AT&T Data Center Could Boost iPhone Network

AT&T today announced plans to invest $120 million in a new data center in Ohio that will expand the company’s 3G network capacity and support the launch of 4G/LTE services for  the iPhone and other wireless devices using AT&T’s network.

The new facility in Akron will handle text messages and data services for AT&T wireless customers in Ohio and the East Coast. That includes New York City, where many iPhone users have complained about the rate of dropped calls. This region was previously supported by a data center in Schaumberg, Illinois.

The Akron facility will be AT&T’s ninth data center dedicated to its wireless business, including four which support 3G or 4G services. The $120 million investment will cover the buildout of the first phase of the facility, with about $20 million dedicated to facility improvements and the remainder for technology. AT&T may expand further at the facility as additional capacity is needed.

Roundup: Level 3, Nirvanix, Riverbed

Here’s a roundup of some of this week’s headlines from the data center and hosting industry:

Level 3 to support MLB media archive.  Level 3 Communications (LVLT) announced that it has been selected by MLB.com to deliver high-speed IP and colocation to support its network, media archive, as well as live and on-demand streaming capabilities. A previous agreement existed between Level 3 and MLB.com for Vyvx video backhaul services for live-game streaming and the new services will be an expansion of that contract.  New services will include High-speed IP – two 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports at Level 3’s edge servers and a colocation suite. “This was an extraordinarily complex undertaking, and we were truly impressed with Level 3’s flexible, consultative approach,” said Joe Choti, chief technology officer of MLB.com. “Level 3 rose to the challenges surrounding this project to quickly and efficiently deliver solutions for a mission-critical application that will help MLB.com provide the expansive Web and interactive content our fans want.” On Monday Level 3 announced it is providing Internet Broadcast services to a number of European broadcasters to stream the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa games in high-definition to online audiences.

Nirvanix releases Hybrid Cloud Storage.  Nirvanix launched hNode, a hybrid cloud storage solution that combines the scalability, ease of management and compelling economics of public cloud storage with the security and control of private cloud storage.  Jeff Boles, Senior Analyst and Director of Validation Services at The Taneja Group comments that “with hNode, Nirvanix is bringing not just a gateway appliance, but rather the full Nirvanix cloud to the customers’ premises – with all the benefits of elastic scale, API accessibility, sophisticated geographic dispersal, and more.”  hNode includes all the networking hardware, software and storage needed to provide an on-premise cloud storage solution contained in a minimum 200 TB configuration, expandable to petabytes of storage per location.

Riverbed announces new Microsoft solution. Riverbed Technology (RVBD) announced an extension of its relationship with Microsoft through the delivery of a comprehensive best-of-breed secure web gateway and WAN optimization solution for organizations with remote offices. Combining Microsoft’s Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 solution with Riverbed WAN optimization technology the single appliance will enable enable branch office virtualization and LAN-like application performance while protecting corporate networks.  “This joint solution enables organizations to realize what we call Business Ready Security through Riverbed best-of-breed WAN optimization solutions fully integrated with our comprehensive Web security solution in a way that is simple to manage and deploy,” said Zakie Mashiah, Principal Group Manager in the Server and Tools Business at Microsoft.

Cisco Live! 2010: Vegas or Virtual

Cisco’s annual networkers event, Cisco Live! began this week – in Vegas, or virtual attendance for many over the virtual equivalent conference site.  Cisco packs keynotes, educational sessions, an expo and other special events into this week long annual event for user education.

Cisco CEO John Chambers was the keynote Tuesday and outlined his vision for Cisco and future technology trends.  Cisco CTO Padmasree Warrior will keynote Wednesday.  Several major product announcements have also been made during the event.

Cisco Cius Tablet
Cisco unveiled the Cius, a first of its kind mobile collaboration business tablet that delivers virtual desktop integration with anywhere, anytime access to the full range of Cisco collaboration and communication applications, including HD video.

The 1.15 lbs Android-based tablet will stream HD video, has full telepresence interoperability, offers conferencing, email, messaging, browsing and the ability to produce, edit and share content stored locally or centrally in the cloud.  Additionally the Cius will self-orient with an on-board accelerometer and supports 802.11 a/b/g/n wi-fi as well as 3G and cellular.  The Cius is completely integrated with the full range of Cisco business applications such as WebEx, Presence, TelePresence, Unified Communications Manager and AnyConnect VPN security.

