A.M. Best Co. over the past few months has grown increasingly concerned with the heightened level of global economic uncertainty. Continuing economic weakness in certain European countries and the debt crisis in the United States, which remains unresolved, have elevated the risk profile of life insurers. As a result, A.M. Best is considering a revision in the rating outlook for the U.S. Life/Annuity sector to negative from stable.
Supplementing the standard review of capital adequacy, A.M. Best is reviewing the sensitivity of life insurance companies’ risk-adjusted capitalization under stressed scenarios, as detailed in the Best’s Briefing, “Sovereign Debt Pressure Spreads to Insurers’ Balance Sheets” (July 19, 2011). Initial data indicate that some life companies’ risk-adjusted capital positions are more impacted under these extreme stress scenarios. The results are still under study, and each company will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Of particular interest will be those groups that experienced above-average declines in risk-adjusted capital under the stress scenarios, as well as companies with a high concentration in domestic and foreign sovereign credits. In conjunction with a review of a company’s liability structure and liquidity, A.M. Best may choose to downgrade ratings or revise outlooks to negative as needed.
A.M. Best believes that the current challenges for the life/annuity segment include the following:
- Global sovereign uncertainty;
- Increased equity market volatility;
- Ongoing weakness in the real estate market; and
- Lingering unemployment and weak consumer confidence.
The continued economic fragility will constrain life insurers’ ability to increase revenues and earnings. Clearly, raising the U.S. government debt ceiling would alleviate near-term concerns of default on the highest rated government securities and the potential fallout of such an unprecedented event. However, A.M. Best believes the raising of the debt ceiling on its own will not achieve long-term fiscal stability.
A.M. Best has observed that many insurance companies have taken proactive steps to improve their capital positions, de-risk their product portfolios and position themselves for future growth. Overall capital positions are more robust and earnings trends have been more stable of late. While substantial unrealized loss positions in general account investment portfolios have recovered to a positive gain position, the change in the sovereign credit quality is increasing the industry’s overall investment risk.
Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source.
Rabu, 20 Juli 2011
Selasa, 19 Juli 2011
A federal judge in Michigan has granted class status in a lawsuit alleging that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan denied coverage for an autism therapy treatment in violation of federal law.
In an opinion handed down July 14, Judge Stephen J. Murphy III of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan approved a request for class certification that will allow the case to incorporate the claims of thousands of plaintiffs whose children may have been denied coverage for a form of autism therapy known as Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA. The order was issued in the case of Potter v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, No. 10-cv-14981.
The suit alleges Blue Cross has illegally characterized ABA therapy as "experimental," despite findings by the U.S. Surgeon General, the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and a study commissioned by the Medicare and Medicaid systems that determined ABA is a scientifically valid form of autism treatment. The suit also contends that 26 states require insurers to cover ABA therapy.
Gerard Mantese of Troy, Mich.-based Mantese Honigman Rossman and Williamson, who is representing plaintiffs in the case, called Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan's alleged actions "shameful" and said he has asked Murphy to issue an injunction that would force the company to cover ABA treatment.
"Blue Cross needs to stop intentionally ignoring the plethora of medical and scientific evidence showing that ABA is a valid therapy," Mantese said, adding his case argues that if children with autism do not receive ABA-type treatment within a narrow window of time, "they can suffer irreversible damage."
Mantese said this latest suit against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan comes just one year after the company settled a separate case involving ABA coverage that cost the company $700,000 (BestWire, June 3, 2010). "Yet, even after that settlement they continued their policy of denying coverage for ABA," Mantese said.
But Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan contends it does provide its policyholders with the option to purchase coverage for ABA-type therapy.
"We recognize that all families care about their children," a Blue Cross Blue Shield spokeswoman said in a statement. "We believe we have been more progressive than other Michigan insurance companies in addressing autism. In 2009, we became the first insurer in the state to offer businesses with our coverage the option to purchase coverage for autism treatment programs that provide intensive early intervention (ABA). To the best of our knowledge, we are the only insurer in Michigan to offer this coverage option to businesses."
