So, I am all excited to the see the HP Performance Optimized Datacenter (HP POD) at the HP Master the Cloud Event in Toronto and walk into the Direct Energy Center Hall C. The first thing that I see is the POD – compact in its own spot taking up a little over 20 ft – a structure you can walk into and experience for yourself. I walk up to the HP sales associate who is coordinating the POD tours, and she connects me with Lee Thomasson, an HP Solutions Architect.
Lee conducts a mini-tour and pairs me up with two other attendees with inquisitive minds like mine – Paul Haygarth and Dan Van Nierop – Technical Services Project Managers from Campana Systems.
And the tour begins. I am in the POD!
Lee explains that this is a 20 ft. POD with 10 standing racks, with the connections for chilled water cooling and a Central Console for Lights Out Remote Data Center management. “It is really an enclosure”, says Lee, “unlike brick and mortar centers requiring exit codes, etc. You can manage your environment remotely over the Web.”
I ask about the need for human intervention in the POD and its ability to accommodate such needs. Lee explains, “The HP strategy is about Remote Data Center Management without any manual intervention needed.”
As Lee walks us through the POD, we have to make space for the next group of customers trooping in with another Solution Architect from HP. We walk around and step outside. I wonder about the feasibility of the POD being used for Business Continuity. Lee explains that this is certainly possible but goes on to share an interesting scenario where the City and County of El Paso, Texas, USA, an HP customer, chose to move to the POD for their production environment while restructuring their existing traditional brick and mortar data center to be the Disaster Recovery site. Think about it. They modernized their infrastructure to the POD.
So, after the tour, I checked up on my companions – Paul Haygarth and Dan Van Nierop – and asked them about their first impressions about the POD. They explained that Campana Systems is a company delivering software to their customers who want them to provide this software in a hosted environment as a service. They are considering multiple options for hosting and in Paul’s words, “The HP POD is the Cadillac of options.”
Cadillac of options – that is the impression that I walked away with as well after visiting and experiencing the HP POD at the HP Master the Event in Toronto and Montreal.
So, how is the POD related to moving houses? See HP Fellow, Charlie Bess demonstrating a mini-version of the HP POD
