The energy, space and technology problems currently facing data centre managers are set to worsen in 2010, according to Gartner, Inc. These issues will continue to plague users in 2010, and data centre and IT managers need to find pragmatic ways in which to deal with them.
"Energy costs are the fastestrising cost element in the datacentre portfolio, and yet datacentre managers are still not paying sufficient attention to the process of measuring, monitoring and modelling energy use in data centres," said Rakesh Kumar, research vice president at Gartner. "They need to realise that removing a single x86 server from a data centre will result in savings of more than $400 a year in energy costs alone."
Gartner has identified the critical questions that managers need to focus on in order to overcome the challenges they face:
Is there a standardised way to break down my data centre costs?
There is no single, standardised method to account for data centre costs. Gartner advises users to define a chart of accounts that specifies all the cost elements that constitute the overall cost and the key portfolios or categories that are part of that cost.
Do you have any pragmatic tips for helping me to cut my data centre costs?
Gartner has several suggestions:
- Rationalise the Hardware. This involves taking out those systems that are underutilised or old, or where the workload can be run on moreefficient hardware. Gartner clients have reported that rationalisation and consolidation programmes have resulted in 5 per cent to 20 per cent fewer servers being deployed.
- Consolidate Data-Centre Sites. Consolidating multiple sites into a smaller number of larger sites will often result in financial savings.
- Manage Energy and Facilities Costs. Tools and techniques for managing the energy cost curve include: raising the temperature of the data centre to around 24 degrees Celsius, which reduces the level of cooling required; using outside air as an alternative to air conditioning where possible; using hot aisle/cold aisle configurations, blanking and economisers; and using serverbased energy management software tools to run workloads in the most energyefficient way.
- Manage the People Costs. People costs still form the single largest cost element for most data centres, sometimes as much as 40 per cent of overall costs.
- Sweat the Assets. Delaying the procurement of new assets is a necessary step for all datacentre managers, especially as a server's useful life often exceeds its amortised life.
Should I start measuring the energy efficiency of my data centre?
Energy management can be effective only through advanced monitoring, modelling and measuring techniques and processes. Metrics form the bedrock for internal cost and efficiency programmes and Gartner urges datacentre managers and IT organisations to make this area a high priority, which will be essential for the adoption of so many new technologies and adherence to government policies.
What are the pitfalls of refurbishing my data centre?
- Location of Current Data Center. Many businesses have data centres that have been acquired over many years through business growth and not all are ideally located - for example, some are in cities where labour costs are high. Companies need to evaluate the location of the data centre in terms of labour rates, cost of energy and facilities and weight against security risks
- Life Span of Refurbished Data Centre. The essential consideration is whether or not the site is large enough to accommodate growth, given the investments required to refurbish and the longterm scenarios that the organisation has for data centre servicing provision. The refurbished site must provide at least five years of capacity (physical, electrical and networking) to make the project worthwhile.
- Structural Work Needed. New facility components are expensive, but the real problem is in integrating new products in an existing building and with existing components. Companies should focus on the technical problems of integrating new facility components into an existing building, as well as evaluating whether it's possible to keep the data centre in action while renovations are carried out.
Additional information is also available in the Gartner report "Q&A: Critical Issues Facing Data Center Managers." The report is available on Gartner's website at http://www.gartner.com/....
"Energy costs are the fastestrising cost element in the datacentre portfolio, and yet datacentre managers are still not paying sufficient attention to the process of measuring, monitoring and modelling energy use in data centres," said Rakesh Kumar, research vice president at Gartner. "They need to realise that removing a single x86 server from a data centre will result in savings of more than $400 a year in energy costs alone."
Gartner has identified the critical questions that managers need to focus on in order to overcome the challenges they face:
Is there a standardised way to break down my data centre costs?
There is no single, standardised method to account for data centre costs. Gartner advises users to define a chart of accounts that specifies all the cost elements that constitute the overall cost and the key portfolios or categories that are part of that cost.
Do you have any pragmatic tips for helping me to cut my data centre costs?
Gartner has several suggestions:
- Rationalise the Hardware. This involves taking out those systems that are underutilised or old, or where the workload can be run on moreefficient hardware. Gartner clients have reported that rationalisation and consolidation programmes have resulted in 5 per cent to 20 per cent fewer servers being deployed.
- Consolidate Data-Centre Sites. Consolidating multiple sites into a smaller number of larger sites will often result in financial savings.
- Manage Energy and Facilities Costs. Tools and techniques for managing the energy cost curve include: raising the temperature of the data centre to around 24 degrees Celsius, which reduces the level of cooling required; using outside air as an alternative to air conditioning where possible; using hot aisle/cold aisle configurations, blanking and economisers; and using serverbased energy management software tools to run workloads in the most energyefficient way.
- Manage the People Costs. People costs still form the single largest cost element for most data centres, sometimes as much as 40 per cent of overall costs.
- Sweat the Assets. Delaying the procurement of new assets is a necessary step for all datacentre managers, especially as a server's useful life often exceeds its amortised life.
Should I start measuring the energy efficiency of my data centre?
Energy management can be effective only through advanced monitoring, modelling and measuring techniques and processes. Metrics form the bedrock for internal cost and efficiency programmes and Gartner urges datacentre managers and IT organisations to make this area a high priority, which will be essential for the adoption of so many new technologies and adherence to government policies.
What are the pitfalls of refurbishing my data centre?
- Location of Current Data Center. Many businesses have data centres that have been acquired over many years through business growth and not all are ideally located - for example, some are in cities where labour costs are high. Companies need to evaluate the location of the data centre in terms of labour rates, cost of energy and facilities and weight against security risks
- Life Span of Refurbished Data Centre. The essential consideration is whether or not the site is large enough to accommodate growth, given the investments required to refurbish and the longterm scenarios that the organisation has for data centre servicing provision. The refurbished site must provide at least five years of capacity (physical, electrical and networking) to make the project worthwhile.
- Structural Work Needed. New facility components are expensive, but the real problem is in integrating new products in an existing building and with existing components. Companies should focus on the technical problems of integrating new facility components into an existing building, as well as evaluating whether it's possible to keep the data centre in action while renovations are carried out.
Additional information is also available in the Gartner report "Q&A: Critical Issues Facing Data Center Managers." The report is available on Gartner's website at http://www.gartner.com/....
