Martin Hodgson, Director Northern Europe, Paessler AG, discusses the pursuit of sustainable practices and how solutions should be adopted which ensure monitoring for energy efficiency, uninterrupted operations and shielding data centres from digital threats.
As the demand for data continues its relentless growth, data centres have become the vital infrastructure of the digital age. While this presents a significant opportunity, it also brings to the forefront an urgent need for responsible environmental stewardship. Various initiatives have been set in motion to harness the excess heat generated by these data centres for purposes such as heating public swimming pools or student housing. Nevertheless, these efforts alone are insufficient in effectively mitigating the escalating emissions stemming from data centres – this is precisely where the role of data centre monitoring becomes indispensable in ensuring sustainable operations.
Advanced monitoring technologies prove invaluable in enhancing energy efficiency, bolstering security measures and reducing the environmental footprint of data centres. By implementing these cutting-edge monitoring systems, data centres can become key agents for positive change in the ongoing quest for sustainability.
Challenges in implementing sustainable IT strategies and real-time data centre monitoring
Despite climate change and sustainability being top of the news agenda in recent years, research by Paessler reveals that only 37% of companies globally have started to work on sustainable IT strategies. While this is good news, data stored in data centres can be subjected to environmental and security issues if it isn’t monitored and analysed in real-time. For example, approximately 50% of the energy on the OT level in data centres is used for IT cooling. The use of the right cooling technology can reduce energy consumption by a third, but this can only be measured if it is monitored.
Paessler research also shows that cloud adoption remains slow, with just 19% of global storage infrastructure in the cloud – but this will no doubt increase exponentially in the coming years. Data centres have been under scrutiny when it comes to their environmental impact, and this is why regular regulation of the data centre’s energy efficiency is crucial. Monitoring and controlling the temperature is important for optimal equipment performance and to save unnecessary energy consumption.
Overcoming heat challenges in data centres
The overall environment of a data centre needs to be carefully regulated on a frequent basis; the temperature level needs to be monitored so that the equipment can operate efficiently. Servers and computers generate heat which detrimentally affects them. The ramifications of excessive heat are significant, ranging from potential breakdowns to heightened wear and tear on delicate IT components over prolonged periods. This has the potential to notably diminish the machine’s longevity and escalate the total operational expenditures of a large data centre. Employing air conditioning serves as a viable remedy for this concern, even though it comes with a significant cost, it remains an indispensable one. The true hurdle encountered by facility managers is maintaining temperature uniformity across the facility, ensuring the absence of hotspots or excessive cooling so it’s as energy efficient as possible.
Safeguarding power supply reliability
Energy supply and energy usage stand as key concerns in the functioning of data centres. Primarily, ensuring a constant and reliable power supply for both IT equipment and facility operations is of utmost importance. Disruptions in power supply results in extensive downtimes, violations of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and the accrual of substantial expenses.
As a countermeasure to potential power interruptions, data centres often incorporate dual emergency systems such as an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is usually provided by battery-powered devices that can bridge short local power failures or compensate for local voltage fluctuations or Standby Power Systems (SPS), also known as Emergency Power Systems, often consist of generators. They take over the power supply in the event of normal power loss.
To monitor the environment effectively, organisations need a tool that can bring in data from IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) sensors, OT systems and traditional IT components using several common protocols. This data can then be displayed in a single place, making it easy to identify potential problems and take corrective action before they cause an outage or other disruption.
Merely safeguarding computers and equipment falls short of rendering data centres resilient against physical as well as online risks. To enhance efficiency, the integration of cybersecurity software and infrastructure is important to avert data breaches. IT managers must ensure a fortified defence around the data, with the adoption of a company-wide Zero Trust approach considered among the few effective strategies to curtail data breaches. This framework acknowledges that trust can be exploited, prompting the arrangement of IT systems in a manner where access to specific data is exclusively granted on an individual basis.
As organisations increasingly recognise the importance of environmental awareness, the role of data centre monitoring when it comes to implementing sustainable practices comes to the forefront. This is all very well but navigating the comprehensive landscape of a data centre often leads to a sense of overwhelm among its managers, particularly when data is dispersed among various teams and presented in diverse formats.
In the pursuit of sustainable practices, companies ought to consider adopting solutions that not only safeguard uninterrupted operations but also shield the data centre from digital threats. By channelling all monitored data into a centralised system, IT managers and facility managers can redirect their focus toward broader business objectives. By integrating real-time monitoring, energy efficiency measures and robust security protocols, data centres can lead the charge towards a greener and more sustainable digital future.
