corresponding infrastructures must change to respond to shortfalls. And that is done by building excess infrastructure (in either fiber or wireless physical networks).”
Members and guests of the Internet Society gathered at Sentry Center in New York on 14 June for the regional INET Conference. The topic, “It’s your call, What kind of Internet do you want?” attracted Internet legends including Vint Cerf and Sir Timothy John “Tim” Berners-Lee, as well as a number of distinguished speakers and panelists representing a wide range of industry sectors.- Build a high capacity fiber optic backbone passing through all major markets within the US.
- Connect the backbone to local metro fiber networks (reference the Dark Fiber Community)
- Connect the backbone to wireless networks and towers (and provide the access location)
- Connect the backbone to all major physical interconnection points, carrier hotels, and Internet Exchange Points (IXPs)
- Make access to the backbone available to all as a neutral, infrastructure utility
Hunter Newby, a 15-year veteran of the telecom networking industry, is the Founder and CEO of Allied Fiber.
Another day of failed electrical equipment, diesel generators not starting, overheating in data centers, and water leaks. All problems overcome, now it is time to take a break and recharge your mind for the challenges queuing up for tomorrow.
A drive down the ‘5 from Los Angeles, and 20 minutes later back in Burbank. Burbank, home of half the world’s entertainment community, a regional airport, several major highways, and of course the Verdugu Mountains.
Of Course the Verdugu Mountains?
Los Angeles is unique. Not a single city, but a hundred cities all clustered together in a social eco-system that provides cultural diversity unlike any other area in the world. Each city has a different personality, each city has features making it attractive to whatever ethnic or cultural background you may come from. From Long Beach, to Malibu, to Arcadia, and of course Burbank.
Of all the features Los Angeles offers, perhaps the most compelling for those with a high stress lifestyle is the ability to get out of the city, from virtually anyplace within the city. You are never far away from the ocean, mountains, large parks, or the high desert. In the case of Burbank, we have the Verdugu Mountains, with a web of several dozen miles of trails crossing a mountain range between Burbank City and the 210 Freeway.
The easiest way to get into the mountains is through trail gateways, either via Stough Park, or Wildwood Canyon. Wildwood Canyon also has numerous picnic areas, in addition to hiking path entries directing hikers though a variety of ridges and valleys. From the top of each ridge you will see a panoramic view of both the San Fernando Valley, as well as the skyline of downtown Los Angeles.
There is nothing quite like a sunrise or sunset from atop of any ridge peaks the Verdugus have to offer. After a long day at the office, it is impossible to carry a grudge, frustration, or anger once you hit the top, and start to see the horizon rushing to meet the sun.
Fire Trails or Jogging Trails
Of course Southern California is also known for epic wildfires. To help the fire fighters limit damage to communities during fire season, most urban mountain areas also have fire roads carved into the hillsides. Indeed, this tears up the landscape a bit, but it also provides miles of jogging and hiking trails in a protected environment. No cars, trucks, motorcycles, or skateboards to annoy runners after a rough day at work. Your only companions are deer, rabbits, coyote, red tail hawks, lizards, and an occasional snake.
Hikers are always welcome, and it is also a fact your human encounters are always friendly. A couple words about the coyotes seen further up the trail, a word or two about the beauty of chaparral, or the sunset. Of course the early bird runners can easily make the same statements on sunrises over the Los Angeles basin, but sunset is the best time of day in the Verdugus. Peaceful, calm, and far away from the stresses of life.
But not too far, as the trails are near enough for runners starting from anyplace from anyplace east of the ‘5, and for drivers there is ample parking in the area for those coming from further out in the city.
Back Down the Hill
Another perfect run, another coyote sighting, a small snake, lots of rabbits, and I have forgotten everything thing I know about diesel generators, UPSs, automatic transfer switches, and computer room air conditioning.
Back home, and a message on Mr. Android. “A customer is complaining his cabinet is over heating. He has done everything right, including adding 2 inch spaces between all servers and alternating them intake/exhaust through the cabinet to ensure proper airflow and cooling. What should we do?”
Sigh…
May 21st marked the first real day of spring in Montreal. Warm, sunny, a hint of humidity, with the scent of blooming flowers and freshly cut grass finally overwhelming the smell of automobiles. A perfect day to investigate more wonders hidden within one of the oldest cities in North 
America.
