OPINION
Five steps organisations can take right
By Dr Stu Redshaw, CTO,
EkkoSense
now to maximise their data centre
www.ekkosense.co.uk
performance in 2019...
There are multiple innovations that are ready to generate
real advantages for data centre operators over the coming
year – particularly given the fact that even the best run data
centres still have considerable cooling and thermal issues.
And with cooling now representing around 30% of a data
centre’s operating costs, it’s more important than ever for
IT teams to focus on monitoring, managing and maximising
their data centre performance as effectively as possible.
Much more accessible DCIM, tighter Edge integration,
fully-sensed data centre environments, ditching subjective
optimisation insights and greater input from other sectors
are all set to unlock significant bottom-line benefits over
the next 12 months. The five key data centre optimisation
trends for 2019 are:
1
Availability of DCIM for the rest of us
Effective data centre infrastructure management is a
key requirement, so why do most traditional DCIM suite
solutions seem to make it so hard? 2019 will see an
increased focus on more accessible approaches that are
simpler to use and that directly address the requirement
to have all the right cooling, power and space strategies in
place. So, if you’re uncomfortable with over-complex DCIM
or consultancy-led CFD approaches, you really don’t have to
go down the DCIM route when there are equally effective
SaaS-powered solutions available that can now give you
all the control you need to monitor, manage and maximise
your data centres.
2
Greater focus on edge integration
Maximising your data centre performance isn’t truly
achievable until you’ve successfully integrated all your
operations – including all your different ‘edge’ micro and
modular data centre activities. All too often, advanced
M&E capacity planning and simulation capabilities have
remained the preserve of the largest data centre halls and
facilities. There’s no excuse for this to remain the case in
2019, particularly as features such as SaaS access, wireless
sensing and mobile network access let you apply the same
optimisation standards to all your data centre operations.
3
Fully-sensed data centres become a reality
It’s only when data rooms are carefully mapped with all
the appropriate data fields that operations teams can
really start to gain a real-time understanding of their data
centre performance. To do this properly, we estimate that
more than 1,000 sensors are required for the typical data
centre, enabling the measurement of a range of previously
unknown factors including energy usage, heat outputs and
airflow, above and below floors. Until recently, this used to
be a problem due to the market cost of sensors. However,
the introduction of low-cost IoT-enabled wireless devices
has changed the cost dynamic, making new levels of
sensing achievable.
4
Beyond subjective optimisation judgements
While data centre subject matter experts are able to build
up a mental picture of the dynamic behaviour of any cooling
system over time, the critical nature of today’s data centre
operations means that cooling is just too important an
issue to leave to the subjective judgement of expensive
consultants. Now, however, having access to increasingly
granular rack-level data provides operators with exactly
the sort of data platform that’s needed for true software-
enabled real-time decision making and scenario planning.
5
Learning from other sectors
Some of the challenges we’re facing in the data centre and
other built environments can be better addressed if we’re
smart about using innovations from other sectors. 3D data
centre visualisation, immersive VR/AR engine and room
builder capabilities, and geospatial data can all be used to
populate advanced data centre models. n
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