EDITOR’S QUESTION
Ehab Kanary
Head of Enterprise, MEA,
Commscope
The data centre, as we have come to know it,
has changed. With bandwidth needs driven
by trends such as wearable technology and
big data, we see a shift in how organisations
are viewing, building and planning their data
centres. We see many organizations migrate
new data centres to leased co-location facilities.
When organisations choose to build their own
data centre, the facilities need to be more
efficient and achieve higher density.
In our recently published paper, “The
Connected and Efficient Data Center,” we take a
look at how data centre owners and managers
need to think differently, more holistically,
about what constitutes efficiency.
For example, if the focus is on power and cooling,
which typically represents 25% - 40% of a data
centre’s monthly OpEx, then 60% - 70% of
costs are somewhere else in the business.
The costs for cooling and power may be high
because of the estimated 15% of servers that
either unused or underutilised. Or the fact that
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asset management isn’t seen as part of an
efficient data centre, so there are “ghost” servers
that are not being used yet are still drawing power
and incurring software license fees.
Modern tools such as data centre infrastructure
management (DCIM) and automated
infrastructure management (AIM) are available
making it easier to manage the growing
complexities of the data centre. From power
and cooling to network connectivity to capacity
management, data centre professionals now
have greater visibility and insight into how their
data centres are performing - providing a more
holistic view of their data centre.
Power is the largest operating expense for a
data centre, and many data centre managers
are making the decision to move from AC to
DC power or vice versa. But a smooth transition
requires careful planning and management.
DCIM solutions can help ensure a smooth
transition by identifying what is powered, how
much power each device uses, and which
devices are connected to which circuit.
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