The Lachine Canal stretches about 14.5 km from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake St. Louis. One of those landmarks you see while jogging or walking along the waterfront around Old Town, but for most people it is just that – one of those old relics of a city that has been around for a long time. Not many souvenir shops along the canal, just a few cafes, but a really pleasant series of protected trails and bike paths for residents and visitors to enjoy.
Walking along the canal you will eventually hit one of the 5 locks providing access to small boats desiring to cruise the historic industrial living museum of Montreal on both sides of the Lachine.
On Saturday, Andre Marin and Martin Nguyen were manning the locks, both lock keepers for Parks Canada. As I walked towards Lock #3 at Saint-Gabriel, Andre and Martin greeted me, and asked where I was from. Learning a California boy had stumbled upon their lock, and the fact no boats were currently approaching, they both lit up and took the opportunity to give me a complete overview of the lock system, and history lesson on the surrounding area.
Martin, who grew up in the local area near “his” lock, took a special pride explaining the significance of the canal to not only the city of Montreal, but to the entire economy of the Great Lakes waterways. “Over there, that was a sugar refinery. And there, an old textile mill,” said Andre. “Don’t forget to take pictures of the old swing bridge, it is covered with graffiti and weeds, but still pretty cool…”
Andre continued with detailed explanations of how the locks worked, explaining during the summer season “we can do (process) nearly 100 boats on a busy day.”
Time to go to work. Martin needs to prepare the lock to accept their next “customer,” a small inflatable craft. Martin heads into the lock reception area, and Andre gets ready to open the lock’s doors for their visitor.
Andre reminds me, “hey, make sure you ask the boat driver for permission to take pictures, it is the tradition here” as he focuses on getting ready for “his” boat.
The boat arrives, slides through the entry lock, ties up on the reception dock, and the lock floods up to the level of the next segment of the canal. Andre runs to the other side of the lock, opens the doors, and the “customer” is free to head on to Lock #4 (Cote-Saint Paul).
All done with precision, and a genuinely friendly greeting to their boating customers. A good feeling all around for everybody.
Hand shakes, email addresses, and promises to connect at some point in the future, and we are on our way to the next Montreal adventure.
Ambassadors of the Lachine Canal
Granted, customer service is the primary job of all persons working at Parks Canada. However there is a big difference between following a customer service script, and having deep pride in your city, work, and heritage that drives both hospitality and friendship to strangers. Andre and Martin both had a couple Los Angeles or “states” stories to tell, but it is clear their mission in life is to promote Montreal, Canada, and their special role as ambassadors to the Lachine Canal.
And it is clear they love their job.
If you would like to learn more about the Lachine Canal, check out the Parks Canada website, or simply do a Google search on Lachine Canal. Plenty of history, lots of old pictures and documents.
Better yet, when you come to Montreal take a break from the tourist areas of Vieux Montreal and walk, ride, or jog along the canal. When you get to Lock #3, give the guys my regards.
Over the past three years I’ve added study of citizen journalism to my collection of hobbies. One of those subjects where it is understood you may never make a penny income for your labors, but a lot of fun to learn and appreciate the skills of written and photo journalism, and the role non-professional citizens have in extending the reach of “mainstream” journalism.
Following dozens of writing classes, journalism courses, a couple hundred blog articles, and hours of online seminars via podcasts from sources such as the Columbia School of Journalism, I decided to take stock of what I have learned, and what value this “hobby” has brought to my life.
In military we are taught to develop a sense called “situational awareness.” This developed sense builds skills in seeing, categorizing, understanding, and evaluating your surroundings. Of course this is valuable when put in an environment potentially presenting danger allowing a soldier to quickly understand threats, opportunities, avenues of attack, avenues of escape, and all other things that allow the soldier to stay alive while meeting his objectives.
Having gone through my three year refresher course of journalism and citizen journalism appreciation training, I find the most striking lesson is the situational awareness journalists need to develop and employ in their jobs. it is not enough to simply go to a city council meeting and record conversations, the journalist needs to become one with their environment, and take a Gestalt view of surrounding activities as a situation or event develops.
The basic who, why, what, when, where, and how questions force a journalist to collect information, classify information, evaluate information, and present information in a manner which will be understood by their target audience.
Then, we have the material or content to present either a raw view (in the case of a citizen journalist), or a view with context for others to understand an event that will now become a record in history.
But What if I am Not a Journalist?
