How to Improve Data Center Efficiency?

For modern enterprises, a data center serves as a heart that ensures a viable existence of the whole business and all its systems, even in emergency situations. Today, the data center is a key element of the IT infrastructure.

As the importance of information technology in doing business grows, the demand for such “living organisms” and their services gains popularity. Thus, most companies are forced to be concentrated on constant apparatus improvement due to growing business needs. The development and maintenance of the server data center require a modern solution that can ensure uninterrupted operation of power supply, customization, and high performance of equipment.

So, almost all companies that use data centers in their work seek ways to optimize its work and improve its efficiency.

Data Center Energy Efficiency — Best Practices

There are a number of measures that help improve power usage effectiveness (PUE) of your system, which is considered to be one of the essential metrics of data center energy efficiency. Below, let’s discuss the main measures:

1. Sufficient air-conditioned cabinets cooling. High-precious devices (computers, processors, drives) are characterized by a high level of energy consumption and releasing a lot of heat into the atmosphere. One server rack generates 5–7 kW of heat during operation. In a small server room, 7-10 racks will generate more than 50 kW of heat. The rise in temperature negatively affects the effectiveness and performance of traditional HHD drives. Thus, premises must be well-conditioned. It is required to select the optimal ways of cooling the system and premises.

The following solutions can be used: natural heat conduction, passive ventilation, forced ventilation, displacement air conditioning cooling, dedicated server rack cooling systems.

2. Data center consolidation. This measure is ideal for organizations with multiple data centers. Consolidating several systems results in significant cost savings. Moreover, the occupied areas for server rooms will reduce.

Thanks to the monitoring system, all the data obtained during the consolidation will be analyzed and shown how to improve the level of manageability, while receiving significant savings in money and energy.

3. Energy efficiency. It is achieved by increasing the temperature inside the data center to 24 degrees Celsius, to reduce the load on the cooling system; using outside airflows, instead of expensive air conditioning; alternation of “hot” and “cold” air corridors; the use of energy management software on servers to ensure maximum efficiency, for example, when using feed-in tariffs.

4. The use of soundproof server racks and floor-standing cabinets. The placement of power distribution units (PDUs) within racks can also affect cooling. If the PDUs are not properly positioned, they may well block the airflow inside the rack. Many product producers paint furniture with the white color to minimize overheating. This simple solution can help save on monthly data center energy bills.

5. Hardware upgrades. For the effective operation of the data center, it is recommended to upgrade hardware. Firstly, it will help increase the level of software management. Second, equipment upgrades will reduce maintenance and support costs. Thirdly, it will reduce energy costs. And modernization will bring about 10-15% savings on equipment maintenance costs per year.

The Main Benefits:

1. Secure infrastructure. Data centers are equipped according to specific specifications and standards. High standards are required for the smooth functioning of high-tech equipment. With proper cooling, generators, safety systems, and many other factors, downtime due to equipment failure is minimized.

2. Data storage. In case of accidents and failures, your data is regularly backed up, copies are stored in a protected space. Even if an emergency occurs and the data center itself suffers, important information will not disappear.

3. Safety. Data centers are protected from external intrusions, unauthorized access, fires, floods.

4. Money Saving. Maintaining your own server room and IT staff is more expensive than using the facilities of borrowed capacities.

5. Fast customization. Data center managers can adjust settings and increase or decrease the capacities of the whole system in several clicks.

Which Model of Server Racks is Better for Data Centers?

They distinguish between a free-standing server cabinet and a wall-mounted model. Floor standing options are more practical for server premises. If you buy a floor server cabinet, you’ll enjoy the following benefits.

• Floor racks are spacious. All active hardware and electronics can be placed in a good box without any problems.

• Energy-efficiency. Since they allow accommodating various types of hardware and allocate it according to the best possible position taking into account temperature, capacity, and other parameters.

• Cabinet security. A huge range of models with different levels of protection are offered on the market nowadays.

• Additional air conditioning. It can be provided inside to ensure an optimal climate in the room.

• Large permissible weight. Wall-mounted models won’t accommodate equipment weighing up to 800 kg.

• Possibility to equip the server cabinet with protective or auxiliary systems. The following systems can be distinguished as additional equipment for the server cabinet (additional ventilation systems for cooling servers; access control systems; fire extinguishing system).

Applying a spacious and multi-layer cabinet for your server room is advantageous since it ensures the required device productivity and helps create the necessary conditions for its operation.

Remember, there are not just 5 ways of how to improve data center efficiency. Keeping the environmental issue as the top priority is one of the main aspects of optimization. Always take a proactive approach to data center design and development. Installing redundant hardware is also important in maintaining optimal performance in your data center environment. When optimizing the system, you are implementing a more reliable platform that will help you save money and improve the overall performance of your business.