Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) is the most common criterion used when comparing data center physical infrastructures. But while MTBF actually can be calculated as a formula (based on another… Read more »
Featured Post:
Six Air Containment Solutions Will Help You to Save Energy in Your Existing Data Centers
For an existing traditional data center, hot air and cold air mixing can lead to more than 25% waste of the cooling capacity. As a result, the cooling system is… Read more »
posted: May 6, 2013
Featured Post:
Schneider Takes Home Alliance Awards – and Our Customers Win, Too
It’s no secret that Schneider Electric is a big fan of strategic alliances. Perhaps you’ve read previous blog posts on the topic by my colleague Tony Despirito, such as this… Read more »
posted: April 2, 2013
Featured Post:
Cruise Ship Lines Could Learn Lessons from Data Center Operators
A few days ago a colleague emailed me a photo taken on the ill-fated Carnival Triumph cruise ship, the one that was stranded in the Gulf of Mexico for about… Read more »
posted: February 26, 2013
Featured Post:
How Energy Efficiency Efforts Can Spell Trouble When the Power Goes Out
A number of important trends are helping companies save lots of money on electric bills by making their data centers more efficient. While this is certainly a worthy and justified… Read more »
posted: February 12, 2013
Featured Post:
Build Better Data Centers Faster: Use a Reference Design
IT is becoming more critical all the time and trends such as the explosion of big data are only adding to the requirements that IT groups must meet. To keep… Read more »
posted: January 29, 2013
Modular Power Distribution Systems Provide Safer, More Flexible Data Center Power
September 7, 2011
963 views
It’s the way IT systems have been powered for decades: Large transformers feed power to distribution units via under-floor hard-wired circuits using rigid or flexible conduit. Most data centers still… Read more »
Assessing the Impact of Virtualization on Data Center Power
September 7, 2011
453 views
Virtualization brings many benefits to a data center, as fewer servers means less power consumed, less heat generated and more available space. But virtualization also presents many challenges to a… Read more »
Optimize Your Power Loads with Data Center Capacity Management
September 6, 2011
647 views
Installing equipment in a data center without considering its loading and current power as well as its cooling capacity can put stress on an IT system and result in downtime… Read more »
Key Elements of a Data Center Growth Model
September 6, 2011
657 views
Ask a business leader where his company will be in the future and he’ll be able to articulate expectations about plans for growth. But predicting a company’s future with absolute… Read more »
4 Keys to Creating an Energy-Efficient Data Center
September 6, 2011
1,036 views
Electrical inefficiency in data centers results in unnecessary and substantial energy costs, and also raises wider environmental concerns. Most of a data center’s energy is consumed not by IT equipment,… Read more »
5 Contributors to Data Center Energy Inefficiency
September 6, 2011
948 views
A typical data center is a huge consumer of electricity. But less than half of the electricity actually is used by IT equipment. The majority of a data center’s energy… Read more »
5 Essential Components of Data Center System Planning
August 29, 2011
1,825 views
Failing to create a plan for a data center project can be a recipe for disaster. Mistakes made in the planning process can be exacerbated once the project is underway,… Read more »
4 Potential Drawbacks of Data Center Facility Modules
August 29, 2011
656 views
In a related post (“Save Time and Money with Data Center Facility Modules”), we discussed the many advantages of containerized power and cooling modules – or “facility” modules – in… Read more »
Success in Data Center Projects Requires Defining These 3 IT Parameters
August 29, 2011
461 views
Perhaps your business is growing and you need to expand your capacity to store data. Or, you’ve decided that your business has tempted fate too long without a backup data… Read more »
The Green Grid’s Data Center Maturity Model Can Delivery Big Energy Savings
April 30, 2013
399 views
Something rather remarkable has happened over the course of the last year at The Green Grid (TGG) that anyone who owns and operates a data center ought to know about…. Read more »
Dimension Data and the Co-Location Opportunity with Data Center Software
April 26, 2013
383 views
Founded 28 years ago in 1983 in South Africa, Dimension Data today operates in 51 countries in five regions – Middle East & Africa, Europe, Asia Pacific, Australia… Read more »
Proper Planning Includes Preparing for the Unpredictable
August 29, 2011
380 views