Actually, we are all journalists. We all write reports, record performance, produce statistics, evaluate opportunities, and keep the “books.”
In business those who develop exceptional situational awareness are able to more quickly evaluate opportunities, threats, risks, and their environment. However we can get lazy, often relying on routine and past experience when making decision in a rapidly changing world.
A study in journalism has taught me to go back to those lessons learned in the military, and to establish better discipline in applying the “5Ws” and “H” principle of journalism to daily life. Our business lives require constant decision making, and more informed decision will statistically beat “gut” reactions. Nothing wrong with a gut reaction, but decisions made on an “informed” gut reaction will likely yield a better result.
It is All About Discipline
I have to add a note of appreciation to my recent instructors, including Ms. Susan Cormier, head coach at the National Association of Citizen Journalists (NACJ). A citizen journalist, blogger, or business person rarely has the opportunity to receive a detailed writing critique from a qualified editor. Going back to school, and receiving that neutral evaluation of your work will not only humble a bit or personal arrogance, but also ensure your writing is clear, to the point, and focuses on facts.
Whether it is enhancing your interview skills, grammar skills, organization skills, or simply using creativity to come up with new ideas, the discipline of journalism can only make your product better.
I strongly encourage all readers and writers to go back to Writing 101, Journalism 101, and business communications. Through the magic of Internet, most of this can be yours without cost. Why not?
What does statehood mean to a young Palestinian student, dreaming of her future and that of her friends and family? “Of course a Palestinian State means we will have the opportunity to focus energy on building our lives, and not have to wake up in the morning with a tank parked in front of our house.” Hiba, a university student in Ramallah, goes on to say “You might say in ways we are victims, due to the occupation, but we cannot continue complaining about it. We have to continue working to develop ourselves. We really want independence and statehood.”
In April 2011, during a visit to Ramallah, I had the opportunity to interview several Palestinians, and asked their views on statehood, Palestine’s place in the world, and what they wanted Americans to know about Palestine. The interviews included members of the government, entrepreneurs, students, and even taxi drivers. The responses to questions were remarkably consistent. Nobody mentioned resistance or violence, and in all cases rejected the recent level of conflict in the Gaza territory as unproductive to the Palestinian cause.
“We are sensitive and creative people. We have poets, writers, and a deep culture.”
I ask “what do you want Americans to know about Ramallah and Palestine?”
Each person has a slightly different answer, but all answers are positive. Talk about the occupation quickly moves on to topics about future, and how everything in changing in Ramallah. In fact, just walking along the streets of Ramallah can be a challenge – not because of anything dangerous, but rather the level of construction makes it difficult to navigate streets.
Answers to the question are difficult to pin down. Once the topic is raised, you will get one or two quick ideas, including concern that Americans are not getting a clear picture of the “real” Palestine through news media. In particular, those in Ramallah want Americans to know there is a big difference between the West bank and Gaza. The impressions Americans get (as seen on their satellite television broadcasts of CNN and Fox News) of Palestine is one of rocket attacks, kidnappings, and violence. In reality, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jericho, and other locations within the West Bank are very peaceful, with most people working hard to improve their quality of life.
Ramallah itself is a city of cafes, shopping, cultural events, construction, and even discos to round out an emerging night life and entertainment industry. However, as this is not current news, and does not sell US advertising, it is rare you would ever have an opportunity to see this side of Palestine in the US media.
Hiba was a bit disappointed on one topic – she was busy the following day and could not attend TEDx Ramallah, an independent event supported by the innovative community TED. “TEDxRamallah aims to showcase inspiring stories of Palestine. It also aims to educate and inspire by providing a space for people to share their ideas in any field, whether science, education, literature, technology, design, etc. to contribute to the positive perception of Palestine.”
She concedes the Palestine university system may not adequately introduce innovation and entrepreneurial spirit within the formal curriculum, however with groups such as TEDx Ramallah, and expatriate Palestinians returning to the country there is a new spirit driving young people. In addition, the Palestinian Authority actively encourages foreign companies to invest in Palestinian small and medium businesses (SMEs), hoping to further develop both the local economy and support innovation.
