Tackling operational challenges in modern data centers
Rapid advancements in technology, customer demands, and product availability can present major challenges for data center operators who want to keep their facilities competitive, efficient, and profitable. Navigating these current and emerging challenges can be the critical factor in distinguishing your data center’s reliability and caliber of service from the competition.
1. Supply chain issues
Supply chain bottlenecks continue to plague data centers, as shortages of critical components and materials lead to delays in shipping, sliding project timelines, and increased costs for customers. Many data center operators have become unable to meet their need for affected equipment such as generators, UPS batteries, transformers, servers, building materials, and other big-ticket items. This gap in availability is leading many to settle for any readily available items, even if not from their preferred vendor.
Data center operators are addressing this challenge by diversifying their portfolios to reduce reliance on single sources or regions. This diversification often involves looking past traditional solutions to consider alternatives. Adopting alternative approaches that use readily available materials can speed up the supply chain.
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Read PostLonger contracts to purchase capacity for future delivery also help reduce supply chain delays. And of course, building strong relationships with suppliers and vendors can help ensure access to necessary components and materials.
2. Reliable electricity access
The continuous heavy power consumption of data centers can strain local electrical utility systems with limited supply or transmission capacity. This poses a question of whether areas heavily populated with data centers, like Northern Virginia, Columbus, and Pittsburgh, have enough electricity capacity, and if they should only be permitted to use a certain percentage of grid power. This shortage creates setbacks in approving the construction of new facilities.
These utilities are growing hesitant to permit data centers due to the risk to grid reliability, especially with the high costs associated with outages. According to Uptime Institute, 80 percent of surveyed data center managers and operators said their organizations have experienced outages in the past three years, with power disruptions accounting for 43 percent of all outages. However, it is important to note that the nature of power outages is changing. While the number of outage rates is falling, the outages that do occur are more costly. Appropriate backup power strategies are necessary to reduce downtime and associated costs.
Energy-efficient equipment is an effective way to reduce overall demand on the grid. With utilities limiting the number of data centers and other large facilities they permit in a given area, offering an energy-efficient facility can make it more likely to have a project preferred over others. There are multiple ways to reduce data center energy use, which can not only help reduce costs, but also showcase to utilities that your facility will be responsible with the precious power that is being supplied to it.
3. Sustainability
Like the rest of the world, data centers are now facing a climate crisis as temperatures and weather events soar. Data centers are also seeking ways to increase their power load and serve higher client demand, without significantly increasing their electricity and emissions burdens. Solutions that help decouple power load and emissions will help data operators prepare for increased emissions regulations and clients’ growing awareness of the need for sustainable data center operations.
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Read PostSustainable equipment solutions can reduce Scope 3 emissions and attract clients by helping them adhere to reporting requirements. Other ways to increase a data center’s sustainability include incorporating clean energy into its power supply, reusing waste heat, and cooling options that use less water; the green Wyoming Hyperscale data center uses several of these options.
4. Increased data demands
The rapid adoption of AI, machine learning, IoT devices, and cloud computing results in customer demand that drives rack power densities. In the US alone, McKinsey’s analysis shows that demand is expected to increase from 17 GW in 2022 to 35 GW by 2030. This will require more equipment, mainly servers, to increase data center capacity. But the larger the data center’s footprint, the more expensive it is to manage and maintain. This is especially true for the rising number of data centers constructed in urban areas, with higher real estate prices and related taxes.
The more power one can fit into a smaller real estate footprint, the less expensive real estate costs are relative to the revenue generated. For instance, modular data centerscan reduce the footprint and cost of containerized electrical rooms by using smaller, more power-dense equipment.
Smaller equipment footprints, especially for infrastructure, make more room for servers and for profits. The key is to do more with less space, and maximizing physical space leads to more efficient operations.
5. Labor shortages
As the data industry expands, meeting the demand for a large, skilled workforce has been difficult. We’ve seen personnel constraints for positions in operations, field technicians, maintenance, and even construction professionals. This shortage causes construction delays, increased labor costs, and unreliable project timelines.
Data centers can help fill this labor gap by investing in training programs, partnering with educational institutions, building awareness of industry career opportunities, and providing datacenter-specific curricula to local colleges and universities.
In conclusion, while it may initially seem daunting for data center operators to overcome these challenges, many of the proposed solutions can be addressed simultaneously. For instance, smaller and more efficient equipment can improve sustainability and help meet increased data demand by freeing up floor space for more servers, while also reducing electricity needs. Such holistic approaches equip data centers to tackle these issues collectively, empowering them to seamlessly transition into the next era of digital infrastructure.
Previously published with Data Center Dynamics