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Class Status Granted in Autism Therapy Suit Against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
July 15, 2011 | A.M. Best Company, Inc.
emailEmail emailPrint free newsletterFree Newsletter
Copyright: (c) 2011 A.M. Best Company, Inc.
Source: A.M. Best Company, Inc.
Wordcount: 552
A federal judge in Michigan has granted class status in a lawsuit alleging that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan denied coverage for an autism therapy treatment in violation of federal law.
In an opinion handed down July 14, Judge Stephen J. Murphy III of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan approved a request for class certification that will allow the case to incorporate the claims of thousands of plaintiffs whose children may have been denied coverage for a form of autism therapy known as Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA. The order was issued in the case of Potter v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, No. 10-cv-14981.
The suit alleges Blue Cross has illegally characterized ABA therapy as "experimental," despite findings by the U.S. Surgeon General, the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and a study commissioned by the Medicare and Medicaid systems that determined ABA is a scientifically valid form of autism treatment. The suit also contends that 26 states require insurers to cover ABA therapy.
Gerard Mantese of Troy, Mich.-based Mantese Honigman Rossman and Williamson, who is representing plaintiffs in the case, called Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan's alleged actions "shameful" and said he has asked Murphy to issue an injunction that would force the company to cover ABA treatment.
"Blue Cross needs to stop intentionally ignoring the plethora of medical and scientific evidence showing that ABA is a valid therapy," Mantese said, adding his case argues that if children with autism do not receive ABA-type treatment within a narrow window of time, "they can suffer irreversible damage."
Mantese said this latest suit against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan comes just one year after the company settled a separate case involving ABA coverage that cost the company $700,000 (BestWire, June 3, 2010). "Yet, even after that settlement they continued their policy of denying coverage for ABA," Mantese said.
But Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan contends it does provide its policyholders with the option to purchase coverage for ABA-type therapy.
"We recognize that all families care about their children," a Blue Cross Blue Shield spokeswoman said in a statement. "We believe we have been more progressive than other Michigan insurance companies in addressing autism. In 2009, we became the first insurer in the state to offer businesses with our coverage the option to purchase coverage for autism treatment programs that provide intensive early intervention (ABA). To the best of our knowledge, we are the only insurer in Michigan to offer this coverage option to businesses."
Tap into retirement assets tax-free
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan currently has a Best's Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent).
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is not the only health insurance carrier to draw fire for allegedly refusing to cover ABA therapy.
Earlier this week, the California Department of Insurance slapped Blue Shield of California Life and Health Insurance Co. with an enforcement action after determining the company failed to comply with the state's mental health law when it denied coverage for the autism therapy approach. But Blue Shield of California's chief operating officer Paul Markovich fired back at CDI, saying the company will cover the autism therapy approach and it is "perplexed" by the enforcement action (BestWire, July 14, 2011).
In an opinion handed down July 14, Judge Stephen J. Murphy III of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan approved a request for class certification that will allow the case to incorporate the claims of thousands of plaintiffs whose children may have been denied coverage for a form of autism therapy known as Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA. The order was issued in the case of Potter v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, No. 10-cv-14981.
The suit alleges Blue Cross has illegally characterized ABA therapy as "experimental," despite findings by the U.S. Surgeon General, the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and a study commissioned by the Medicare and Medicaid systems that determined ABA is a scientifically valid form of autism treatment. The suit also contends that 26 states require insurers to cover ABA therapy.
Gerard Mantese of Troy, Mich.-based Mantese Honigman Rossman and Williamson, who is representing plaintiffs in the case, called Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan's alleged actions "shameful" and said he has asked Murphy to issue an injunction that would force the company to cover ABA treatment.
"Blue Cross needs to stop intentionally ignoring the plethora of medical and scientific evidence showing that ABA is a valid therapy," Mantese said, adding his case argues that if children with autism do not receive ABA-type treatment within a narrow window of time, "they can suffer irreversible damage."