Investment in Palestine is being encouraged not merely to increase the size of the economy, but also to increase private sector employment, generate income, and improve living standards. A move towards increased per capita prosperity will additionally have the overall effect of potentially stabilizing tensions in the region, if achieved in tandem with a just political settlement. A just peace and prosperity within the West Bank and Gaza
Strip is not only good for us, but it’s good for Israel and the Middle East as a whole. (PIPA)
The 2010 Palestine Investment Conference in Bethlehem attracted more than 1000 potential investors from 38 countries with pledges to invest nearly $1bil in Palestinian SMEs. Of particular note was the interest in developing Palestine’s IT and software development industries, which are attractive due to the limitations in export/import of materials as controlled by Israel. This does show a very positive outlook and confidence in Palestine’s future by the international community.
“Statehood Means We Will Have an Identity”
Hiba continues that “I have never been outside of the West Bank. Not because I don’t want to travel and see other locations around the world, rather it is because I cannot get a passport, and am not allowed to travel outside of Palestine. I know how the outside world is, because we get movies and television from around the world. What makes us different from the rest of the world? Why can’t I experience life as in the movies and television just because I was born in Palestine?”
Difficult for an American to appreciate. For us freedom of movement, expression, and religion is assumed, and we feel great anger when faced with even small barriers to those freedoms.
“It hurts inside that we cannot travel to Jerusalem and pray at our Mosques and other holy sites. Those locations are very important to us (Palestinians and Muslims).”
A taxi driver goes out of his way to expose me to the difficulties all Palestinians encounter while going through checkpoints (between Ramallah and Jerusalem), and give an up close view of walls, guard towers, and Israeli military installations designed to control movement, keeping Palestinians within the West Bank territory.
“With statehood we can begin applying our energy to improving our lives, not just trying to stay alive.”
Then his conversation once again turns positive. “Do you see their settlements? Don’t you agree Ramallah is a much nicer city than Tel Aviv? Once we have freedom we’ll be a very strong little country.”
A Lasting Impression
While this is not my first visit to Palestine, Israel, or other locations within the Middle East, each experience brings new observations, emotions, and ideas. Human nature tells us we should think positive, as negative energy rarely brings progress. The Palestinians have a tremendous level of positive energy, and as an outsider it is certainly refreshing to see the enthusiasm of a country on the verge of establishing their own nation and identity.
Will the United Nations grant this status? Will Israel accept a Palestine state? Will the United States apply pressure to the region to consider Palestinian autonomy?
Time will tell. But for now, we can only hope the international community and media will apply factual reporting of all aspects of the Palestine issue. It is a wonderful place, with warm, friendly people, and we will hope their future generations will be free to develop and prosper as any other in our global community.
NOTE: For the record we need to acknowledge Israeli citizens are also prevented from entering the West Bank and Gaza. This can only contribute to the misunderstandings between citizens of each country. And in fact, during the routine “interrogation” I received departing from the Tel Aviv airport, the majority of questions directed to me were more of “tell me a bit more about Ramallah. I cannot go there and it is interesting to hear how things are within the city…”
Hiba, a young university student in Ramallah dominates the conversation with dreams of her country’s future, and confidence her generation will build a new nation that is equal to any other in the world. This is the new Palestine. A Palestine that shifts memories of invasion, occupation, and repression to the side, focusing valuable energy on building a new nation.
It is easy for visitors to appreciate Hiba’s enthusiasm. Walking on any street within Ramallah is a challenge. Not because the streets are bad, rather because the city is in a constant state of construction.
A few short years ago Ramallah was still putting the pieces back together from destruction due to invasion and conflict. Today energy is directed to the new Ramallah – one that is beginning to take on impressions of a mix of European cities with the rich culture and history of Palestine.
The Palestine State
Recently the United Nations reported that Palestine was ready for statehood, with a target of September 2011. For those who have lived their lives in an independent country, this is a difficult idea to comprehend.
Imagine if California was culturally and socially an independent state, occupied by the Confederate States of North America for the past 50 years. As a Californian, you cannot have a passport, become a citizen of the occupying country, travel freely, determine which city you want to live in, or even which radio or television stations you would like to watch.
Moving between villages and cities requires you to go through checkpoints, with military sentries who despise you due to your religion and ethnic background. Sentries who have no moral or ethical problem abusing you, as they do not really consider you an equal human being to those from their country.
Imagine going to school one day, and learning the occupying country has now closed the border between your village and the school you attend, and you cannot return home.
Americans can refer to our own history with Britain, and appreciate the struggles independence and freedom require. And the cost of freedom in blood, resistance, and commitment to never capitulate.
