Having just shipped the May/June issue of Mission Critical to the printer, I am struck by how three topics dominate our coverage.

·       Containers/Modules

·       Cloud Computing

·       ASHRAE TC 9.9

On a lark, I just reviewed the program DatacenterDynamics developed for its San Francisco event (June 30th). As I expected, the program includes numerous presentations on modules and the cloud plus a session led by ASHRAE’s Don Beaty on TC 9.9. I often use the programs developed by DatacenterDynamics’ Steve Worn as a gauge of trending issue because the frequency of their events and the short lead times gives them a real advantage in developing presentations on hot topics.

In this case, I consider all three topics to be the results of innovative efforts by industry stakeholders to improve IT reliability/availability, improve energy-efficiency, and to reduce TCO. Demand for solutions that improve performance in these areas finally seems to be producing innovation that will enable more data center operators to achieve results.

With these and other innovations in place, industry professionals have fewer reasons to emulate the donkey and more to emulate the monkey, as described by Mike Manos at the recent Uptime Institute. And yes, these three topics figured prominently in that event as well.

So what’s in our May/June issue?

Our cover stories focus on containers and modules. Dennis Cronin looks at the undeniable growth in the market in his feature, “The Why Behind the Phenomenal Growth of Containerized Modular Solutions.” Growth in this industry is indeed remarkable, as we have updated the vendor list Dennis submitted to reflect new introductions. Just today, I learned that one of the vendors would be announcing yet another new model on Monday. As part of our container/module coverage, Harsco’s Ramez Naguib takes a look at the economics behind these installations in an article entitled “The Economics of Modular Infrastructure.”

Well, the aforementioned Don Beaty, chair of the TC 9.9 publications subcommittee explains in detail how the 2011 standard will differ from the 2008 standard. Don feels strongly that information released by server vendors describing how temperature affects life will make data center operators more willing too turn the temperature up.  In his “Zinc Whiskers” column, Bruce Myatt answers an important question about the new standard, “Can you afford to lose less than twice the number of servers you do now to turn off your HVAC forever? A lot of people will!”

Don’t overlook our cloud coverage. In this issue Interxion’s Kevin Dean looks at how data centers that provide cloud services differ from more traditional facilities. The differences are subtle and important for enterprises considering not only moving to the cloud but especially to those who anticipate operating a private cloud.

I hope you enjoy this issue. It should be available on this website as soon as late next week and shortly after that for print subscribers.