Reduce Data Center Energy Loss By Upgrading Power Distribution Units (PDUs)
The electrical distribution system that data centers use to distribute power to the electronic devices around a facility accounts for about 10 to 12 percent of total energy usage. As core units in the data center’s electrical distribution system, power distribution units (PDUs) account for most of that energy usage. Since PDUs represent a significant portion of a data center’s total electricity usage, they should be optimized for energy efficiency. Replacing outdated PDUs with more efficient PDUs could significantly lower power bills. Additionally, widespread energy efficiency has beneficial impacts on the environment. How do you achieve increased data center PDU energy efficiency without having to redesign much of your infrastructure? […]
Edge Computing Trends for Data Centers
For many companies, it’s common wisdom to run IT operations through a colocation data center and allow that facility to handle all of the complex, expensive, and critical operations that keep services up and running rather than to shoulder the burden and expense of operating on-site data centers. Often, data centers are located in proximity to large, populous areas so they can handle computing and data storage needs for customers in those regions or across the whole country. They’re placed near populated areas (i.e., where demand is highest) because speeds increase and costs decrease the closer a data center is to the end user. Having data centers in big cities […]
How To Choose The Right Server Rack For Your Data Center
One of the most important aspects of operating a data center is determining how to store servers, power supplies, switches, routers, and other equipment in a way that allows for easy access and consistent cooling. Every data center is arranged differently, which means there are many different types of IT equipment racks designed to hold all of this equipment efficiently. Choosing the right rack for your data center, therefore, may be difficult if you don’t know how to narrow down exactly what you need. This guide should help you select the most sensible, practical, and efficient options for your use case. As you review each of the following sections, strike […]
Widespread Droughts Threaten Data Center Water Usage
When people consider the biggest expense in running a data center, they usually think about the soaring demand for electricity in order to run and cool all those power-thirsty servers and switches. The data center industry continues to grow—and thereby uses more power each year—because of increasing user demand for high-speed computing and endless storage capability. Many people, though, don’t realize how much water data centers may use if they are using evaporative cooling (also known as swamp cooling) or liquid cooling instead of air conditioning (which uses refrigerant) to keep equipment from overheating. Data centers have begun to adopt evaporative and liquid cooling for two reasons. The most obvious […]
5 Steps to Make Your Data Center More Sustainable
Is it possible to operate a green data center? Determining how to achieve such a lofty goal presents challenges to even the most ecologically minded data center directors. Data centers churn through massive amounts of energy to support the millions of users who rely on them. In 2020, data centers accounted for one percent of all electricity usage in the world. Since then, it has climbed to between two and three percent. Future projections show that data centers, operating as they are now, will be responsible for eight percent of global energy usage by 2030. Cutting corners to reduce data center energy consumption could spell disaster for users and businesses […]
How to Choose the Right Power Distribution Unit (PDU) for Your Server Rack
There are so many different configurations and features that affect the server rack power distribution unit (PDU) that it can be difficult to know what your best options are. This brief guide explains the considerations to keep in mind as you shop for an IT equipment rack power solution. Mounting Position One of the best and worst things about designing your setup is that server rack equipment can be configured in a number of ways. If you have enough experience, the variety of options increases your customizability. But if you’ve rarely or never rearranged your server rack equipment, you might end up frustrated and confused. There are two primary ways […]
Data Foundry: Colocation Data Center Provider In Austin And Houston, TX
As a premier, high-tech data center in Houston and Austin, Texas, Data Foundry is a great choice for businesses looking for a colocation data center provider. Data Foundry understands that uptime is as important to their clients as the promise of powerful and scalable solutions, so that’s where they have chosen to specialize. Many colocation data centers outsource maintenance and upkeep tasks to third-party electricians, cable and equipment technicians, and engineers, but Data Foundry has their own in-house team, which includes: Facility technicians Master electricians Journeyman electricians Network engineers NOC technicians Security managers and administrators Infrastructure specialists When the unexpected happens, experts are already in the building and ready to […]
Colocation Facility Provider: DC BLOX
Just five minutes from downtown Birmingham lies the DC BLOX colocation data center provider. Notably, DC BLOX was Alabama’s first multi-tenant data center to receive Tier III certification from the Uptime Institute. This certification guarantees that the data center is capable of handling the demands of large-scale businesses, and that it can remain operational even during maintenance tasks that would require downtime at a lower-tiered data center. The facility’s top-of-the-line security, including controlled access rooms and constant CCTV monitoring, means that every tenant can feel safe knowing their sensitive data is in good hands. High-power density options and redundant cooling for each cabinet system ensures that critical, demanding operations can […]
How To Take A Windows Server Offline For Repair
There are two primary ways to take a server offline for repair, as outlined in this Microsoft article. You can use either Windows Admin Center or Windows PowerShell. Both involve nearly the same steps to pause the server’s actions and temporarily move data to other machines so that service isn’t interrupted while the server is down for repairs. We’ll go through those steps here. Windows Admin Center Windows Admin Center is the easiest way to power down for a data center server repair. 1. Select the server using the Windows Admin Center interface. Go to Tools > Storage > Disks and make sure the Status reads Online. 2. Check Storage […]
Data Center Power Needs Will Continue to Increase
Data centers have been facing a conundrum for the past several years. On one hand, they must supply services to a rapidly increasing number of consumers, while the technology those consumers use becomes exponentially more complex and demanding. But on the other hand, because data centers are responsible for using such a massive amount of power, they’ve been tasked with reducing their energy usage to minimize the demand on power distribution centers. Given the choice between lowering computing capacity or trying to go for energy efficiency, data centers obviously prefer the latter. But this plan comes with several challenges. It’s a problem that has not yet been solved, and, according […]