Mantese said this latest suit against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan comes just one year after the company settled a separate case involving ABA coverage that cost the company $700,000 (BestWire, June 3, 2010). "Yet, even after that settlement they continued their policy of denying coverage for ABA," Mantese said.
But Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan contends it does provide its policyholders with the option to purchase coverage for ABA-type therapy.
"We recognize that all families care about their children," a Blue Cross Blue Shield spokeswoman said in a statement. "We believe we have been more progressive than other Michigan insurance companies in addressing autism. In 2009, we became the first insurer in the state to offer businesses with our coverage the option to purchase coverage for autism treatment programs that provide intensive early intervention (ABA). To the best of our knowledge, we are the only insurer in Michigan to offer this coverage option to businesses."
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{NEW} Elder Care Planning Product
Watch a quick overview of this exciting NEW Single-premium Guaranteed-Issue Whole Life product that can be part of an elder care plan including governement benefits too!
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> Class Status Granted in Autism Therapy Suit Against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
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> Vordel and Oracle Raise the Bar for SOA Deployments
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Class Status Granted in Autism Therapy Suit Against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
July 15, 2011 | A.M. Best Company, Inc.
emailEmail emailPrint free newsletterFree Newsletter
Copyright: (c) 2011 A.M. Best Company, Inc.
Source: A.M. Best Company, Inc.
Wordcount: 552
A federal judge in Michigan has granted class status in a lawsuit alleging that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan denied coverage for an autism therapy treatment in violation of federal law.
In an opinion handed down July 14, Judge Stephen J. Murphy III of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan approved a request for class certification that will allow the case to incorporate the claims of thousands of plaintiffs whose children may have been denied coverage for a form of autism therapy known as Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA. The order was issued in the case of Potter v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, No. 10-cv-14981.
The suit alleges Blue Cross has illegally characterized ABA therapy as "experimental," despite findings by the U.S. Surgeon General, the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and a study commissioned by the Medicare and Medicaid systems that determined ABA is a scientifically valid form of autism treatment. The suit also contends that 26 states require insurers to cover ABA therapy.
Gerard Mantese of Troy, Mich.-based Mantese Honigman Rossman and Williamson, who is representing plaintiffs in the case, called Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan's alleged actions "shameful" and said he has asked Murphy to issue an injunction that would force the company to cover ABA treatment.
"Blue Cross needs to stop intentionally ignoring the plethora of medical and scientific evidence showing that ABA is a valid therapy," Mantese said, adding his case argues that if children with autism do not receive ABA-type treatment within a narrow window of time, "they can suffer irreversible damage."
Mantese said this latest suit against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan comes just one year after the company settled a separate case involving ABA coverage that cost the company $700,000 (BestWire, June 3, 2010). "Yet, even after that settlement they continued their policy of denying coverage for ABA," Mantese said.
But Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan contends it does provide its policyholders with the option to purchase coverage for ABA-type therapy.
"We recognize that all families care about their children," a Blue Cross Blue Shield spokeswoman said in a statement. "We believe we have been more progressive than other Michigan insurance companies in addressing autism. In 2009, we became the first insurer in the state to offer businesses with our coverage the option to purchase coverage for autism treatment programs that provide intensive early intervention (ABA). To the best of our knowledge, we are the only insurer in Michigan to offer this coverage option to businesses."
Tap into retirement assets tax-free
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan currently has a Best's Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent).
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is not the only health insurance carrier to draw fire for allegedly refusing to cover ABA therapy.
Earlier this week, the California Department of Insurance slapped Blue Shield of California Life and Health Insurance Co. with an enforcement action after determining the company failed to comply with the state's mental health law when it denied coverage for the autism therapy approach. But Blue Shield of California's chief operating officer Paul Markovich fired back at CDI, saying the company will cover the autism therapy approach and it is "perplexed" by the enforcement action (BestWire, July 14, 2011).
