Many data centre sites face considerable operational challenges , which means they are not always ready for full automation . Dean Boyle , CEO , EkkoSense , explains an approach that will ensure automation can be beneficial for data centre teams .
ith data centres continuing to experience unprecedented
W service demand , it ’ s hardly surprising that many organisations are thinking hard about the role that automation tools should play in simplifying their data centre management . However , before rushing down the automation route , it ’ s important for data centre teams to consider whether their operations are ready for such an approach .
Today ’ s reality is that many sites continue to face considerable operational challenges , still requiring significant optimisation before they can be confident that their processes are suitable for full automation . Thermal-related issues , for example , account for a third of unplanned outages – and we estimate that some 15 % of data centre racks remain outside of ASHRAE guidelines for inlet temperatures . And , despite a massive over-provision of cooling across the industry , average cooling utilisation only sits at 38 %.
This excessive cooling remains a huge consumer of energy – representing around 35 % of a data centre ’ s overall energy consumption and proving a barrier to carbon reduction initiatives .
So , for many data centres , there is a lot of work that remains to be done in terms of thermal optimisation before automation initiatives can really be put in place . Unfortunately , while there are many traditional software toolsets – each with solid use cases – that can help support operational management data centre environments , they tend to be narrowly focused on specific requirements .
This also means that they aren ’ t typically used to tackle and support real time thermal optimisation .
Building Management Systems ( BMS ), for example , are a key platform designed to alert on hard faults or SLA breaches , but with no data analytics , those alerts are often too late and very reactive . Electrical Power Management Systems take a similar approach but are focused on power distribution monitoring , while Computational Fluid Dynamics ( CFD ) systems can provide analytics but are primarily focused on new build or major design changes , so have very little capability for real time optimisation . And while DCIM and Asset Management systems are definitely capable – at a cost – of showing more granular datasets , they ’ re predominantly IT-focused and are rarely driven by the M & E team .
I believe that data centre teams need a toolset that can blend the strengths of these different platforms so that they can directly address the very real requirement for real time thermal optimisation . Removing thermal risk is , of course , a fundamental requirement for any data centre operation . Unfortunately , many critical facilities teams still seem unaware of just how quickly thermal risks can place their data centre operations in danger . Cooling plant failure can easily escalate into a thermal runaway situation , transforming a room that ’ s operating normally into a site that ’ s got real problems !
Automating data centre operations – a step too far ?
62 Issue 21 www . intelligentdatacentres . com