Juniper to Acquire Ankeena Networks

Juniper Networks (JNPR) announced that it is acquiring Ankeena Networks, a privately-held company focused on efficient delivery of video and other media content. Ankeena’s Media Flow Director product contains a multi-tier caching technology, providing up to a 10 to 1 reduction in the number of servers needed to deliver media, with a similar reduction in transit network and media delivery costs.

“Juniper’s acquisition of Ankeena reflects our commitment to transforming the experience and economics of networking — in this case by delivering an enhanced TV-like user experience of both fixed and mobile video traffic, while enabling crucial TCO reductions for operators,” said Manoj Leelanivas, executive vice president and general manager, Junos Ready Software at Juniper Networks.

Coolest Data Center Video Tours

Ever want to see inside the world’s most powerful data centers? We’ve provided a look inside many of the world’s most interesting facilities here at Data Center Knowledge. Here are our picks for five of the coolest video tours of major data centers, along with a list of links to 10 other worthwhile video tours.

These videos provide walk-throughs of data centers operated by Google, Equinix, Terremark, Sun Microsystems, Intel, IBM, Switch Communciations, Wordpress.com, Nvidia, Emerson Network Power, Telecity, the CLUMEQ supercomputing center and Bahnhof.

For many more data center videos, check out our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.

Nope. Joost Didn’t Break the Internet

There was a moment back in 2007 when the appearance of Joost – then known only as “The Venice Project” - would clog network pipes around the globe with its peer-to-peer IP television application. Ars Technica predicted that “the Venice Project will be at the center of net-neutrality debates in the United States in the coming months.” We figured that it would at least boost adoption of 10Gig Ethernet ports at peering and interconnection points.

Joost never emerged as the network apocalypse that many feared, struggling to adapt its technology and business model in the fast-moving video landscape. Today it was announced that Joost’s assets had been acquired by Adconion Media Group. See TechCrunch for the details.

YouTube’s Bandwidth: Cheap, But Not Free

How much is YouTube paying for the bandwidth to deliver its 1 billion page views per day? Credit Suisse says $470 million a year. RampRate says $174 million.  Google says “less than you think.” Now Wired.com asserts that YouTube’s bandwidth bill is zero, citing an analysis by Arbor Networks. The gist of the report is that YouTube has slashed its video delivery costs through the use of peering relationships and its in-house GoogleNet connecting its data centers (assembled through the company’s oft-reported purchases of dark fiber).   

Can Google really be paying nothing to deliver video? Dan Rayburn from the Business of Online Videosays Wired has misinterpreted the statment by Arbor Networks’ Craig Labovitz that ”Google’s transit costs are close to zero.” 

“Transit costs are not the same as bandwidth costs and Wired should know that,” Rayburn writes. He also says that although Google can cut its costs by peering with large ISPs, it’s not likely to strike similar deals with smaller providers.    

1 Billion Page Views A Day for YouTube

Here’s a milestone you don’t see every day: YouTube announced this morning that it is serving more than a billion page views a day. That works out to 11,574 page views per second, and means that YouTube serves up a million page views about every 90 seconds. 

“This is great moment in our short history,” YouTube CEO and co-founder Chad Hurley wrote. What’s the broader significance? Hurley notes that “clip culture is here to stay,” and it’s a trend with huge ramifications for the Internet infrastructure industry. The Internet won’t replace the TV overnight, but entertainment consumption patterns are changing rapidly. As this shift accelerates, it will drive demand for more servers, storage, bandwith and content delivery technology to make it all work smoothly.

YouTube and Bandwidth ‘Myths’

Google’s YouTube team this week decided to address the frequent speculation about the video site’s profitability and infrastructure costs. On the YouTube Biz Blog, Chris Dale and Aaron Zamost adopted a “MythBusters” theme to assert that the speculation is off base. In the process, they addressed (sort of) the estimates of YouTube’s bandwidth expenses. Earlier this year Credit Suisse estimated that YouTube was losing as much as $470 million a year, while RampRate pegged the annual red ink at $174 million.

“It seems people can pick any number to fit any theory they have about our business,” the YouTubers write. “The truth is that all our infrastructure is built from scratch, which means models that use standard industry pricing are too high when it comes to bandwidth and similar costs. We are at a point where growth is definitely good for our bottom line, not bad.”

Dan Rayburn suspects the company is “tired of analysts trying to figure out their costs and one has to wonder if this is the start of Google trying to fight back.” Dan says they’ll fare better if they fight back with data. “Without facts and numbers as compared to the rest of their business, the few data points they gave out don’t provide enough details to debunk anything,” he writes, examining each of the five points addressed by YouTube. And the discussion continues …