Minggu, 17 Juli 2011
Federal officials are preparing to judge health insurance rate increases of 10% or more for excessiveness in seven states determined to have ineffective rate review processes.
The Center for Consumer Information & Insurance Oversight found rate review systems to be insufficient in Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Wyoming and four territories. Under final rate review regulations adopted under the authority of the Affordable Care Act, federal officials will conduct reviews "until those areas are able to strengthen their review processes and authorities," CCIIO, a division of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, announced. The center also announced partnerships with three states -- Iowa, Pennsylvania and Virginia -- it deemed to have a partially effective review program.
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon plans to introduce legislation to establish a review structure in order to make the federal involvement unnecessary. The CCIIO designation is not a surprise, Donelon said.
"Historically, we have not had prior approval of rates at all," he said.
The rate review regulation -- finalized in May and effective Sept. 1 -- requires the use of independent experts to review proposed increases of 10% or more for most individual and small group health insurance plans. Reviews will be the job of state regulators. Federal officials gained the authority to perform rate reviews in states that lack the resources or otherwise decline to take on the responsibility. Starting September 2012, the 10% level will be replaced with thresholds that reflect state-specific insurance and health care cost trends in each state, developed with federal officials (BestWire, May 20, 2011).
The Affordable Care Act allocated $250 million for states to improve their oversight processes. So far, 43 States and the District of Columbia are using $44 million in grants.
Health insurers have criticized what they see as an assumption of blame for rising rates. The rising cost of providing medical care is the number-one reason for rate increases, they said. Insurers have also criticized the 10% threshold for considering an increase potentially excessive as arbitrary and not based on actuarial data (BestWire, May 20, 2011).
The regulation also requires insurance companies to provide easily comprehensible information to their customers about their reasons for rate increases judged to be unreasonable or excessive. They will be required to publicly justify and post online any "unreasonable" rate increases.
(By Sean P. Carr, Washington Bureau Manager: sean.carr@ambest.com)
A new A.M. Best Co. Statistical Study shows the face amount of life insurance policies issued during 2010 declined 3.1% to $2.87 trillion compared with a year earlier.
Term life on a business issued basis marked a steeper descent, falling 11.7% to $1.13 trillion.
Group life business issued declined at a less significant rate yet ended up at essentially the same plateau, dropping 1.5% to just above $1.13 trillion, according to another study. The five A.M. Best Statistical Studies looked at total life issued; ordinary life issued; term life issued; group life issued and credit life issued.
Andrew Edelsberg, a vice president in the life/health division at A.M. Best Co., said term sales were driven down last year by higher rates and the sluggish economy's impact on consumer spending.
"Term pricing generally increased as carriers were, in many cases, forced to self-fund Regulation XXX reserves as alternative solutions became relatively expensive," Edelsberg said. "We saw an increase in whole life and universal life sales due to consumer's demand for cash value policies, as well as universal life with no-lapse guarantees."
Edelsberg also said that large mutuals with career distribution had a favorable experience with whole life sales trends.
Northwestern Mutual Group bucked overall segment declines and gained across separate categories of rankings. Total life issued increased 9.5% to $123.9 billion, boosting the Milwaukee, Wis.-based mutual ahead of ING USA Life Group and into the top three.
Metropolitan Life & Affiliated Cos. held the top ranking with $288.8 billion in total life business issued for 2010 (down 5.9%), and was trailed by Prudential of America Group with $186.3 billion (down 9.2%).
Northwestern jumped ahead of MetLife and into the top spot for ordinary life business issued. For term life issued, Northwestern moved up two positions to secure the No. 2 slot.
Shawn Mauser, Northwestern's director of life products, said the company saw significant increases for all life products. He suggested it stems from a changing consumer mindset that has migrated away from the paralysis in 2008 and 2009, when he said there was a tendency to postpone financial decisions.
He described a resurgence taking place with consumers taking a broader and more thorough look at their overall financial situation.
