Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 09 | Page 79

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 www.intelligentcio.com 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. INTELLIGENTCIO 81