There are many examples around the world of countries invaded, occupied, and ethnically cleansed. Cultures that have been diluted or destroyed, and history that is written by the victors of conflict.
However the Palestinians have resisted, fought, and refused to give up their struggle for independence and identity. And that struggle is nearing and end. End with the United Nations recognizing the state of Palestine.
That is of course we assume Israel will peacefully allow a transition to Palestinian statehood, which is far from certain.
History Remembered, Future Embraced
Hiba will not forget the days spending 6 hours in checkpoints each day going to and from school. She will never forget interrogations by military patrols, and watching as homes of friends were plowed under to accommodate expansion of Israeli settlements into the West Bank.
But today Hiba is more interested in being exposed to new ideas, new ways of thinking, or how she can apply her knowledge to building a nation, and better quality of life, for her family and children. Not unlike any American or European student’s vision and dream.
Trained as a software engineer, Hiba outlines her ideas on how to bring an aggressive entrepreneurial spirit to Palestine, particularly related to agricultural and services industries. How she can make contact with expatriate Palestinians, both learning from their successes – as well as attracting their investment money to further develop economic capacities in the country.
The Youth Are An Inspiration
Students discussing their future cannot hold back enthusiasm and vision. How can young people put aside their bitterness, memories, and hatred of an occupation aside so easily? Are they simply tired of the anger and hatred?
Difficult to say. When pressed, Palestinians can get very worked up on the emotional topic of Israeli occupation, settlement expansion, and human rights.
Then the moment will pass, and energy is refocused on the present, and opportunities for the future.
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This article is the first of a series on Ramallah 2011, and the road to Palestine statehood. The next segment will discuss what Palestinians want Americans to know about their country, people, and future.
Your comments and ideas about Palestine, Israel, and independence are welcome.
Citizen Journalists come in two major categories. The first is an accidental journalist, or a person who just happens to be at the scene of an event. This person will record the event, or portions of the event, for later analysis by potentially a global audience. The second are those who intentionally seek out events, and provide their own analysis (along with raw source materials) of events. This person will often act as a “non-credentialed” alternative to “professional” journalists. Let’s call them “Enthusiast Citizen Journalists.”
Through the magic of an Internet-connected world, now even citizen journalists have resources available online to bring more training to supplant their efforts, bringing much more credibility to the blogging and user-provided news content community.
In the era of print journalism, much of the content form was driven by available space, as well as being influenced by advertising. Newspapers and news magazines had strict rules on fact checking, form, style, and story structure. Blogging and Internet news sources, given the nature of computer screens, real-time updates, and global access forced change in how media is gathered, managed, and presented.
However the publisher’s intent remains the same – present the news in a format that will grab a reader’s attention, keep them reading, and sell advertising. Oh, and keep the reader coming back for more…
The Citizen Journalist and Online Media
Citizen Journalism changes the rules. Now, anybody who can figure out the basics of WordPress or Blogger is a publisher. With several million people already blogging in some form, that is a lot of “stuff” for the Internet-enabled community to slog through in an attempt to discover useful information. it is increasingly difficult to discriminate between fact, opinion, propaganda, or simply the bizarre ramblings of a chemically-enhanced former actor’s mind.
There is good news. The “old” publishing industries and broadcast media have started embracing the idea that both accidental journalists and enthusiast journalists have not only a role to play, but are now being accepted as offering valuable contributions to the news industry. This is very apparent when you watch broadcast news, look at online news sources, or even print media. Nearly every news organization actively solicits input from citizens, whether on-the-scene reports via Skype, or simply uploading pictures and videos to a web site.
However until this point the “old” media has used citizen input as a raw news source, normally providing analysis and commentary on the citizen-provided materials with “professional” journalists.
Training the Citizen Journalist, and Gaining Credibility at the Source
Nearly every university has at least one course introducing concepts of journalism. However in the old days (pre ~2010) there was little incentive or justification for taking much more than an introductory course in journalism – unless of course you were planning a career in the journalism industry. Now, in a world of social media, online everything, blogging, and complex corporate websites, nearly everybody who works is starting to see the need to understand how to think and write at a level which can be understood by a global-connected audience.
Management sections at bookstores (those few remaining) have a large shelf dedicated to the theory of selling yourself, your company, and your future through the Internet. There is a strong message to professionals that emphasizes the need to “publish” expertise through blogs and online media.
