Exchange Assembly Part Two 17 June 2009 Rare-IDC, Sustainable ICT Service Provision and Ecciles

17th June 2009 was day two of the exchange assembly between University of Hertfordshire (UoH), University of East Anglia (UEA) and Bolton University (BU). With the intention of sharing information about server virtualisation for sustainable computing, the day would be spent at the University of Hertfordshire.

Upon arrival, a sustainable energy IT suite was noticed on the way from the car park to the reception – a clear sign that UoH are working hard to achieve a sustainable university.

We were introduced to Chris Hill, UoH’s Systems and Applications Manager who delivered an excellent presentation on the server virtualisation work that has been achieved over the last 3 years. Taking his audience through everything from the proof of concept (particularly important as virtualisation software in 2006 was still in its infancy) to the cloud operation that is running across both campuses now, the comprehensive talk and Q&A session was well received and consequently overran the scheduled agenda.

The presentation was followed by a visit around UoH’s newest data centre at College Lane. Cramming 9 adults into a small lift was cosy but it was worth it to see the infrastructure and organisation of the consolidated servers.

A superb lunch was consumed after a trip over to the de Havilland campus where the data centres are in a state of refurbishment which between them demonstrated fantastic planning and thought for a retrospectively organised (aka extremely difficult) sustainable data centre. All visitors will be keen to see the finished space.

The key points shared in day two of the exchange mean that UEA should be able to utilise the experience and knowledge of their counterparts at UoH in terms of hardware reduction (for decreased power consumption), consolidation and recycling of existing infrastructure and improved resilient services all under the title of server virtualisation.

A massive thank you to UoH for hosting the second day and fingers crossed all future assemblies will continue to be as useful.

Helen Bear