Business are changing the way they store and protect data. What was once stored in paper form now exists on computers and hard drives; but increasingly that information is being stored in a data center off site. The cloud has proved to be a critical component of data management. With all the changes that are happening so quickly, it’s worth examining what’s happening now and what the future might hold.
Current Directions
Studies and surveys show that 82% of companies report that they saved money when they moved their data off local servers and into the cloud. When businesses were presented with a choice to move only one application to the cloud, storage was the application that 25% said they would choose to move.
Cost efficiency will always drive business trends, so data center infrastructure is constantly developing solutions to deal with ever-increasing needs for space and speed. High density cooling systems, for example, are constantly being improved and re-designed as part of constant upgrades in critical infrastructure management. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy has found that data centers are typically upgrading their equipment every few years to keep up with demand.
Future Movement
A 2011 survey asked large companies what their IT prospects were going forward. Nearly 40% of them reported that they expected to exceed their current capacity within a year and a half. The power and tech needed to keep mission critical facilities in good operating order, from infrastructure support to data monitoring software upgrades, and high density cooling structures, are more than many businesses can manage. The power density of a typical data center, for example, is 100 times that of the average big office building: or about the same nine normal shopping centers.
These realities are driving immense growth in data center construction and support structure development. Every few months, new high density cooling solutions are presented, and developers anticipate even greater strides in the near future. Between 2014 and 2018, data center construction was projected to see immense growth of over 20% every year.
Needed Changes
As demand grows for high density servers, administrators need ever more efficient methods of high density cooling applications that can be easily scaled to meet increased demand. Currently, high density cooling and power infrastructures comprise 50% of the typical data center’s energy usage.
Future high density cooling structures will need to efficient, cost-effective, effective methods of managing floor vents, installing cooling architecture, applying high-density rack separation methods, installing cable and blanking panels, and of performing their own health checks.
If all the data centers currently in operation in the United States were to become 20% more efficient, it would result in a 20 billion kWh energy savings by the year 2020. The real dollar savings associated with that kind of energy efficiency is approximately $2 billion. This makes efficient data storage design and management something that is in the best interests not only of data centers, but also of businesses and anyone interested in the economic health of the United States.
