For years, the approach to data centres tended to be design- and technology-centric; what’s the best design based on the need, and what are the best pieces of available technology?
According to Schneider Electric, that traditional approach tended to fail, however, as sites ran smack into rapidly evolving information technology (IT) trends like virtualisation, blade servers, cloud computing, and rising energy costs. These forces had a way of turning even seemingly well-designed data centres into inefficient or inflexible assets.
As a result, interest is growing in the lifecycle approach to data centres. As the name implies, it involves designs, which address long-term concerns, and a strong focus on continuous improvement.
This lifecycle concept sounds all well and good, but you might ask, how can an organisation excel at it? How can you actually become a data centre lifecycle leader?
As a leading data centre lifecycle services provider, Schneider Electric boasts a global team of over 7,000 trained specialists covering every phase and system within this space. Its team servicing the Southern African market is based at the company’s head office in Midrand and services projects big or small, new or retrofit, from South Africa to Angola to Mozambique and more.
The company’s data centre expertise is founded on a standardised, documented, and validated methodology, which leverages automation tools and repeatable processes developed over 45 years; and offers customers a complete portfolio of services to solve technical or business challenges that simplify an operation and reduce costs.
“While many factors are involved in the lifecycle approach, two key principles go a long way toward executing the concept. First, when data centres are designed and built, more attention needs to be paid to how the data centre will be operated in the future, and how it might need to change. Second, to make the data centre as efficient and reliable as possible over its lifecycle, it’s crucial to establish a foundation for continuous improvement, making use of an audit and upgrade strategy,” says data centre lifecycle guru Keith Murray, vice president responsible for Schneider Electric’s IT Business in Singapore and Brunei.
He explains that the first principle really comes back to how do you “design-in” the ability change.
“Until recently, not much thought has been given to the concept of designing data centre for change. The data centre was designed and built to handle a projected workload, but not much thought was given to upgrades down the road. But there are ways of making change easier.
“For example, you can design-in certain levels of redundancy in the power infrastructure, so when it comes time to do an upgrade, there is little downtime.”
Power and cooling infrastructure also has become more modular in recent years comments Murray, as row-based cooling or hybrid cooling, for example, tend to be more easily scalable to changing load profiles.
“When choosing something such as cooling infrastructure, data centre managers should not only consider what the ‘first cost’ should be, but also other factors that play into lifecycle costs such as the agility of manageability of the system,” he adds.
It’s not only cooling that has become more modular, but also other key components of data centre physical infrastructure (DCPI). Another trend in data centre modularity is DCPI “facility modules” that have the key infrastructure prebuilt into a cube-like configuration, allowing for “Lego-block” approach to adding capacity.
“However, designing for change isn’t as simple as opting for modular products,” warns Murray. “You also have to create models for how a data centre might change, and it’s important to start this analysis at the design stage. This typically involves the use of data centre infrastructure management (DCIM) tools.”
He explains that by leveraging these analytical tools early on, the organisation has a baseline to make decisions about what kinds of modular equipment are needed, how much redundancy to build in and where, and how the data centre can be reconfigured. These tools also are vital for the second principle of lifecycle leadership: establishing a foundation for continuous improvement.
“To sum up, the lifecycle approach spans many factors, but the principles are simple. One of the most important of these: right from the start, design for change,” concludes Murray.
For more information about Schneider Electric’s lifecycle services, please contact Bruce Grobler, IT Business director at Schneider Electric South Africa at [email protected]