"What we saw in that was a shift in their risk posture overall, and that affects what they are doing with their accumulated assets as well as their insurance," Mauser said. "It wasn't a full-fledged retreat from taking risk; I would say it was just a greater appreciation for safety in the overall context of how much risk people are willing to take."
Mauser said more than half of Northwestern's new sales last year came from existing clients.
"I think that speaks to a flight to quality in some respects, but a confirmation of their previous Northwestern Mutual purchases," Mauser said.
Despite experiencing a 37.6% decline on term life business issued, Prudential's group life business issued increased 14.6% to $126.9 million.
In terms of total life business issued, Prudential of America Group held its No. 2 position.
Mark Hug, chief marketing officer for individual life at Prudential, said the company raised prices twice in 2009 for its life-protection products.
"While it was painful, it was necessary," Hug said. "Our competition didn't respond as quickly as we thought they would, but they have responded since."
Hug cited a confluence of events that were triggered back in 2009, which he described as a favorable year for Prudential. He said Prudential benefitted from a flight to quality in 2009 that ensued as the recession ended.
One factor was that American International Group had lost its spot as the top seller of term insurance in the United States. "They pretty much dropped off the map," Hug said. "So all of that term insurance had to go someplace, and we were a big benefactor of that."
He said other key players in the term market also experienced difficulties during 2009, issues that have since abated and enabled their return to the term segment. Combining that return factor with an overall reduction in the amount of coverage purchased has provided a subsequent confluence for the life industry. Hug said Prudential believes that the overall drop in coverage can be "associated with the loss of disposable income of the middle class, as they suffer through high unemployment."
Standard Insurance Group notched a 53% increase in group life business issued, raising that 2010 figure to $68.1 billion. As a result, the boost moved Standard up five places into the No. 6 slot. Brad Nantz, vice president of employee benefit sales at Standard, said this happened despite a challenging economy in which shrinking headcounts and static wages dampened organic growth.
"Our stable, expert sales force delivered strong group life sales and persistency," Nantz said. "We also saw volume growth as a result of key technology investments in new services and capabilities, including improved enrollment tools and online beneficiary management, which appealed to private employers looking for ease and efficiency."
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. currently has a Best's Financial Strength Rating of A++ (Superior).
Prudential Insurance Company of America currently has a Best's Financial Strength Rating of A+ (Superior).
Standard Insurance Co. currently has a Best's Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent).
(By Al Slavin, senior associate editor, BestWeek)
Senin, 04 Juli 2011
Like it or not, in the event you or somebody you know is pulled over for a traffic violation or involved in an accident whilst driving uninsured in the US these days, the punishment is loss of driving privileges for up to a year’s time. Now automobile insurance does make ideal sense but ever because the law requiring it was put into place, it has been mandatory for all drivers.
Get into an accident whilst you’re not covered and in that split second your life can turn out to be a nightmare. To begin with without an insurance carrier you are “on your own” and this means that even if you’re not at fault, you’ll be left to fight your own legal battles. On the other hand, if you’re insured, it’s your carrier’s job to hire an attorney and investigator to clear your name.
The fact is though, that it’s extremely simple to go without paying your insurance premiums, and this is for a number of typical reasons. Perhaps you’ve encountered recent financial issues, and have to cut something from your budget. Or maybe you’ve never even been in an accident and it’s been years because you received a traffic violation. Either way, driving whilst uninsured is just like playing Russian roulette.
One of probably the most typical questions that individuals ask before they begin browsing on-line for insurance quotes is “what are the mitigating factors that will drive their costs up”? Still an additional typical question is “what can they do to actually keep their insurance premiums down”? The easy answer here is that two of the large things that they take a look at, is your prior driving record, and also the type and value of vehicle you drive.
How old you are also factors in heavily simply because if you’re young and particularly in your teens you’re merely much more likely to get into traffic accidents. Then one much more factor that you are able to change is where you live. Now in the event you live, say out in the country, in a sparsely populated area, you will be paying less than in the event you live in a crowded metropolitan area that sees a great deal of accidents.
