Intelligent Data Centres Issue 42 | Page 41

EXPERT OPINION keen to deliver on their environmental tech promises . First came the imperative drive to dramatically cut data centres ’ operating energy efficiency overheads and reliance on fossil fuels through energy efficiency programmes and by opting for other power sources such as renewable . Second came deliberations on redesign of data centre waste byproducts from utilisation activities such as Energy Reuse Effectiveness ( ERE ) rechannelling the output heat generated from vast IT cooling operations for alternate heat supply .
And now in the third stage of IT ’ s response , attention on the environmental aspects of data centres is turning towards creation of true and sustainable circular economies for data centre hardware equipment usage that will dramatically improve and assist with the wider IT industry ’ s sustainability efforts . Adherence to circular purchasing models will also address areas such as developing recycled IT infrastructures and at the same time , will cut the wait times for supplychain shortages through effective reuse of the IT equipment . Returning to the earlier point about the decline of vendor-led arbitrary buying cycles , most IT leaders now appreciate that data centre hardware , typically storage , servers and networking hardware equipment , can – with the right support partner , warranties and software in place – easily continue to be supported for an additional five years at a minimum . This is possible through post-warranty support and even longer with End of Service Life support , with the appropriate optimisation tweaks keeping performance levels assured .
So , what does using a Circular Economy in the data centre actually mean in practice ? At its very core is the desire
Ian Shearer , Managing Director , APAC & EMEA , Park Place Technologies
to come as close to zero wastage for IT equipment as is possible , meaning that existing data centre hardware , networking and cabling should be kept in use for as long as possible . Circular adherence positively encourages IT leaders to look towards active hardware reuse to create a looping procurement chain with sustainability top of mind with every hardware asset . Why ? Even before it is unboxed , every brand-new data centre asset already comes with acres of energy loss and increased carbon footprint stamped already gained within its production life cycle . This energy loss www . intelligentdatacentres . com
41