Good morning, this is Cold Isle Insights.
Data centers are where IT, telecom, and infrastructure converge. That’s our focus.

Today’s Big Stories:

1. Losing chips and shifting fab focus: Facing its largest-ever quarterly loss, the tech titan takes big swings to turn things around.

2. Denv-R floating river data centers: The French company is trying to make data centers floating in urban rivers a thing.

3. DoD tightening the belt on cyber security: The federal government is looking to change culture around zero-trust initiative.

Est. read time: 3mins, 15secs

- Data Center News -

Intel’s tumult reaches its crisis with worst quarter ever

Intel recently had its biggest quarterly loss ever, like $2.8 billion big. Even their usually profitable Data Center & AI group took a hit, losing $518 million.

Newish CEO Pat Gelsinger isn't freaking out though. In fact, he’s making moves to right the ship and focus on what Intel does best.

Under Gelsinger, Intel sold their Data Center Solutions Group (DSG) to the parent company of server manufacturer, Tyon. They’re also cleaving off other unprofitable limbs like Optane Memory, McAfee Security, Nand Flash, and Intel Sports.

(The stock hasn’t exactly pumped under Gelsinger.)

This garage sale is part of their IDM 2.0 strategy (integrated device manufacturing) which aims to steer the legacy tech company toward chip and semiconductor manufacturing.

Don’t believe they’ll do it? They’ve got $20 Billion allocated to fab sites in Chandler, AZ, and another $20 for fabs in Ohio.

So what?

The data center industry shouldn't freak out about the DSG sale, since it probably won't change much right away.
A slimmer, more focused Intel may actually be a good thing for the server market. They'll be concentrating on general-purpose and AI computing markets while companies like Tyan deal with making server hardware.

That way, Intel can really go all-in on next-gen CPU/GPU tech and stay competitive.

- Power and Sustainability -

More floating data centers, this time in French rivers

French startup, Denv-R, (not to be confused with similarly named Denvr Dataworks) is prepping to launch a prototype of their new floating data center in Nantes.

The data center is designed to float on urban rivers, and has a passive water circulation system that doesn't need any pumps. They're working with Geps Techno, a company that knows its stuff when it comes to smart buoys and platforms.

If that’s not cool enough, they're using river water to keep the servers chilled, cutting down on energy use and CO2 emissions. They're planning to float this 1000sqft container on a Geps buoy by this summer.

Denv-R has dropped around $1 million on the project so far, and CEO Vincent Le Breton stresses that this proof of concept, with a cloud platform launching shortly, is just the first of a network of floating servers they’ve got planned.

So what?

The use of smart buoy and platform technology in the data center industry is expanding rapidly. Digital Realty uses river cooling in their land-based facility in Marseilles, Green Mountain plans to use river water to cool their data center outside Frankfurt, and Google’s campus in Finland uses sea-water cooling.

Quick Bites

- Cyber Security -

DoD Looks to change culture around zero trust

• The U.S. Federal Government has released a number of strategies, architecture frameworks, and guidelines in the most comprehensive effort to bring zero trust from a concept to reality.

  • Most notably, DoD Trust Reference Architecture 2.0 and DOD Zero Trust Strategy

• This specific zero trust approach is an essential shift towards a culture and process change that is necessary to address the increasing complexity and sophistication of cyber threats.

- Telecom -

Rogers inks deal with Lynk and Starlink in latest direct-to-cell deal

• The deal will use SpaceX’s Starlink low earth orbit satellites and Rogers’ wireless spectrum to offer satellite to phone tech in Canada.

• Limited to SMS initially, they plan to provide voice and data to 4G and 5G devices across the country’s most rural areas.

Daily Dall-E

The future is here.

I hope you learned something. We would love your feedback, and love it even more if you shared this with a friend or coworker!

PS: Here are a couple links to explore if you’re interested:
Tour of CoreSite’s newest. Don’t get to see inside these very often - HERE
DeepMind Podcast about producing equity in AI. I find this troubling. Tell me what you think. HERE

- Taylor