Now if all of the above risk factors apply to you then you will be looking at higher than usual quotes, and that’s a fact. Even so, in spite of all those risk factors you will find things that you are able to do to help you drive your costs down. Going with a high deductible which is the fee that you pay whenever you file a claim is one of them, as is going with a carrier that offers discounts for things like completing driving courses.
Want to find out more about New York Car Insurance or California Car Insurance, then stop by Gregg Samson’s site where you can find out all about cheap car insurance.
Get into an accident whilst you’re not covered and in that split second your life can turn out to be a nightmare. To begin with without an insurance carrier you are “on your own” and this means that even if you’re not at fault, you’ll be left to fight your own legal battles. On the other hand, if you’re insured, it’s your carrier’s job to hire an attorney and investigator to clear your name.
The fact is though, that it’s extremely simple to go without paying your insurance premiums, and this is for a number of typical reasons. Perhaps you’ve encountered recent financial issues, and have to cut something from your budget. Or maybe you’ve never even been in an accident and it’s been years because you received a traffic violation. Either way, driving whilst uninsured is just like playing Russian roulette.
One of probably the most typical questions that individuals ask before they begin browsing on-line for insurance quotes is “what are the mitigating factors that will drive their costs up”? Still an additional typical question is “what can they do to actually keep their insurance premiums down”? The easy answer here is that two of the large things that they take a look at, is your prior driving record, and also the type and value of vehicle you drive.
How old you are also factors in heavily simply because if you’re young and particularly in your teens you’re merely much more likely to get into traffic accidents. Then one much more factor that you are able to change is where you live. Now in the event you live, say out in the country, in a sparsely populated area, you will be paying less than in the event you live in a crowded metropolitan area that sees a great deal of accidents.
Now if all of the above risk factors apply to you then you will be looking at higher than usual quotes, and that’s a fact. Even so, in spite of all those risk factors you will find things that you are able to do to help you drive your costs down. Going with a high deductible which is the fee that you pay whenever you file a claim is one of them, as is going with a carrier that offers discounts for things like completing driving courses.
Want to find out more about New York Car Insurance or California Car Insurance, then stop by Gregg Samson’s site where you can find out all about cheap car insurance.
Minggu, 03 Juli 2011
An alternative version of Gmail could be expected as the new avatar will be without the 'Conversations' features, according to reports from Business Insider.The step has been taken in lieu of the 'confusion' factor as Gmail administrators state that they have been receiving complaints from users who find the feature confusing.
This feature aids in integrating all e-mails with same subject lines into one folder that makes the user to follow an easier conversation.
Many of the users found this feature a complete wastage of effort as on many occasions they have failed to read important messages because of this.
This serious accusation has supposedly been felt by Google and thus they finally have decided to introduce an alternative version in two months time.
The recent appointment of Head of Gmail, Vic Gundotra suggests that Google's prior attitude towards Gmail complaints as 'tone deafness' will soon change.
South Korean electronics giant, Samsung might be planning to upgrade its Galaxy S II smartphone with a new 1.4GHz dual-core processor this September. The handset was launched with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor after it was upgraded from 1GHz dual-core CPU before release. The handset was revealed with the 1GHz dual-core processor at Mobile World Congress.
The handset features a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display and Google’s Android operating system. The new ultra-thin smartphone with the powerful processor might be released at IFA along with the latest version of Google’s Android Gingerbread OS, version 2.3.4.
The new device will retain its 8-megapixel camera with 1080p Full HD video recording capabilities, 1GB of RAM and the thin form factor.
Meanwhile, the company has reduced the price of Galaxy SII smartphone by £70 on the day when rumors about the new version in September emerged. The handset is already the best selling handset and is priced at about £429.49 in the UK.
