EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
DAVID HALL , FELLOW OF TECHNOLOGY AND ARCHITECTURE , EQUINIX
igital Transformation
D across every industry sector is advancing at significant pace which is stimulating a dramatic increase in demand for digital infrastructure service providers and data centres . In addition , the pandemic has forced many companies to digitise their business models which has further intensified the need to build more and more data centres at strategic global locations .
To meet this increase in capacity demand and to be able to deliver Edge Computing , data centre designers are increasingly looking at modular construction solutions .
Equinix , along with other digital infrastructure companies , has found the ‘ composable , brick-based ’ method to be a game-changer to the industry , enabling a faster and more flexible approach to data centre design , planning and deployment .
Traditional data centre builds require an intensive period of planning and are expensive and time-consuming to construct . The ‘ brick-based ’ model , used by Equinix , is unique in the fact that it strips away the complexity by using just four highly standardised pre-built bricks that are assembled to support particular use cases or locations within the data centre construction .
The most common brick in the build is the base data hall brick which is used to form the physical hosting infrastructure as well as critical platforms , such as cooling , fire detection and suppression and power distribution . Towards the end of the build , length and width extension bricks deliver the final pieces of the puzzle as they can be deployed in multiples or individually to finetune the ‘ white space ’ structure .
This approach also presents an important opportunity in the wake of COP26 to reduce carbon emissions . Equinix has introduced a ‘ power ’ brick that enables its data centres to be powered by low or carbon free energy sources . They support a deep level of integration between the facility and the electrical grid which is supported by intermittent renewables .
The ‘ modular ’ solution is now being adopted across the industry as it radically improves construction efficiency , reduces hosting costs , increases deployment speeds and supports a business ’ sustainability targets . As the pre-built bricks are an ‘ off the shelf ’ solution , there are fewer wasted materials and better utilisation of storage , build space
THE ‘ MODULAR ’ SOLUTION IS NOW BEING ADOPTED ACROSS THE INDUSTRY .
and Power Usage Effectiveness ( PUE ). In addition , advances in innovative technology can be integrated into the modular design at far greater speeds , enabling a company to outpace and outinnovate its competitors .
The modular , brick-based approach is already making its mark but will grow in popularity over the next few years . In an accelerating market , the industry is keen to benefit from significantly reduced planning and deployment timeframes , while seeing huge increases in performance and energy efficiency . Equinix ’ s own first brick-based International Business Exchange ( IBX ) data centre , BX1 , located in Bordeaux , France , is in response to the metro ’ s expanding e-health industry . It has already proved its value and is now a model of excellence that is being adopted across the global business . www . intelligentdatacentres . com
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