No matter how flawless a plan may appear, there is always the potential for unanticipated challenges. Realizing that challenges can crop up – and clearly articulating steps to deal with… Read more »
Save Time and Money with Data Center Facility Modules
August 29, 2011
377 views
Adequate power and cooling equipment is critical to the everyday functioning and long-term reliability of a data center. But sometimes enterprises are faced with the need to add more power… Read more »
Building and Financial Considerations When Selecting a Data Center Site
May 14, 2013
372 views
Last month I wrote about the importance of data center site selection, which was top of mind in the wake of October’s Hurricane Sandy. Since then we’ve been hit with… Read more »
Standardizing the Process of Creating a Data Center
August 25, 2011
354 views
Developing a standardized process to direct the creation of a system is not a unique idea, but there is increased recognition of the importance of doing so for data center… Read more »
Bringing Clarity to Modular Data Center Architectures
May 10, 2013
352 views
Anyone who pays even scant attention to data center issues has no doubt been hearing the term “modular” with increasingly greater frequency, and with good reason. As we’ve covered previously,… Read more »
Allocating Data Center Energy Costs and Carbon to IT Users
August 25, 2011
337 views
Data centers typically waste energy in a number of ways, in large part because historically they have been designed with reliability and capacity as top priorities, leaving efficiency to take… Read more »
Allocating Energy to IT Users
August 25, 2011
333 views
Enterprises often waste vast amounts of money running inefficient data centers. Reducing a data center’s power consumption can lead to great savings in energy costs, sometimes up to 80%. In… Read more »
Congrats to The Green Grid – a 2013 Computerworld Honors Laureate in Sustainability
May 2, 2013
274 views
Regular readers of this blog may have picked up on the fact that Schneider Electric is a big supporter of The Green Grid, a global consortium dedicated to promoting resource… Read more »
Maximizing DCIM: The Right Lifecycle, Not Just The Right Solution
July 31, 2012
2,331 views
When it comes to deployment of data center infrastructure management (DCIM) software, there can be projects that seem to have everything in place in terms of the design and specification… Read more »
Has the New York Times Got a Point About Data Center Waste?
October 4, 2012
1,664 views
In case you were off the planet last weekend, “Power, Pollution and the Internet” a critique of the data center industry by James Glanz caused quite a stir when it… Read more »
Why Virtualization Worsens Your PUE
December 4, 2012
1,848 views
Virtualization is often touted as a “green” technology and with good reason. Consolidating lots of under-utilized servers into a handful of more fully loaded servers can save lots of electricity…. Read more »
Green Grid Grand Prix Award Winner Hitachi Achieves Great Success in Data Center Efficiency
January 28, 2013
826 views
Two years ago, the Green Grid established an awards program to highlight organizations that effectively improve the energy efficiency of their data centers. Through the program, we’ve found some excellent… Read more »
How fast is fast? Power monitoring and real-time response rates
April 4, 2013
826 views
My first car was classic Mopar: a green ‘68 Dodge Dart GTS. I bought it from my uncle who owned a local mechanic shop and did a lot of custom… Read more »
Optimize Your DCPI to Increase Its Business Value
August 19, 2011
538 views
Data center physical infrastructure (DCPI) long has been the foundation of an enterprise’s IT business operations and until recently its business value was based almost exclusively on availability (or uptime)… Read more »
For Data Center Energy Efficiency, Hot-Aisle Beats Cold-Aisle Containment
September 15, 2011
2,271 views
There’s little argument that hot-aisle and cold-aisle containment systems provide big energy savings in a data center, while eliminating the hot spots found in uncontained data centers. But which strategy… Read more »
Data Center Management by Continuous Partial Attention
October 26, 2011
992 views
Stop. Before reading any further, think about the number of computing and communication devices you have within arm’s reach of you right now. Finished? … I have (in no particular… Read more »
Data Center Efficiency Calculator – A Tool for Modeling Your Current and/or Future PUE
April 30, 2012
2,450 views
With all the buzz about data center efficiency, and measuring PUE, this tool provides a model to help customers estimate what they can expect for their annualized PUE, and helps… Read more »
CiscoLive! US a Look Back
June 15, 2012
74 views
“Nothing is future proof but with leadership and values like this it is as close as you can be,” said Cisco CEO, John Chambers in his keynote presentation. Cisco’s innovation, technology… Read more »