Then we have the enthusiast citizen journalist (ECJ). Armed with a digital camera, digital voice recorder, laptop computer, and desire to seek out events (and record them…), the ECJ wants to fill in the gaps left when traditional news media edits or determines what the reader/viewer community needs to know. However, the bad part is few ECJs actually have enough training to present their stories in a way average readers or viewers can accept or absorb.
To help meet this need, the educational community, and news media community have started providing good quality training online to ECJs that will help bring a much higher levels of quality and form to blogs and ECJ-provided content.
Much of the online training is very citizen journalist aware, much of it is trying to push a “round citizen journalist peg” into a “square traditional journalism hole.” In either case the training gives each potential ECJ, or even professional striking out into the blogging world a refresher course in writing for an audience. All network-enabled writers need reminders and practical exercises on how to gather, present, and explain events. All ECJs and bloggers need to know how to create a feature or story allowing not only presentation of an idea, but also to allow for opinion and editorial – without generating low-value noise.
If you are an aspiring ECJ, professional who needs to provide a blogging presence, or simply want to explore the technique and craft of new media journalism, take a look at some of the following training resources. Some are free, some are not.
- Knight Citizen News Network. The Knight Citizen News Network is a self-help portal that guides both ordinary citizens and traditional journalists in launching and responsibly operating community news and information sites.
- Poynter News University. Poynter is a school that exists to ensure that Americans have access to excellent journalism—the kind of journalism that enables us to participate fully and effectively in our democracy.
- Journalism Training Org. A directory of local training venues.
- National Association of Citizen Journalists. NACJ membership and training empowers citizen journalists for the exciting task of discovering, writing and reporting news with a level of professionalism that was once the standard in major media outlets.
Lots more available via a Google search…
And, of course we’d expect the academic community to embrace the potential given to us through Internet-enabled technologies, and further diffuse online journalism training into the educational curriculum for students, better preparing the next generations to fully exploit the power of images, videos, and words.
With all types of citizen journalism, the global community will have much greater access to unfiltered events either as they happen, or shortly afterward. Nearly every person on the planet has the ability to be an accidental citizen journalist, and most of us the ability to become an ECJ. In the past our quality of reporting has often been marginal, but in the future we will evolve, through training, to better meet the challenges and opportunities offered by a global audience.
Jeff Jarvis, author, journalist, and new media visionary provided his thoughts on citizen journalism during a CNN interview (13 March 2011) following the Japan tsunami disaster. One of the most interesting ideas concerned the immediacy and presence of citizens able to record events, and distribute recorded events in near real time. Jarvis expressed the idea that we cannot wait for traditional journalists to arrive at the scene of an event, and with new devices such as cell phone cameras and the Internet any citizen can provide raw materials which journalists may then provide deeper context.
Journalists as News Aggregators
Tradition news media is still working to fully understand the deal with the idea of citizen journalism, and how to use the global pool of news recorders to not only their benefit, but also the benefit of viewers and readers. Jarvis further developed the idea of media becoming an aggregator of news recorded by amateur sources around the world. Whether it is through a CNN iReport, KTLA “My Capture/Your KTLA,” or a Fox news “U-Report,” traditional media has recognized the power of citizens, and is aggressively recruiting citizen sources to supplement their own news sources.
As Jarvis mentioned, there is no way traditional media companies can provide adequate on-the-scene journalists to cover all aspects of a story or event. Thus if citizens are able to provide more raw materials, and the traditional media company can collate or aggregate those materials, while adding context or piecing individual pieces of a story together to complete a larger story. This is particularly important in rapidly developing situations, such as the Japan Tsunami, a California wildfire, or other crisis.
NOTE: Nearly every news outlet supporting citizen journalism input also includes a disclaimer recommending no person put themselves into “harm’s way” to provide video or photo records of an event.
Journalism Becomes a Source of “What We Don’t Know”
As citizen journalism continues to supplement traditional media, Jarvis continued discussing the idea of news changing from a an idea of presenting “what we do know” about an event or story, to identifying “what we don’t know.” That is a difficult idea to fully comprehend. However when we are able to consider the immediacy of news sources, it is very exciting.
