Entering the data digitalization era has led to a rise in the use of data centers. In the data center upgrade, this matter has to be taken into consideration.
Data centers have proven to claim the role as a crucial facility in this era. However, the construction of data centers requires a substantial amount of energy capacity support.
The quantity of energy consumption of a data center could reach as high as 20% of the company’s total energy requirement.
Relation Between Global Warming and Data Center Upgrades
What is the connection between global warming and data center technology upgrade? In this day and age, people all around the globe are becoming more and more aware that the best way to preserve the Earth’s comfort is through Earth preservation actions.
One of the actions is through electricity usage savings, which is proven to cause atmospheric heating. This matter is apparently one of the main contributors to global warming.
Data centers are man-made facilities that drain huge amounts of electrical power in order to sustain their performance. The growth of data centers is also very rapid, and the larger a data center is, the more power it requires.
The demand for power has increased by over 50% in the past 20 years and data centers are responsible for as much as 2% of all global CO2 emissions. This is an alarming fact when you consider that there are around 100 million servers in operation worldwide.
The extensive use of electricity also implies extensive use of earth energy resources. Surely, we all understand that it all comes from fossil fuel such as oil or coal.
According to a recent article published in Forbes, the Internet of Things (IoT) will increase power consumption by 30% by 2020 and this surge will have a huge impact on carbon emissions.
As a result, the development of environmentally friendly data center systems is in high demand. Namely, data center systems that monitors their carbon consumption thoroughly, in order to promote the reduction of global warming effects.
Data Center Upgrades In Order With Global Warming
Global warming is happening and it’s time to make some changes. The data center is one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions, so it should be one of the first places you look for ways to reduce your footprint.
Market research firm IDC expects the world’s data center capacity to increase by more than 50% over the next five years.
Here are some tips on how to keep your data center running efficiently while reducing your carbon emissions:
1. Faster servers
In the past decade, server speeds have increased significantly. The top-end servers now boast a terabyte of memory and can process data at lightning speed. This means that companies can store more information and process it faster than ever before.
2. Better cooling systems
Cooling is one of the most important aspects of data center design today because servers generate a lot of heat when they’re in use. Without proper ventilation, this heat can build up quickly and cause damage to hardware or even melt plastic components like cables and wires inside the computer case itself!
For this reason, many data centers now have their own cooling systems. This data center cooling systems circulate fresh air through the racks, so that all their equipment stays cool enough to operate properly without overheating or burning out prematurely.
Liquid cooling systems have been replacing traditional air conditioning systems due to their efficiency and reduced energy costs during operation. Liquid cooling systems also allow for more efficient airflow throughout a rack resulting in less wasted space between each component.
3. Using clean energy and more efficient power supplies
One of the biggest trends in the industry is the growing need for power efficiency. The average data center consumes about 66 kilowatts per square foot each year, according to a recent survey by Data Center Dynamics.
The Uptime Institute, which helps companies run their data centers more efficiently, has released its annual Data Center Survey, which tracks the trends in the industry. The survey found that 48 percent of respondents now have a goal of using renewable energy in their data center operations, up from 44 percent last year.
Clean energy can help companies meet sustainability goals and reduce costs, but it’s important to choose the right source for your needs.
There are many benefits to using natural gas as a primary energy source for data centers. First, it is cost effective. Natural gas is typically priced around $2 per million BTUs. Natural gas sources include pipelines from existing infrastructure and drilled wells that can be capped if the demand for fuel drops off in the future.
While most data centers have backup generators for blackouts or grid failures, these generators could be expensive and inefficient if they needed to run for long periods of time . Using natural gas as an alternative to coal-fired power plants reduces the dependence on diesel generators , which are more efficient.
4. Better data center management software
A proper virtualization management system for data centers can increase efficiency and uptime, reduce costs, and decrease stress levels. And these are some of the reasons why so many companies are turning to virtualizing their software management.
The benefits of virtualized software management have to do with saving time, energy, and space, while decreasing the likelihood of failure or system-wide crash. By utilizing a virtualized management system, you’ll benefit from:
- Time savings: Virtualization allows you to gain access to many systems at once without having to physically visit each one
- Energy savings: Virtualization will help you save money on your energy bill by reducing the number of servers needed in a data center. You’ll also be able to save money on cooling by moving servers into an environmentally controlled area.
- Space savings: Because your physical space is limited in a data center, you want to be able to fill as much of it with equipment and devices as possible. Virtualization allows for more efficient use of space by moving less-used files and applications onto a server that’s not being used.
- Improved uptime: With virtualization, easy recovery is possible should something happen with one particular server. The other servers in the system can carry its workload until it’s fixed.
5. More efficient rack design
Data center rack design is a key factor in reducing energy consumption. Designers can increase energy efficiency by increasing airflow through the racks, increasing power per rack, and decreasing cooling system operation time.
Data center designers have made significant improvements in rack designs over the past decade. The most efficient racks use increased airflow to move more air through each rack and allow for more power per rack. They also use more efficient power distribution units (PDUs) and improved cable management systems.
Racks with high-density power supplies are becoming increasingly common as they allow for increased efficiency with less space needed per server.
In addition, advances in server hardware have allowed for denser servers with higher power requirements to fit into a single server chassis or blade chassis within a rack system. These advances have made it possible to use fewer racks to support a large number of servers in a data center environment.
So Then, What are The Criteria for a Good Data Center
The following is a list of criteria to consider when performing data center technology upgrades in order to avoid selecting the wrong data center.
1. Location
A data center must meet three location criteria, which are as follows:
- A good data center must be located in an area that is free of natural disasters. This is a type of insurance to ensure that the infrastructure contained within it is well maintained.
- A data center must consider its level construction in addition to its safe location. A safe data center has to be located at a high floor, especially for its servers. It is a preventive action to combat water intervention. A secure data center must be located on a high floor, particularly for its servers. It is a preventive measure against water intervention.
- The data center must be located in an area that is accessible to multiple internet service providers. This is critical because if one of the providers experiences interference, other providers will be able to reach your data center and act as a substitute.
- Finally, the data center location must be easily accessible to water supplies, as this will affect the cooling system.
- Scalability for any need of flexibilities.
It is critical that you consider the scalability of your data center upgrade. This is significant because if your company grows, you won’t have to worry about increasing the server’s resources.
2. Data Processing Speed
As a result, you must choose a data center that uses multi-core processors to serve every arriving data request as quickly as possible.
3. Electrical Power Resources
A good data center has adequate electrical resources, as well as backup electrical supplies. These precautions are taken to avoid downtime if the data center loses power unexpectedly.
Choose data centers that already use clean energy as their main power source, such as gas, geothermal, hydrogen, etc. We all have to be committed to reducing carbon emissions so that in the future we can avoid damage to nature.
Conclusion
Data center technology upgrade is a necessity for enterprises and organizations to cut carbon footprint by replacing outdated technologies such as computers, networking devices, telecommunications and standby devices with environmentally-friendly ones.
Availability of clean natural gas as a fuel for electricity generation has led to a new trend in data center design: locating them near natural gas power plants. Data center upgrades must consider starting from the energy sources they will use.
As a leading provider of green data center, GreenexDC focus on the latest technology upgrade methodologies that not only minimize carbon footprint but also ensure – By installing geothermal cooling system rather than air conditioning units for operational data centers.