News for and about the Internet2 community

[Brian Warkoczeski <>]

Merit Network announces Online Learning for "Data Center Infrastructure 
Management," Nov. 16-18

For the first time Merit offers Professional Learning opportunity to the 
Education Community Nationwide

October 28, 2010

Ann Arbor, Mich. - Merit Network Inc. announced today that it is hosting 
"Data Center Infrastructure Management" as its first online learning 
class. The three-day course is provided through Merit's Professional 
Learning program and will take place on November 16-18, 2010.

This is the first time the national education community will have the 
ability to attend a Merit Professional Learning course online.

Andy Rosenzweig, manager of professional learning at Merit, is pleased 
that Merit is able to offer expanded online learning opportunities.

"Providing this course and others via a desktop interface helps shrink 
the tremendous distances between Merit's Members throughout Michigan," 
he said. "Online learning also provides a way for us to serve 
organizations that are part of other research and education communities 
nationwide."

Elwood Downing, Merit's vice president of member relations, 
communications and services, views online learning as an integral part 
of Merit Professional Learning moving forward.

"Merit Professional Learning provides current information about trends 
and advances in networking and technology for research and education, as 
well as opportunities in which like-minded community members can learn 
from each other's work and spark collaboration," Downing said.

"Merit Professional Learning will continue to facilitate personal 
networking interaction. A virtual element will be utilized more to 
improve learning and help the community grow."

"Data Center Infrastructure Management" will provide knowledge about the 
professional management of data facilities, which is increasingly 
important for organizations of all types and sizes. It is of interest to 
individuals who manage data centers or server rooms, IT staff with 
hardware responsibilities, and facilities staff.

"This course is highly relevant as changes in technology heighten the 
need for highly functional data centers," said Rosenzweig.

"Trends like cloud computing and desktop virtualization are adding to 
the services that are provided from centralized computing facilities," 
he added. "At the same time, today's higher-performance servers place 
new demands on power management and cooling, and it is important for 
organizations to have ongoing knowledge about meeting those needs."

Significant savings are available for individuals from any organization 
to attend "Data Center Infrastructure Management," made possible through 
the contributions of Merit's Community Supporter Program.

Registration and more information are available at:

http://www.merit.edu/learning/dcim


About Merit Network

Merit Network Inc., a nonprofit corporation owned and governed by 
Michigan's public universities, owns and operates America's 
longest-running regional research and education network. In 1966, 
Michigan's public universities created Merit as a shared resource to 
help meet their common need for networking assistance. Since its 
formation, Merit Network has remained on the forefront of research and 
education networking expertise and services. Merit provides 
high-performance networking solutions to public universities, colleges, 
K-12 organizations, libraries, state government, healthcare, and other 
non-profit organizations.