WE ' RE AT THE DAWN OF THE AI ERA WHERE WE ' RE SEEING A BIG CHANGE IN THE REQUIREMENTS FOR DENSITY IN DATA CENTRES .
EXPERT OPINION
adapt it as you move along . We work with the customers to see how we can save money for them , which in turn , saves on the carbon footprint . We ' re always looking for ways as part of our CSR to show the rest of the world how we can save energy .
What are the benefits for data centre operators of having a well-designed cable management system ?
I think being well-designed is down to the perception or understanding of the instalment : how flexible it is ; how well it ' s made ; how quickly it goes together ; and how varied the range is .
But it ' s not , there are so many different aspects to it . It ' s about how flexible it can be for the application , how quickly it all goes together and how readily available stock is . We ' ve got some of the biggest stockists in the UK , for example , holding stock for us . To me , that ' s what it ' s about : stock availability and ease of deployment .
How can a data centre operator ensure that overhead cable management is efficient ?
I take into consideration the factors of what is within the aisle containment system and look at where the cables are the best solution . I think it comes down to how it all goes together for the customer because at the end of the day , it ' s the customer that ' s got to utilise the facility , or it ’ s the enduser or the colo-operator . It comes down to what suits the business and again , a flexible approach – it ' s all intertwined .
This is why I think the Legrand solution is so impressive because we can link all those dots . With Legrand , we ’ re all from the same company and we ’ ll draw a concept together .
How can data centre managers future-proof their existing cooling capacity ?
That ' s a crystal ball question because the market is changing so fast . We ' re at the dawn of the AI era where we ' re seeing a big change in the requirements for density in data centres . Flexibility also means tailoring each individual cabinet .
For instance , if a customer said they want to consider AI in their data centre and they ’ ve got the money to do it , they ’ ll probably do it – but who says they ’ re going to have the demand for that entire AI requirement ?
They might only have half of it . We ’ re finding more customers have half for AI and half for normal applications , therefore , it ’ s that half that needs more cooling requirements , where they can bring in a tailored rear door cooling system to accommodate that and leave the rest of the cooling system alone .
That ' s where I think you ' ve got to be adaptive on cooling – there is no one fixed answer for what ' s coming . AI is a new consideration and we don ' t know how hard it ' s going to hit us but I think there ' s going to be quite a big uptake , as that transactional volume of data is heavy .
How can data centre operators improve airflow management ?
Again , it comes down to being a trusted adviser , because if you ' re looking at somebody ' s design and , for example , it ’ s got underfloor cooling with cables running underneath – that ’ s old school design but people still go for it .
There ’ s an opportunity we could rethink this because underfloor isn ’ t always the best , as you have to come up with a forced cooling system which means you need a tremendous amount of power to pump it underneath . Then , you ’ re making your system very limited because it means your racks have to be predetermined on day one – there ’ s no flexibility .
The marketplace is evolving to come up with something that enables you to almost have a Lego block concept with cooling and power . Some people don ’ t think they should go together but they go hand-in-hand because wherever there ’ s power , you need more cooling .
Our philosophy is to talk to the customer and understand where they want to go and what they are trying to do at this moment , then work with them to grow it .
We ’ re with the customer till the end – it ’ s not just about making a sale and walking away . You ’ re part of a team to the end of the data centre ’ s life cycle . As they grow and make updates , you ’ ll be part of that team and make those changes for them . �
WE ' RE AT THE DAWN OF THE AI ERA WHERE WE ' RE SEEING A BIG CHANGE IN THE REQUIREMENTS FOR DENSITY IN DATA CENTRES .
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