Did Microsoft Go Down the Wrong Path in Data Centers?
March 5, 2010
Microsoft has spent big bucks on its data centers. If you browse through my Microsoft data center articles in this blog, you will see that Microsoft has reversed course several times. With the economic downturn, Microsoft curtailed some of its plans. A management shift took place and now Microsoft is going where no Google competitor has gone before.
According to “Cray and Microsoft Join Forces on Cloud Datacenters,” Microsoft is turning to one of the giants of yore in supercomputers for technical help. For me the most interesting segment in the write up was:
The alliance is the first step into the commercial market for Cray’s custom engineering group, which was formed in 2008. The group builds special-purpose supercomputers for individual customers, applying Cray technologies such as the EcoPhlex liquid-cooling system and providing custom data-management and consulting systems. Last summer, Cray said the custom engineering division was growing more quickly than the rest of the company.
My reaction to this announcement was:
- Is Microsoft going through another course change?
- With Cray venturing into a forest for the first time, will its engineers know where to find food and water and how to avoid the bears and snakes?
- How much will this new tie up cost?
Windows 7’s cash may be rolling in, but Microsoft may be running out of time to get the plumbing right. Bad plumbing means that Microsoft Fast will forever be a local install and that may be good for consultants but not so hot for licensees who want to get free of the hockey stick costs for that type of service.
Without plumbing, Google will win because Microsoft cannot deliver. Just my opinion.
Stephen E Arnold, March 5, 2010
No one paid me to write this article. I will report this miserable situation to the GSA, an outfit able to remediate bad plumbing wherever there is a Federal facility.
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