Microsoft to establish its first datacenter region in New Zealand

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#2507117 18-Jun-2020 10:39

Not sure a physical attack vector is the one most enemies would take for cyber warfare so it probably makes very little difference.

CokemonZ

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#2507127 18-Jun-2020 10:57

Fair point - the Article talked about using Azure stack as well, so they could have a bunch of those dotted around for local redundancy/Business continuity.

Just seemed way too much of a coincidence to me.

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#2507273 18-Jun-2020 12:05

The Reseller News article talks about a "hybrid cloud" capability mixing 'public' and 'private' instances of Azure.
Microsoft offer packaged up "Azure Stack" private instances through at least HPE. I note that Datacom offer these as a service, too

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#2516157 2-Jul-2020 14:06

I read the blog post about Catalysts new Solutions Hub, and it kept self translating in my head as 'Catalyst does stuff to try and stay relevant in the face of impending doom when Azure launches it's region'

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#2516980 3-Jul-2020 19:21

PolicyGuy:

The Reseller News article talks about a "hybrid cloud" capability mixing 'public' and 'private' instances of Azure.
Microsoft offer packaged up "Azure Stack" private instances through at least HPE. I note that Datacom offer these as a service, too

Umbrellar offers it too and had a big launch. It will be de-emphasised I think but Azure Stack Edge still has a lot of applications.

Jono Green

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#2516981 3-Jul-2020 19:22

Lias:

I read the blog post about Catalysts new Solutions Hub, and it kept self translating in my head as 'Catalyst does stuff to try and stay relevant in the face of impending doom when Azure launches it's region'

Their PR posts and selective misinformation around data sovereignty screams desperation.

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#2516984 3-Jul-2020 19:26

lxsw20:

Not sure a physical attack vector is the one most enemies would take for cyber warfare so it probably makes very little difference.

Deliberately dragging an anchor through the offshore fibre cable probably a good trick too.

Jono Green

Microsoft New Zealand

BlakJak

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#2517071 3-Jul-2020 22:34

Jogre:

Lias:

I read the blog post about Catalysts new Solutions Hub, and it kept self translating in my head as 'Catalyst does stuff to try and stay relevant in the face of impending doom when Azure launches it's region'

Their PR posts and selective misinformation around data sovereignty screams desperation.

They're utterly convinced that their product is better for the customer. From their perspective, they believe strongly in the angle they're playing.
Unfortunately that's not enough for a lot of people.

I'm generally a fan of Catalyst and would recommend them depending on the nature of what you need.... i'm also generally a big fan of open source and Catalyst are a big player in the NZ Open Source industry. But I'll admit that some of the more evangelical stuff puts me off. I wouldn't characterise it as desperation, just a passion for the platforms they offer and confidence in their people and their offerings.

But at the end of the day people want the right tool for the job from their perspective, and this doesn't always align with with the emotional or moral angle that they often take.

No signature to see here, move along...

freitasm

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#2517116 4-Jul-2020 09:54

Interesting to notice that AWS has launched AWS Outposts in New Zealand now.

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#2530369 28-Jul-2020 21:13

See the announcement about msft running a datacentre on hydrogen?

https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/28/microsoft_data_center_hydrogen_power/

Wonder if they had a little insight into Tiwai Point? Could be interesting considering their aim to be carbon negative.

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#2530414 28-Jul-2020 23:00

Dynamic:

CokemonZ:

Reckon it might be related to this: https://www.reseller.co.nz/article/680610/nz-defence-force-targets-hybrid-cloud-118-million-bid/

Possibly, but I'd question the wisdom of using a pair of known DC locations for NZ Defence purposes. Wouldn't they be better off having a private cloud in distributed locations?

"Let's kill off their Defence IT infrastructure by taking out the primary and backup DC. It'll also mess with their government and most of their private businesses for bonus points."

vs

"We'd like to kill off their Defence IT infrastructure but it will take quite an effort as it is in underground facilities and replicated across 4 different bases."

And big obvious doors with "Defence Force" plastered on them within at least one of those DCs - it's OK though there are strongly worded warnings prohibiting access to people not on the list :)

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#2530429 29-Jul-2020 06:33

Intravix:

"We'd like to kill off their Defence IT infrastructure but it will take quite an effort as it is in underground facilities and replicated across 4 different bases."

Well, if you were doing that you would have already targeted the very limited number of cable landing stations and the similarly limited number of active bases. The lets make the NZ defense forces capable of surviving simple attacks horse bolted 30+ years ago when David Lange and his mob put the nail in the coffin.

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#2530576 29-Jul-2020 10:14

CokemonZ:
See the announcement about msft running a datacentre on hydrogen?

https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/28/microsoft_data_center_hydrogen_power/

Actually it was a small chunk (250kW) of a data centre for 48hrs.

freitasm

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#2531170 30-Jul-2020 07:41

From today's press release:

"Microsoft New Zealand today announced the signing of a new strategic partnership with Fonterra that will see the dairy co-operative migrate many mission-critical operations to Microsoft Azure to support its global growth plans. Once Microsoft’s New Zealand datacenter region is launched, Fonterra will also benefit from real-time business intelligence and exponentially greater capacity to innovate with cutting-edge technologies."

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#2531196 30-Jul-2020 08:45

Dynamic:

Possibly, but I'd question the wisdom of using a pair of known DC locations for NZ Defence purposes. Wouldn't they be better off having a private cloud in distributed locations?

Yes, and there was a plan

But the Treasurer (Bill "Of course I live in Dipton" English) apparently made it quite clear that there would be no CAPEX money to build decent data centres, but there would be additional OPEX money to buy into the commercially hosted All Of Government IaaS being pushed through DIA.
"Public sector bad, private sector good" was the prevailing political mantra of the time

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