THE EDGE

kkoSense has identified five key issues that data centre

Dean Boyle , CEO at EkkoSense

“ Currently , very few operations have either the real-time data centre cooling , power and capacity performance visibility or available in-house optimisation expertise they need to meet these conflicting goals – increase workload while also reducing energy ,” said Dean Boyle , CEO at EkkoSense – a leader in the field of software-driven data centre optimisation solutions . “ And with critical facilities now coming under increased pressure to reduce their carbon consumption , particularly as corporate net zero commitments start to bite , 2022 looks like it ’ s going to be another challenging year for data centre teams .

“ However , it ’ s going to be hard for operations teams to address both data centre workload and energy saving goals unless they prioritise performance optimisation across all their critical facilities ,” said Boyle . “ And this means knowing exactly where they ’ re starting from in terms of energy usage , and also in data centre resourcing . Sustained pressure on the high energy users within organisations mean that the days of simply throwing more cooling at workload issues are over . For 2022 , the focus will need to be on smarter resourcing , data granularity , visibility , empowering operations with AI , and measurable net zero contributions .”

1 . Be smarter with your resourcing – If data centre teams are being tasked with unlocking carbon savings , it ’ s essential that they have the right people in place to drive energy savings across their operations . But with demand for digital services showing no sign of slowing down , 2022 will continue to see a shortage of skilled professionals across data centres , with recruitment concerns amplified by ‘ the great resignation ’. This will place an increased emphasis on decoupling skilled staff from specific locations , with the latest cloud-based optimisation solutions helping teams to optimise cooling capacity and minimise energy usage – regardless of location . The impact of the pandemic – particularly the difficulties involved in getting people into a critical facility plus the emergence of remote ‘ dark ’ Edge sites – means that people will be focused on enhancing remote monitoring for 2022 .

2 . Improve data granularity – For true data centre performance optimisation , it ’ s essential to monitor and report temperature and cooling loads much more actively . ASHRAE suggests a minimum of three temperature sensors per rack , but to achieve this probably requires around 10x more sensors than are currently deployed in today ’ s typical data centre . EkkoSense research shows that only around 5 % of M & E teams currently monitor and report actively on an individual rackby-rack basis – and even less collect real-time cooling duty . However , if you want to track cooling loads in real-time – and generate the kind of Machine Learning insights you ’ ll need to enable true AI-powered optimisation – there ’ s no option but to go granular . And with the availability of the latest ultra-lowcost wireless sensors , there ’ s really no excuse not to do this in 2022 .

3 . Increase your visibility with digital twins – One of the main barriers to data centre optimisation has always been the complexity of traditional DCIM and CFD solutions . That ’ s why , if you ’ re seriously looking to optimise performance , it makes sense to make things as simple and accessible as possible for operations teams . Building an intuitive ‘ digital twin ’ of your data centre lets you take things to the next level , providing clear visualisations that help to successfully communicate inevitably complex data . This , in turn , makes it much easier to see what ’ s happening across your estate , highlighting potential anomalies and displaying suggested airflow and cooling improvements .

4 . Empower your operations with AI – While the vision of data centre www . intelligentdatacentres . com

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