For example, as I sit in Montreal writing a story about the earthquake in Sendai, I know that many people in Japan still have access to the Internet, have cameras, and are constantly monitoring social media applications such as Facebook and Twitter. There is a very good chance if I desire information on a specific city, or recovery event occurring within a city, there will be somebody in that location who can provide the information or photos needed to complete my story. I may never meet that source, and may only be able to send an email message in thanks (in addition to citing their contribution in the story), but the source (or sources) is now available to me within minutes from virtually anywhere in the world.
In an event as large as the Sendai tsunami, even an outlet such as CNN with two or three on-the-scene reporters can only cover a small fraction of the entire magnitude of the incident. To get the full picture, having dozens or hundreds of contributing citizen journalists will not only help interested viewers around the world gain access to a more complete picture of the event, but also when necessary provide an unfiltered view of an event.
YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, and Other Neutral Archives
The real value of video, photo, and textual records of an event may be in the raw form it is recorded. While we expect a news media source, whether a newspaper, magazine, or television news program to provide a factual report on an event, it is not a guarantee. Any person who has traveled around the world, watching news programs sourced in many different countries, it is very clear each news source has a slightly different presentation of the same event or story.
If you watch CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, CCTV (China), NHK (Japan), or France 2, or Fox News, you will definitely get 7 different representations of the same story. In this case citizens loading their raw videos or photos to a neutral archive will provide a view into an event without the fear of government spin or propaganda, nor newscasters adding their own editorial or politically motivated analysis.
The Future of News
While not promoting the idea of encouraging the average citizen to become a war correspondent, being equipped with a recording device does give each citizen the ability to record a snapshot of time and event. Whether it is providing supplemental materials to a news outlet, or providing real-time information to emergency service personnel, citizens recording events are here to stay. At some point governments and others attempting to “spin” facts in their interest or favor will lose their influence due to the ability to archive raw recordings of events within the global Internet “cloud.”
After spending a morning looking through the raw tsunami and earthquake video uploaded to YouTube, it is clear traditional news media and journalists could never provide the level of un-edited footage available through the Internet. We will still watch CNN (and other stations) to learn more of the big picture, but it is clear the future will have that big picture produced through the efforts of individual citizens, at a level much higher than we have been exposed to in the past.
Every week a new data center hits the news with claims of greater than 100,000 square feet at >300 watts/square foot, and levels of security rivaling that of the NSA. Hot and cold aisle containment, marketing people slinging terms such as PUE (Power Utilization Efficiency), modular data centers, containers, computational fluid dynamics, and outsourcing with such smoothness and velocity that even used car salesmen regard them in complete awe.
Don’t get me wrong, outsourcing your enterprise data center or Internet site into a commercial data center (colocation), or cloud computing-supported virtual data center, is not a bad thing. As interconnections between cities are reinforced, and sufficient levels of broadband access continues to find its way to both business and residences throughout the country – not to mention all the economic drivers such as OPEX, CAPEX, and flexibility in cloud environments, the need or requirement to maintain an internal data center or server closet makes little sense.
Small Data Centers Feel Pain
In the late 1990s data center colocation started to develop roots. The Internet was becoming mature, and eCommerce, entertainment, business-to-business, academic, government IT operations found proximity to networks a necessity, and the colocation industry formed to meet the opportunity stimulated by Internet adoption.
Many of these data centers were built in “mixed use” buildings, or existing properties in city centers which were close to existing telecommunication infrastructure. In cities such as Los Angeles, the commercial property absorption in city centers was at a low, providing very available and affordable space for the emerging colocation industry.
The power densities in those early days was minimal, averaging somewhere around 70 watts/square foot. Thus, equipment installed in colocation space carved out of office buildings was manageable through over-subscribing air conditioning within the space. The main limitation in the early colocation days was floor loading within an office space, as batteries and equipment cabinets within colocation areas would stretch building structures to their limits.
As the data center industry, and Internet content hosting continued to grow, the amount of equipment being placed in mixed-use building colocation centers finally started reaching a breaking point in ~2005. The buildings simply could not support the requirement for additional power, cooling, backup generators needed to support the rapidly developing data center market.
Around that time a new generation of custom-built data center properties began construction, with very little limitation on either weight, power consumption, cooling requirements, or creativity in custom designs of space to gain greatest PUE factors and move towards “green” designs.
