DATA CENTRE PREDICTIONS
by current data centre and telecom
network infrastructure.
3. 5G deployments will be in full
swing, with latency a fraction of 4G
and bandwidth a serious multiple
(10–100 times faster than 4G). It’s
going to be an exciting time for
consumers looking for faster speeds
and HD content. But also, it will be
an interesting time for organisations
looking to take the next step in
Digital Transformation.
This year, telecom energy leaders will
architect a new energy network strategy
for wide-spread 5G adoption. When 5G
is fully deployed, it’s going to have a
major impact on the energy fabric for
the operator and the country itself. But
balancing data and energy consumption
is not just an issue for the operator, it’s a
growing issue for the consumer. Today’s
consumers want a bigger digital footprint
but at the same time, want a smaller
carbon footprint. The ideal scenario is that
data centres and telecom operators use
their electrical infrastructure to help grid
operators procure more green energy.
Thankfully, such energy-aware technology
exists, we just need to see the will to
adopt it on a wide scale.
In the end, if we prioritise renewable
energy and decarbonise electricity,
consumers don’t have to feel digital guilt.
Changing pace for the data centre
1.
20
Many applications were born and
operate exclusively in the cloud.
Looking back, the data centres
hosting these applications became a
Issue 14
MORE DATA
CENTRES ARE
GOING TO BE
DESIGNED
WITH ON-SITE
GENERATION.
natural home for many organisations
seeking efficiencies by moving
applications to both public and
private cloud platforms. In addition
to the hyperscale cloud data centres,
the multi-tenant data centre sector
also grew. This year, the growth in
both sectors is expected to continue
at an accelerating pace as more
organisations tend towards ‘off site’
strategies and more new business
models and processes exploit cloud
efficiencies. But there is also a third
data centre sector, the national multi-
tenant data centre operator. These
are more local in terms of nature and
their business models. They provide
local clients with the benefits of
off-site strategies, but at the same
time provide ample and facilitated
access for company IT professionals
to conduct work, upgrades and
operations at the data centre. Some
companies want the benefit afforded
by cloud and commercial data centres
but do not want to lose control of
assets and data. Perhaps not to the
‘headline-grabbing’ scale of the big
international data centre operators,
but these national data centres
are numerous, provide an essential
service and form a significant part
of our digital landscape. Digital
Transformation is borderless and
benefits organisations of every size,
so as it spreads so too does the need
for international and national data
centre capacity.
2. We’ll see a measured shift in the
number of creative ways to cool data
centres – particularly by direct liquid
cooling. As the processing power
of compute increases, so does the
heat generated. For every kW of
electrical energy consumed in a data
centre, there is another kW needed
to cool the equipment and keep it in
its operational temperature range.
Instead of cooling the entire space
with either mechanical or free air
cooling at a certain power density,
a more direct or targeted cooling
approach can be deployed. This
can be done by immersion cooling,
where entire servers are submerged
into tanks of thermally conductive,
but not electrically conductive liquid,
or by direct liquid cooling whereby
the electronics and heat sink on the
motherboard can be encapsulated
in a manifold and a liquid flow
removes the heat.
3. More data centres are going to be
designed with on-site generation
and there are various reasons why.
The site selection process for a
data centre is a complex task. One
major parameter is the availability
of sufficient grid power. A location
might be ideal in all areas but then
falls short because the power isn’t
available to the level or timeline
needed. Moving forward, operators
can look to onsite generation for
primary power as the formation of
their own microgrids can offer many
benefits. In addition to meeting their
own energy needs, the operator may
even decide to export power and use
the facility for other ancillary grid
services. These on-site solutions can
vary from complimentary PV panels
to large scale gas or diesel turbines.
But serious considerations must be
given to balance this practical need
with the green energy objectives. ◊
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