4 Ways to Save Money in Your Data Center

When data center downtime costs an average of nearly $9,000 per minute, avoiding such incidents is the first and most obvious way for organizations to save money. However, the following four methods can help organizations avoid downtime and optimize performance.

1. Verify and debug data center facilities

The increasing complexity of data center systems and components means more opportunities for downtime and outages in data center facilities. Commissioning (Cx) helps identify and correct the main culprits behind failures such as design, installation and startup defects. To further maximize data center availability, commissioning (Cx) verifies and documents that all critical systems (power, cooling, building automation, etc.) can function as a fully integrated system.

Commissioning (Cx) also helps reduce the life cycle cost of data center facilities. The commissioning (Cx) process improves system operation while providing baseline data that can be used to maintain optimal performance. After the system is optimized, it is not only more reliable, but also more efficient. Commissioning (Cx) activities can verify the proper function of specific efficiency features that are part of the system design.

A commissioned data center typically experiences fewer delays than a traditional deployment, making it more likely to be delivered on time and on budget. Not only will the enterprise see a return on its capital investment more quickly, but it will also reduce operating and maintenance costs throughout the facility lifecycle.

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2. Optimize electrical system performance

Evaluating a data center’s electrical systems can reveal areas for improvement to help organizations address significant data center challenges, such as increasing availability expectations, moves or consolidations, increased power and heat densities, and regulatory compliance.

By assessing a complete electrical equipment inventory, organizations can identify defective components and connections before they cause business disruptions and pinpoint gaps in equipment maintenance. Additionally, engineering services such as short circuit and coordination studies, or arc flash studies can be used to improve workplace safety and ensure regulatory compliance.

A work environment that complies with all applicable standards can not only help organizations avoid fines and penalties, but also minimize threats that could result in equipment damage and lost productivity.

Ultimately, an electrical system assessment allows for a detailed analysis that recommends corrective actions and risk mitigation strategies to help organizations cost-effectively improve data center reliability and availability.

3. Improve thermal efficiency

Newer approaches to data center thermal management can reduce energy costs and improve efficiency. In traditional data centers, cooling accounts for 38% of total energy consumption. So if an organization wants to make an impact on energy use, reducing the energy consumption of the cooling system can get a quick return on investment.

By pinpointing and correcting issues such as hot spots and airflow problems, organizations take an important first step toward reducing energy consumption. From there, organizations can implement variable speed technology and intelligent controls to achieve further efficiency gains. These technologies can be used as upgrades to existing equipment.

With variable speed technology, such as electrically commutated fans and variable speed drives, the speed of existing cooling unit fans can be changed to better match cooling to IT loads. When fan speeds are reduced, energy is no longer wasted to overcool IT equipment that does not need it. By adding intelligent control, organizations can network their cooling units to work together as a team. This eliminates situations where cooling units "fight" against each other, such as one unit cooling while another unit heats up again.

Correcting energy waste and using only the power needed to ensure critical system availability can significantly reduce energy costs without compromising availability.

4. Protect the emergency power supply system

The impact of power system failure is far-reaching when organizations consider the potential damage to data and equipment, business interruption, remediation costs, legal consequences, and damage to brand and reputation. In a 2016 survey conducted by the Ponemon Institute, the average cost of data center downtime was over $740,000, with the highest cost rising to over $2.4 million. Avoiding these significant costs can be solved through simple prevention.

A regular preventive maintenance program performed by professional technicians is key to ensuring the maximum reliability of data center equipment (including batteries, uninterruptible power supply equipment, and power distribution equipment). In fact, in a study analyzing UPS operating time, the reliability of UPS equipment measured by the mean time between failures (MTBF) increased as the number of annual preventive maintenance visits increased.

Regular preventive maintenance can detect problems with UPS systems as they begin. This systematic review and analysis allows organizations to correct these problems, ensuring they have emergency backup power when needed and helping organizations avoid costly, unplanned downtime.