The “boom town” inner-city data centers then began experiencing difficulty attracting new customers and retaining their existing customer base. Many of the “dot com” customers ran out of steam during this period, going bankrupt or abandoning their cabinets and cages, while new data center customers fit into a few categories:
- High end hosting and content delivery networks (CDNs), including cloud computing
- Enterprise outsourcing
- Telecom companies, Internet Service Providers, Network Service Providers
With few exceptions these customers demanded much higher power densities, physical security, redundancy, reliability, and access to large numbers of communication providers. Small data centers operating out of office building space find it very difficult to meet demands of high end users, and thus the colocation community began a migration the larger data centers. In addition, the loss of cash flow from “dot com” churn forced many data centers to shut down, leaving much of the small data center industry in ruins.
Data Center Consolidation and Cloud Computing Compounds the Problem
New companies are finding it very difficult to justify spending money on physical servers and basic software licenses. if you are able to spool up servers and storage on demand through a cloud service provider – why waste the time and money trying to build your own infrastructure – even infrastructure outsourced or colocated in a small data center? It is simply a bad investment for most companies to build data centers – particularly if the cloud service provider has inherent disaster recovery and backup utility.
Even existing small eCommerce sites hitting refresh cycles for their hardware and software find it difficult to continue one or two cabinet installations within small data centers when they can accomplish the same thing, for a lower cost, and receive higher performance refreshing in a cloud service provider.
Even the US Government, as the world’s largest IT user has turned its back on small data center installations throughout federal government agencies.
The goals of the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative are to assist agencies in identifying their existing data center assets and to formulate consolidation plans that include a technical roadmap and consolidation targets. The Initiative aims to address the growth of data centers and assist agencies in leveraging best practices from the public and private sector to:
- Promote the use of Green IT by reducing the overall energy and real estate footprint of government data centers;
- Reduce the cost of data center hardware, software and operations;
- Increase the overall IT security posture of the government; and,
- Shift IT investments to more efficient computing platforms and technologies.
To harness the benefits of cloud computing, we have instituted a Cloud First policy. This policy is intended to accelerate the pace at which the government will realize the value of cloud computing by requiring agencies to evaluate safe, secure cloud computing options before making any new investments. (Federal Cloud Computing Strategy)
Adding similar initiatives in the UK, Australia, Japan, Canada, and other countries to eliminate inefficient data center programs, and the level of attention being given to these initiatives in the private sector, it is a clear message that inefficient data center installations may become an exception.
Hope for Small Data Centers?
Absolutely! There will always be a compelling argument for proximity of data and applications to end users. Whether this be enterprise data, entertainment, or disaster recovery and business continuity, there is a need for well built and managed data centers outside of the “Tier 1” data center industry.
However, this also means data center operators will need to upgrade their existing facilities to meet the quality and availability standard/requirements of a wired global network-enabled community.
Internet and applications/data access is no longer a value-added service, it is critical infrastructure. Even the most “shoestring” budget facility will need to meet basic standards published by BICSI (Ex BICSI 2010-002), the Telecom Industry Association (TIA-942), or even private organizations such as the Uptime Institute.
With the integration of network-enabled everything into business and social activities, investors and insurance companies are demanding audits of data centers, using audit standards such as SAS70 to provide confidence their investments are protected with satisfactory operational process and construction.
Even if a data center cannot provide 100,000 square feet of 300 watt space, but can provide the local market with adequate space and quality to meet customer needs, there will be a market.
This is particularly true for customers who require flexibility in service agreements, custom support, a large selection of telecommunications companies available within the site, and have a need for local business continuity options. Hosting a local Internet exchange point or carrier Ethernet exchange within the facility would also make the space much more attractive.
The Road Ahead
Large data centers and cloud service providers are continuing to expand, developing their options and services to meet the growing data center consolidation and virtualization trend within both enterprise and global Internet-facing community. This makes sense, and will provide a very valuable service for a large percentage of the industry.
Small data centers in Tier 1 cities (in the US that would include Los Angeles, the Northern California Bay Area, New York, Northern Virginia/DC/MD) are likely to find difficulty competing with extremely large data centers – unless they are able to provide a very compelling service such as hosting a large carrier hotel (network interconnection point), Internet Exchange Point, or Cloud Exchange.
However, there will always be a need for local content delivery, application (and storage) hosting, disaster recovery, and network interconnection. Small data centers will need to bring their facilities up to international standards to remain competitive, as their competition is not local, but large data centers in Tier 1 cities.
