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Is Your Data Center Running Out of Space and Power? Optimize It!
The lifecycles of data centers are getting
shorter and shorter. The needs of today’s data
centers are much more complex than they were
25—or even five—years ago. As a result, data
centers are increasingly challenged to support
high density environments often running at full
capacity, frequently running out of space and
power.
Although technology is improving every day and
new servers are more efficient, corporations
need to intelligently allocate resources and get
the most from their existing infrastructure.
Optimizing your current environment will help
you reclaim precious capacity and may allow you
to delay or avoid altogether the time and
expense required to build a new data center
saving money and achieving immediate results.
When looking to optimize a data center space,
managers need to consider four areas for
improvement, servers, storage, network and
infrastructure. For the purpose of this article
we will focus on infrastructure.
Optimizing the data center infrastructure
involves three activities: 1) analyze the
current data center environment, 2) implement
effective cooling technology, and 3) modify
power sources for maximum efficiency.
Data center analysis
The first—and most important—step in
optimization is to conduct a thorough analysis
of the data center’s dynamics. This analysis is
three-fold: 1) measure temperatures and power
use to establish a baseline; 2) carefully
examining every item in the data center to
ensure that each component is serving its
intended purpose; and 3) conduct a comprehensive
airflow analysis to identify areas of weakness.
Because this process requires detailed data
collection and analysis, an expert who has the
tools, knowledge and experience is best-suited
to perform the assessment. This comprehensive
analysis provides metrics for performance
measurement, identifies problems and allows
managers to make intelligent decisions to
improve data center efficiency.
Efficient Modular Architecture
Effectively removing heat is an important factor
in data center performance. Traditionally, data
center managers have relied on ambient air
cooling solutions. Such solutions, however, are
inefficient at handling high heat loads and can
be cost- and energy-inefficient. With modular
solutions, data center managers can match
cooling and power resources to the devices that
consume the most power and generate the most
heat. Locating the cooling source closer to the
heat-generating device improves efficiency that
would otherwise be lost in transport. With fewer
barriers to air flow, less energy is wasted and
the data center’s stability, reliability and
efficiency are improved.
Efficient power management
When optimizing the data center, intelligent
power management is essential. Managing the
efficiency of your power distribution
infrastructure starts with an analysis of each
component. By improving the efficiency of each
component of the system, as well as taking
advantage of high voltage, or three phase power,
you can squeeze more computing performance from
each rack.
If your data center is reaching full capacity,
you don’t have to rebuild a new one.
Optimization significantly improves a data
center’s space and power limitations while
saving time and money. By first analyzing the
dynamics and then implementing effective cooling
and power management technologies, you can boost
efficiencies and extend the life of your data
center.
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