Five steps organizations can take to maximize data center performance

When many organizations list the trends and issues that will affect technology development in the coming year, they usually have some long-term considerations, such as imagining future developments a few years or even decades later. This is especially true for analytical institutions. For example, for 2019, research firm Gartner focuses on artificial intelligence, blockchain, and turning continuous change into an asset.

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These are all good ideas, but what do organizations need to do to maximize data center performance? Maybe these ideas aren't so helpful. So what can data center managers do in the year ahead?

Here are five steps organizations can take:

1. Adopt effective DCIM

Effective data center infrastructure management (DCIM) is a key requirement for data centers, so why do most traditional DCIM suite solutions seem to struggle to achieve? Businesses need to focus more on easier to use, more accessible approaches and meet the requirements of developing the right cooling, power and space strategies.

So if your organization isn’t comfortable with overly complex DCIM or consulting-led computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approaches, there’s no reason to adopt DCIM when an equally effective SaaS-driven solution can provide all the controls you need to monitor, manage, and optimize your data center.

2. Increased focus on edge integration

Only when organizations successfully integrate all operations - including all different edge computing micro data centers and modular data centers - can they truly maximize data center performance. Mechanical and electrical capacity planning and simulation capabilities remain the main measures for managing data center facilities.

In 2019, this can no longer remain the case, especially when capabilities such as SaaS access, wireless sensing, and mobile network access allow organizations to apply the same best practice optimization standards to data center operations.

3. Fully aware data centers will become a reality

Only when data center facilities are mapped with the right data can data center operations teams truly begin to understand their data center performance in real time. To do this properly, more than 1,000 sensors need to be installed in a typical data center, measuring a range of previously unknown factors, including energy consumption, heat output, airflow above and below the floor, etc.

This situation continued until the cost of sensors continued to drop. The adoption of IoT-enabled wireless devices changed the cost dynamics, enabling new levels of sensing.

4. Go beyond subjective optimization judgment of data center performance

While data center industry experts are able to build up an image of the dynamic behavior of cooling systems over time, the critical nature of today’s data center operations means cooling is a very subjective issue.

However, now it is possible to access increasingly granular rack-level data, providing data center operators with the data platform needed for true software real-time decision making and solution planning.

5. Learn from other sectors to gain new insights into infrastructure management

If organizations can wisely adopt technology innovations from other industries, they can better address some of the challenges they face in data centers and other built environments. For example, 3D data center visualization uses cutting-edge gaming technology.

Additionally, learning from the field of geospatial data, we can help customers populate their advanced data center models through the use of advanced LiDAR-enabled spatial mapping equipment.