IDG World Expo, the leading producer of world-class tradeshows and events, today announced the line-up of keynote presentations scheduled for the 2nd annual Next Generation Data Center™ (NGDC™). The topic of power consumption will be a dominant theme during the kick-off keynotes being delivered by Jeffrey Birnbaum, Managing Director and Chief Technology Architect for Merrill Lynch, and Randall N. (Randy) Spratt, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, McKesson Corporation. Next Generation Data Center is scheduled to take place August 4-7, 2008 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center.

Birnbaum’s opening keynote entitled, “Stateless Computing – Scaling at Zero Marginal Costs Above Capex,” will take place on Tuesday, August 5th at 9:00 a.m.

“As businesses become more reliant on large computer footprints to enable growth, the total cost of adding computer capacity must become scalable and approach zero marginal cost above capital expense. To achieve this goal, the 1980's PC style of systems management and architecture must be abandoned in favor of a Stateless Computing approach where a computer is just CPU and memory attached to a network without any state associated with it,” said Birnbaum. “My presentation will describe how a Stateless Computing Architecture enables scale at close to zero marginal cost, the role of virtualization as a complementary technology to optimize capital expense, and how new and highly efficient data center designs can be achieved when a Stateless Computing Architecture is adopted.”

Immediately following Birnbaum’s keynote, Randy Spratt will present his keynote entitled, “A Matter of Life and Death: Linux in Health Care,” at 9:30 a.m. Spratt will discuss the need for absolute reliability and interoperability in health care IT and why Linux can be the right choice for these systems.

“In almost any other industry, a software failure might mean a temporary issue like a missed sale or an inconvenienced customer, but for us people’s lives are literally at stake,” said Spratt. “It’s a tremendous responsibility, which is why we insist on developing systems that incorporate redundancy and expandability. For McKesson, Linux provides us with that mission critical reliability.”

Rajiv Ramaswami, Vice President and General Manager at Cisco Systems, will kick-off Tuesday afternoon with his keynote presentation entitled, “Data Center 3.0: How The Network is Transforming The Data Center.”

“As data centers become more services and collaboration oriented, the network will play an increasingly important role in consolidating, virtualizing and automating the data center,” said Ramaswami. “My presentation will cover how data center network infrastructure is evolving to help drive down capex and opex costs, help derive more value from virtualized environments, and help to secure the data center.”

Additional presenters slated to speak throughout the week at NGDC include: Mark Sunday, Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President, Oracle Corporation; Bob Sutor, Vice President, Open Source and Standards, IBM; and Simon Crosby, CTO, Citrix Systems Inc.

For the complete schedule of keynote presentations, or to register for the event, please visit www.ngdcexpo.com.

NGDC is targeted to data center professionals ranging from IT architects to system administrators, seeking the right products and services to add to their end-to-end solutions as they adapt to ever increasing needs for flexibility, scalability and performance. For more detailed information on the Next Generation Data Center Conference & Expo visit www.ngdcexpo.com.

About IDG World Expo

IDG World Expo (www.idgworldexpo.com) produces tradeshows and events for professionals seeking world-class education, peer-to-peer networking and one-stop comparison shopping. IDG World Expo's portfolio of conferences and events includes Entertainment For All™ (E For All™), E3 Media & Business Summit, GreenXchange Xpo™, LinuxWorld Conference & Expo®, Macworld Conference & Expo®, Next Generation Data Center™ (NGDC™) and REVEAL Los Angeles…The Fashion & Design Event™. IDG World Expo is a business unit of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research and event company.

About International Data Group (IDG)

International Data Group (IDG) is the world's leading technology media, events, and research company. IDG’s online network includes more than 450 web sites spanning business technology, consumer technology, digital entertainment and video games worldwide. IDG publishes more than 300 magazines and newspapers in 85 countries including CIO, CSO, Computerworld, GamePro, InfoWorld, Macworld, Network World, and PC World. IDG’s lead-generation service, IDG Connect, matches technology companies with an audience of engaged, high-quality IT professionals, influencers, and decision makers.

IDG is a leading producer of more than 750 technology-related events including Macworld Conference & Expo, LinuxWorld Conference & Expo, Entertainment for All Expo (E for All), DEMO, and IDC Directions. IDC, a subsidiary of IDG, is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events. Over 900 IDC analysts in more than 90 countries provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends.

Additional information about IDG, a privately held company, is available at http://www.idg.com.

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