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Today’s data centre managers face the challenge of utilising advanced processing technology to increase efficiency and reduce costs, whilst achieving high levels of availability, all of this in a dynamic, fluctuating demand environment that requires comprehensive infrastructure management. Or, put more directly, the challenge of maximising operating efficiency without compromising performance.
That sounds far more manageable, but whilst capturing the essence of the challenge, it obscures the breadth and complexity of the range of technological and physical elements that need to be integrated in order to achieve the objective.
High efficiency processing, system continuity, variable power demand, infrastructure management – these key factors each has its own individual technological and functional aspects. But these do not exist separately in isolation, which may have applied in the past. Energy efficiency targets, space considerations and plain common sense now require the modern data centre to be viewed as a physical single entity of fully integrated solutions.
High density
By using blade server technology, with virtualisation technology as an additional or alternative option, the number of servers in the data centre infrastructure can be reduced. Depending on the technology chosen, this frees up floor space, reduces cabling complexity, improves the utilisation of server capacity and, most importantly, increases energy efficiency.
Treated in isolation, these gains would make the deployment of these technologies compellingly attractive. However, the greater the density and use of processors, the greater the heat dissipation into the data centre environment. Standard data centre cooling arrangements will almost certainly struggle to cope with the extra heat that would be generated and the cost implications of operating additional whole room cooling may be prohibitive.
Cooling off
However, the application of precision cooling technology, capable of dealing not only with today’s rack densities of 15-20kW but also the 30-40kW or higher that may well apply in the future, would allow the deployment of high density and virtualisation technologies.
Sophisticated components maximise precision cooling power efficiency, enabling energy demand to be strictly controlled. Innovative digital scroll compressor technology provides precise thermal management, without involving powering off and on, allowing continuous modification of the compression cycle thus enabling capacity and load to be matched at all times.
This important matching of the airflow requirement of servers can also be achieved by deploying electronically commutated fans, which have infinitely variable speed control, allowing the fan speed to be adapted to produce only the air volume necessary to meet the cooling requirement at any particular time.
The energy savings achieved are not insignificant, the key factor being that precision cooling is designed and controlled as part of a system.
Utilising Aisle Containment solutions in a hot aisle/ cold aisle data centre infrastructure, physically enclosing the cold aisle, prevents the possibility of any access by air from the hot aisle. This not only increases cooling efficiency, enabling the cooling system to cope with the needs of an IT infrastructure subject to continuous load variations, for example arising from server virtualization, but it also lowers the energy demand.
Staying power
Business continuity and system availability which are essential requirements for critical installations, will largely depend on the reliability and quality of the data centre electrical power supply. This dependency is satisfied by the application of the proper UPS technology.
Online double conversion technology effectively protects sensitive electronics from the disturbances statistically present in the incoming power source. A fully reconditioned, flawless power supply is delivered to the load, with a seamless transition to backup power sources, for example batteries, when the upstream mains fail.
The autonomy time of the alternative power backup will depend on the nature and purpose of the systems being protected, as well as the type of standby secondary power source, diesel generators for example. Backup can continue until normal power is restored or until secondary power sources are available, whilst controlled shut down may be preferred in the case of a non-critical application.
The UPS whilst it is actively reconditioning the incoming energy supply will itself be subject to energy efficiency standards. Double conversion transformer-free UPS technology and multi-mode double conversion UPS help reduce operating expenses in data centres. Scalable UPS with hot-swap functionality enable modules to be added or removed from the network without interrupting operations, a significant consideration when maintenance, replacement or reconfiguration is necessary.
The inside track
The evolution of the data centre infrastructure has been shaped by many influences, not least by variations in the power demand depending on the time of day or the day of the week.
The role of digital scroll compressors and electronically commutated fans in modulating cooling capacity has already been shown to be a cause of variable, but energy saving, demand. Other fluctuating operational demands affecting any of the electrical equipment in the network will not necessarily be as consistently friendly, as they are just as likely to be demands for extra power, which increases costs and could even cause an overload.
Consequently, data centre managers will need to be constantly aware of the actual energy consumption of every item of equipment to enable corrective action to be taken. Modern PDUs (Power Distribution Units) with snap-in modules can accurately monitor the energy consumption of each connected device, providing real-time information enabling power distribution management.
The information provided and the adaptability of these units allows managers to quickly and flexibly reconfigure power supply distribution to loads inside the racks, without impacting on their performance or availability. These units can greatly aid operational efficiency and play an important role in enabling the delivery of total control of the data centre infrastructure.
The head monitor
Infrastructure monitoring is the determining factor in facilitating integrated data centre management. An optimum solution would enable data centres to be monitored and managed as a single entity, integrating information in a service-centric view, providing a unified platform, with web based applications ensuring full device and system surveillance.
This facility would be able to collect all available data from energy using equipment in the data centre infrastructure, providing analysis and evaluation, both locally and remotely. One solution available on the market features real-time monitoring of data centre network equipment, over-current protection, sequential start-up and shutdown, environmental conditions monitoring, flexible management options and unification with the rest of the enterprise IT infrastructure.
The information provided and the procedures applied or made possible enable data centre energy efficiency to be managed as a fully integrated entity. Infrastructure management would not be complete if it is not supported by meaningful and practical backup, which is best provided by continuous, comprehensive service, on call and available every hour of every day.
Making the team
The complex challenge faced by data centre managers, then, is not insurmountable. Solutions are available that enable energy efficient technological advances to be implemented, high levels of availability achieved, fluctuating power demands integrated and comprehensive infrastructure management applied.
Power use and energy efficiency are perhaps the most important considerations, as worldwide environmental concerns are inexorably bearing down on the wasteful or careless use of the planet’s resources. Running parallel to this objective is the effect on businesses of the present economic situation. Whatever the principle driving the requirement for increased business energy efficiency, Emerson Network Power is able to provide the data centre manager with the solutions to achieve maximum operating efficiency without compromising performance.
