I am an IDF veteran...I've attended too many IDFs to remember and I have developed a couple of truisms about the event.
#1 Geeks will be on hand. As one of them it's kind of like spending a week with my people. People who get more excited about, say, the latest I/O bus compared to Milan's latest fashions.
#2 The Geeks on hand will not be disappointed. If there is one thing that Intel can be counted on in doing this week it's showcasing some pretty cool technology across all of the market segments we operate in. We'll also bring some very big name industry leaders on-stage to talk about what they're doing to create our collective future.
In the past couple of weeks I've been travelling across the world working on a few last minute items for the event, and I happened to be in Munich for the Intel/T-Systems Data Center 2020 Test Lab opening event. This was a big announcement by T-Systems (the enterprise arm of Deutche Telecom and sister organization to T-Mobile) and Intel. The Data Center 2020 Test Lab was developed by the two companies with the express purpose of developing data center best practices for tomorrow's datacenter requirements. The initial focus of the lab will center on data center efficiency best practices and specifically cooling efficiency. And this is a fantastic thing that the industry and our customers will all benefit from...but this is not what was most exciting to me about the test lab...
I visited the test lab the day before the opening to get a preview and was given a tour by Herr Meier from T-Systems. As we walked towards the lab I noticed a glint in his eye that told me he was very proud of what he was about to share with me...and soon I realized why. If you could imagine the most ideal data center configuration for the Data Center 2020 project you'd be close to what Herr Meier showed me. The data center itself is small, but the features of the facility highlight the degree of data collection that can be measured and analyzed. Features included: depressurized air at 10K feet altitude, raising and lowering ceiling height, smoke system to track air circulation, cold aisle containment cabinets, water cooled rack for cross comparison, and floor tiles that allowed for acute control of airflow. And enough sensors to measure every micro adjustment in efficiency gains across a multitude of testing variables. If this sounds nearly as cool to you as it was to me, I'd encourage you to attend the joint T-Systems Intel session at IDF this week in the Eco-Technology track and see the T-Systems demo in the Eco-Tech community. And to learn more (in English too soon) visit www.datacenter2020.de
See you all at IDF!