Kamis, 23 Juni 2011
Facebook bukan hanya sebagai situs jejaring sosial terpopuler saat ini. Facebook juga merupakan perusahaan dengan beberapa kantor keren dan menakjubkan di seluruh dunia. Dengan 500 juta anggota, setiap kantor Facebook di desain agar memungkinkan setiap pekerjanya dapat bekerja dalam suasana yang nyaman, santai dan menyenangkan. Foto kantor facebook seperti ini bagi sebagian dari kita mungkin hanya mimpi dan angan-angan saja :p.
Berikut ini beberapa gambar dan foto menarik dari kantor facebook yang sungguh sangat keren dan foto ruang server facebook yang menakjubkan
Here’s a roundup of some of this week’s headlines from the HPC (High Performance Computing) industry:
SGI launches InfiniteStorage 5500. SGI introduced InfiniteStorage (IS) 5500, a next generation storage platform. Built with an innovative modular design for extreme density and scalability, the IS5500 offers exceptional performance for high-bandwidth and high-IOPS applications with enterprise-class reliability. It is targeted at big-bandwidth applications such as full-motion video, data analytics and VMware and HyperV environments. The IS5500 can intermix multiple drive types and enclosure densities in a single, scalable system, and features fully redundant I/O paths with automated failover, dual-active, hot-swappable controllers and components, mirrored data cache with battery backup that is de-staged to flash, and hardware-based RAID 6 for maximum performance. SGI also announced that NASA’s Pleiades supercomputer system, built with Altix ICE technology, has achieved more than one petaflop per second in sustained compute performance and moved into the number 7 spot on the June 2011 Top500 list of supercomputer sites in the world. In this video SGI CTO Dr. Eng Lim Goh explains how they are collaborating with Intel to achieve an exaflop by 2018.
Intel equipped to lead path to Exascale computing. At the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC), Kirk Skaugen, Intel (INTC) vice president and general manager of the Data Center Group, outlined the company’s vision to achieve ExaFLOP/s performance by the end of this decade. An ExaFLOP/s is quintillion computer operations per second, hundreds times more than today’s fastest supercomputers. “While Intel Xeon processors are the clear architecture of choice for the current TOP500 list of supercomputers, Intel is further expanding its focus on high-performance computing by enabling the industry for the next frontier with our MIC (Many Integrated Core) architecture for petascale and future exascale workloads,” said Skaugen. “Intel is uniquely equipped with unparalleled manufacturing technologies, new architecture innovations and a familiar software programming environment that will bring us closer to this exciting exascale goal.” Addressing the significant increase in power consumption needs, Skaugen explained that Intel and European researchers have established three labs with three goals: to create a sustained partner presence in Europe; take advantage of the growing relevance of European high-performance computing (HPC) research; and exponentially grow capabilities in computational science, engineering and strategic computing. Intel also products from SGI, Dell, HP, IBM, Colfax and Super Micro, all of which are working with Intel to plan products based on “Knights Corner,” the code name for the first Intel MIC product.
Hardcore and Super Micro demonstrate Liquid Blade Server. Hardcore Computer joined Super Micro Computer at the 2011 International Supercomputing Conference (ISC) in Hamburg, Germany Monday where they showcased its revolutionary Liquid Blade server. Liquid Blade employs Hardcore Computer’s patented total liquid submersion cooling technology.“Hardcore Computer’s Liquid Blade total submersion technology is the future of high-performance computing and general data center cooling.” It is an elegant, extremely energy efficient solution that allows for peak system performance,” said CTO and Co-Founder of Hardcore Computer Chad Attlesey. “Our patented liquid submersion cooling also allows our Detonator workstations to deliver dual 4.8GHz Intel Westmere CPUs on a custom platform engineered for speed and reliability.”
