad Pawar had directed the civic body to set up a hospital exclusively to treat cancer patients. “Till we the set up such a hospital, our efforts will be to upgrade the facility at our existing oncology unit at YCM Hospital,” Behl said, pointing out the medical information centre would indeed benefit citizens who had to run one hospital for proper diagnosis and medical care.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Equinix chief gives reassurance on pricing

from FT.com, an interview with Equinix Ceo:

>>Equinix chief gives reassurance on pricing

The largest independent operator of data centres with fast internet connections would not raise prices after completing the acquisition of its nearest US competitor on Friday, Steve Smith, Equinix chief executive, told the Financial Times.

Mr Smith’s pledge should provide reassurance to Equinix customers who had complained to the US Justice Department about the concentration of power in quality co-location centres, where companies rent high-security computer storage and pay for electricity and their choice of telecommunications connections. Regulators had asked for a second tranche of information about the $689m acquisition of Switch and Data Facilities announced in October before approving it a week ago.

...

Mr Smith said that his next big ambition was to capitalise on the demand for data delivered to smartphones and other mobile devices.

That could take the company from a predicted $2bn in annual revenue within five years to $3bn, he said, adding: “Mobile data is a huge opportunity.”

Sunday, May 2, 2010

An overview of the “new” Equinix

On April 23, Equinix (EQIX) and Switch and Data (SDXC) announced the closing of the Department of Justice investigation of Equinix's acquisition of Switch and Data.



The merger officially closed on April 30, 2010, and it may be worth looking at the new footprint of data centers that the combined Company is now offering in the North American market.




With this move, Equinix added 34 facilities in 22 markets in the U.S. and Canada, or about one million gross square feet of data center capacity, bringing the total global footprint to 87 data centers in 35 markets and more than six million square feet across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

If we look at the latest numbers released by the Companies, Switch and Data had about 8,920 cabinet equivalents billing in the 1Q 2010, and an inventory available of about 5,080 cabinets.

Equinix ended the 1Q 2010 with about 23,600 cabinet equivalents billing in the U.S., and a further inventory of about 5,900 cabinets, half of them already pre-assigned (all numbers exclude new expansions forecasted for the remaining of the year).

In other words, with this acquisition Equinix almost doubled the inventory of cabinet equivalents available in the North American market. Assuming all cabinets could be sold overnight, at an average of $ 2,000 per month (probably a conservative number), the combined Company has, from day one, and without further expansions, the capacity to add an annual revenue rate of about $ 263 million.



Here is a summary of the facilities available in the north American market from the “new” Equinix:

Atlanta:

Marietta Street: ~ 27,000 sqft.

Boston

West Street: ~ 22,000 sqft.

Buffalo

Main Street: ~ 24,700 sqft.

Chicago (Chicago, Elk Grove Village)
  • CH1 Chicago IBX Center: ~170,000 sqft.

  • CH2 Chicago IBX Center: ~120,000 sqft.

  • CH3 Elk Grove Village IBX Center: ~228,000 sqft.

  • CH4 Chicago IBX Center: ~19,400 sqft.

  • Chicago La Salle Data Center ~ 21,750 sqft.

Cleveland

Euclide Avenue: ~12,100 sqft.

Dallas
  • DA1 Dallas IBX Center: ~ 61,500 sqft.

  • Dallas 2323 Bryan Data Center: ~ 17,200 sqft.

  • Dallas 4101 Bryan Data Center: ~ 14,500 sqft.

  • Dallas Infomart Data Center: ~ 17,300 sqft. + ~ 23,300 sqft.

Denver

East Easter Avenue: ~ 18,900 sqft.

Detroit

Lahser Road: ~ 12,000 sqft.

Indianapolis

West Henry: ~ 14,600 sqft.

Los Angeles
  • LA1 Los Angeles IBX Center: ~67,000 sqft.

  • LA2 Los Angeles IBX Center: ~33,000 sqft.

  • LA3 El Segundo IBX Center: ~107,000 sqft.

  • LA4 El Segundo IBX Center: ~ 177,000 sqft.

  • Los Angeles Data Center: ~ 20,850 sqft.

Miami
  • Miami Metro Mall Data Center: ~ 15,000 sqft.

  • Miami Second Street Data Center: ~ 17,500 sqft.

Nashville

Fourth Avenue: ~ 19,650 sqft.

New York (Newark, New York City, Secaucus, North Bergen)
  • NY1 Newark IBX Center: ~ 46,500 sqft.

  • NY2 Secaucus IBX Center: ~184,000 sqft.

  • NY3 New York City IBX Center: Equinix Exchange services only

  • NY4 Secaucus IBX Center: ~340,000 sqft.

  • New Jersey North Bergen Data Center: ~ 163,000 sqft.

  • New York Hudson Data Center: ~ 18,200 sqft.

  • New York Broadway Data Center: ~ 16,850 sqft.

  • New York 111 8th Data Center: ~ 55,700 sqft.

Philadelphia
  • Philadelphia Broad Data Center: ~ 21,300 sqft.

  • Philadephia Market Data Center: ~ 20,550 sqft.

Phoenix

North Central Avenue: ~ 14,150 sqft.

Pittsburgh

South Commons: ~ 20,700 sqft.

Seattle
  • Seattle Securities Building Technology Data Center: ~ 19,150 sqft.

  • Seattle Westin Building Data Center: ~ 43,600 sqft.

Silicon Valley (Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale)
  • SV1 San Jose South IBX Center: ~133,500 sqft.

  • SV2 Santa Clara IBX Center: ~160,000 sqft.

  • SV3 San Jose North IBX Center: ~103,000 sqft.

  • SV4 Sunnyvale IBX Center: ~120,000 sqft.

  • Palo Alto Data Center: ~ 45,300 sqft.

  • San Jose Data Center: ~ 20,000 sqft.

  • Sunnyvale Data Center: ~ 41,850 sqft.

St. Louis

North Tucker Street: ~ 21,950 sqft.

Tampa

North Franklin Street: ~ 13,150 sqft.

Toronto

Front Street: ~ 25,900 sqft.

Washington, DC (Ashburn, VA)
  • DC1 Ashburn IBX Center: ~43,000 sqft.

  • DC2 Ashburn IBX Center: ~147,600 sqft.

  • DC3 Ashburn IBX Center: ~95,500 sqft.

  • DC4 Ashburn IBX Center: ~100,000 sqft.

  • DC5 Ashburn IBX Center: ~92,000 sqft.

  • Reston Data Center: ~ 15,250 sqft.

  • Vienna SAIC Data Center: ~ 44,400 sqft.

  • Vienna Tyco Data Center: ~ 24,600 sqft.

Internet peering: Time for an end to the Gang of Four?

from Australia, Commsday.com:

>>Internet peering: Time for an end to the Gang of Four?

Today, players like Equinix and Pipe Networks may be routing an increasing amount of traffic away from the group, but Pipe CEO Bevan Slattery believes that overall traffic growth still means there’s a problem to be solved. “A lot of it’s being sorted out through peering networks, through ourselves, through the Equinixes of the world – so the amount of traffic as a percentage is decreasing through domestic players but the volume of traffic is still increasing,” he said. “[The Gang of Four] is the one thing that’s been sitting out there for quite some time… and it’s something that needs to be addressed, because right now that’s a tax on bandwidth here in Australia and it’s ridiculous.”

Switch and Data is now Equinix



http://www.switchanddata.com/

Smartphone sales jump 50%, Apple 3rd largest vendor globally

from Appleinsider:

>>Smartphone sales jump 50%, Apple 3rd largest vendor globally