Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/288390
THE DATA CENTER JOURNAL | 9 www.datacenterjournal.com I n the current environment of rapid change in business and IT technol- ogy, high demands have been placed on IT infrastructure. As a result, IT and data center managers aspire to higher performing data centers that oper- ate faster, smarter, easier and at lower cost. ey demand data centers that can pro- vide the scalability and flexibility to meet internal customer demands, adapt to rapid changes, operate at high efficiency and meet requirements for compliance and application protection. How IT depart- ments approach their physical infrastruc- ture strategies directly affect their ability to meet these needs. While conventional approaches to data center infrastructure design have focused primarily on availability and efficiency, data center managers are now taking more holistic approaches. ey are using intelligent infrastructure to implement critical power and thermal management systems, tying these systems to physical and virtual IT environments using data center infrastructure manage- ment systems. Some vendors have introduced new solutions that employ "integrated" infra- structure in a variety of configurations to address organizations' unique business needs including increasing efficiency, ensuring availability and reducing cost of deployment or ownership. ese inte- grated solutions are modular and scalable and designed for rapid deployment, oen to support environments without existing IT-ready infrastructure. TYPICAL DATA CENTER CHALLENGES According to a recent Gartner study, the leading challenges facing today's data centers include: • Keeping up with data growth • Maintaining system performance and scalability • Mitigating network congestion and con- nectivity issues • Minimizing power, cooling and space costs • Effectively managing the data center and its infrastructure Fortunately, data center managers can employ a variety of field-tested and proven best practices to generally meet many of these challenges at a reasonable cost. DATA CENTER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AND BEST PRACTICES IT and facilities teams are focusing on best practices across the data center lifecycle. ese best practices center on three key areas of the lifecycle and each provides an opportunity to achieve IT and facility objectives: • Data Center Design and Deployment is an opportunity for managers to simplify existing configurations and planned ca- pacity expansions to reduce deployment times, minimize equipment capital costs and increase IT and facilities resource utilization. • Data Center Operations is an oppor- tunity to reduce costs through energy efficiency, increased staff productivity and automated resource allocation and management. • Data Center Management and Planning is an opportunity to implement technol- ogies that provide instant visibility into which assets are on the floor, where they are located and how they are operat- ing. is lets managers speed response times, meet SLAs and reduce the time spent on break/fix maintenance. INTELLIGENT INTEGRATED INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS To deliver best practices in the context of different lifecycles and business pressures, data center managers are lever- aging intelligent integrated infrastructure solutions. Intelligent integrated infrastructure solutions are specifically designed to pro- vide advantages compared to a conven- tional physical or prefabricated infrastruc- ture because they are: • Efficient in power usage, space utiliza- tion and IT employee productivity • Economical in initial cost by making use of existing infrastructure and not requiring expensive room upgrades while also being compliant and scalable for future needs • Simplified through simplified design and implementation of systems and components • Controllable through planning, moni- toring and management of the chang- ing IT environment ese intelligent integrated solutions can be deployed in multiple configurations from pre-integrated cabinets, to small single row computer rooms to aisle-based and modular data centers, each preconfig- ured with power, thermal and infrastruc- ture management systems to deliver the requirements of each location. However, while it may be clear that integrated solutions offer a number of unique benefits, a significant question still remains: What is the true benefit of intel- ligent integrated solutions over conven- tional approaches to data center design with respect to a data center's operational and cost performance? Some intelligent integrated infra- structure solutions require an investment in additional equipment, resulting in a higher initial cost when compared to conventional approaches to data center design. Even in those cases where this occurs, the integrated approach oen leads to significant gains in efficiency, capacity and space utilization that positively impact the data center's total cost of ownership over time. To illustrate this point, we will examine a data center design scenario and compare the costs of utilizing a conven- tional approach with traditional data center infrastructure equipment versus utilizing an intelligent integrated solution from Emerson Network Power. SCENARIO 1: 18 KW OF IT DEPLOYED IN A NON-IT ROOM For our first scenario, we examine a small data center space requiring a capac- ity of 18 kW of IT equipment and a com- prehensive power and dedicated cooling infrastructure in a non-IT ready room. Choosing the Right Integrated Solution: For new IT spaces, remote locations and backup sites, high costs and slow deployment times can hinder projects. Integrated infrastructures can be easily deployed with minimal limitations by building systems, such as fire suppression and cooling. In this use case, an integrated row-based offering is ideal where IT room improvements are not practical. is type of solution also "forces" the adoption of best practices, since they are built into the design before they are deployed.