NetApp E5400 benchmarked and enhanced. NetApp (NTAP) announced that the E5400 has been benchmarked for use with the Lustre file system, an open-sourced high-performance file system used by the majority of organizations on the Supercomputer 500 list. In a combined testbed NetApp and Whamcloud used a 4U storage system to achieve 5GB/s for read performance and 3.5GB/s for write performance with the E5400. This combination enables customers with a 40U rack to achieve up to 50GB/s in read performance per rack. “Teaming with NetApp to provide expanded support options for Lustre environments gives a distinct advantage to our HPC customers,” said Brent Gorda, CEO, Whamcloud. “We’re extremely excited with the benchmarking of the E5400 with Lustre in the Lawrence Livermore Hyperion test bed. Lustre is gaining in importance within the HPC community, and working closely with NetApp allows our two companies to deliver outstanding support services, ensuring that customers get the most out of their Lustre environments.” New features available on the E5400 include support for three drive enclosures and multiple drive technologies, as well as scalability to 600 drives per 40U. A New 40Gb InfiniBand interface option is available and can be integrated into InfiniBand infrastructures for flexibility in any high-performance storage network.
A look at the fully-packed racks inside a Facebook data center facility.
How many servers does Facebook have? For some time now, the stock answer has been “more than 10,000 servers,” a number the company began using in April 2008. Facebook has continued to use that number, even as it has soared past 300 million users and dramatically expanded its data center space.
We now have an update: Facebook has 30,000 servers supporting its operations. That number comes from Jeff Rothschild, the vice president of technology at Facebook, who discussed the company’s infrastructure in a presentation last week at UC San Diego (link via High Scalability).
“Today we have somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000 servers,” Rothschild said during the Q&A session following his talk, adding that the number ”will be different today than it was yesterday” because Facebook is adding capacity on a daily basis.
That places Facebook among the largest Internet companies that have publicly discussed their server counts, but still well behind hosting providers Rackspace, 1&1 Internet and OVH, which each house more than 50,000 servers in their data centers. See Who Has The Most Web Servers for more date on the largest infrastructures.
20,000 Servers In 18 Months
It also suggests that Facebook has added about 20,000 servers since early 2008, which explains why it borrowed $100 million in May 2008 to fund server purchases.
Rothschild also shared some huge numbers associated with Facebook’s photo storage operation, which now stores 80 billion images (20 billion images, each in four sizes). Rothschild said the real challenge isn’t storage, but delivery. ”We serve up 600,000 photos a second,” he said.
25 Terabytes of Log Data – Daily
The amount of log data amassed in Facebook’s operations is staggering. Rothschild said Facebook manages more than 25 terabytes of data per day in logging data, which he said was the equivalent of about 1,000 times the volume of mail delivered daily by the U.S. Postal Service.
Rothschild also discussed the effectiveness of the company’s engineering operations. Facebook currently has about 230 engineers on staff, who manage data for more than 300 million users. Rothschild said that having one engineer for more than 1 million active users has been a consistent historic ratio at Facebook. ”We believe engineers at Facebook have a dramatic impact.”
The 1-hour, 10-minute presentation discusses the company’s commitment to open source technologies and the importance of memcached and Hadoop in their operations.
Here’s a look at some of our past coverage of the growth of Facebook’s infrastructure:
Facebook Makes Big Investment in Data Centers: The company has just locked down a large chunk of data center space in northern Virginia that will provide room for thousands of additional servers for growth in 2011 and beyond.
Facebook: Managing Epic Growth in Real-Time: CTO Jonathan Heiliger presents an overview of Facebook’s back-end operations at the Velocity 2009 conference in June.
Facebook Spending $20 Million a Year on Data Centers: An analysis of Facebook’s data center leases as of May 2009.
A Look Inside Facebook’s Data Center: A recruitment video provides a glimpse inside the server-packed racks and aisles of a Facebook data center.
Facebook Expanding Its Data Centers, Again: In early 2009 the company leased additional space in its East Coast hub in Ashburn, Virginia.
Facebook Pushes Limits on Memcached: Caching is key to massive web scalabilty. Here’s how Facebook is extending a popular caching technology.
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