EDITOR’S QUESTION
power generation and are also maximising
their UPS investments by receiving
compensation for offering regulation
capacity and flexibility for the grid.
Additionally, if data centres recognise and
act on trends in the industry, they could
reap a wider range of benefits. This year
especially, there has been an extraordinary
upwards trajectory in the size and scale
of deployments, and edge IT is very much
part of the trend.
However, data centre and IT professionals
must be careful not to exaggerate the
complexity of tools needed to monitor and
manage edge deployments; it’s not the
size or location of the deployment that
matters, it’s the purpose it is serving.
Ultimately there is an absolute necessity
to have a greater understanding and
control of edge deployments and
achieving this is possible by centralising
their monitoring.
There’s value in visibility and control, and
as with all good design, the best control
strategies are simple. ◊
JANNE PAANANEN,
TECHNOLOGY
MANAGER,
EATON EMEA
rganisations
considering data centre
modernisation must
first and foremost
recognise the need to
reduce energy usage
and put energy efficiency front of mind.
It has been estimated that by 2025,
data centres could be using 20% of all
available electricity in the world due to the
increasingly large amounts of data being
created and collected. As a result, experts
believe that by 2040, the information and
communications technology industry will
be responsible for 14% of global emissions.
O
While some data centres are recognising
this shift in the industry and making
changes as a result, more can still be
done. Data centres have great potential
32
Issue 03
to act as a system for change in helping
the UK in its mission to become a low
carbon economy.
To best prepare for modernisation, it’s time
to see more data centres across the country
adopt a greener and smarter approach to
energy usage. Renewable energy and data
centres can go hand in hand.
One example of this in practice is using a
UPS-as-a-reserve to help the grid balance
demand-side frequencies, where data
centres immediately respond to grid-level
power demands to keep frequencies
within allowed boundaries to help the grid
operators avoid widescale power outages.
This would mean that data centres are
supporting the grid to use renewables for
ULTIMATELY
THERE IS AN
ABSOLUTE
NECESSITY TO
HAVE A GREATER
UNDERSTANDING
AND CONTROL
OF EDGE
DEPLOYMENTS
AND ACHIEVING
THIS IS POSSIBLE
BY CENTRALISING
THEIR
MONITORING.
www.intelligentdatacentres.com