Workload-driven energy consumption is prompting operators to consider more sustainable procedures – in terms of both environmental and longevity. Tim Hysell, CEO and Co-founder, ZincFive, highlights three crucial concepts to ensure power savings and increase the likelihood of greener profitability.
Data centres have long been known as energy-intensive market players. Thanks to the expansion of remote work, high-speed streaming and the proliferation of many digital and AI tools, US demand for data centre capacity has skyrocketed over recent years and expects a 10% increase per year until 2030.
While data centre operators are implementing aggressive actions like efficiency-focused retrofits to help curb energy usage, future-focused data centres must be able to support the increasing demand for more data, faster service, AI, cloud solutions and more while minimising their physical footprint. The larger a data centre’s footprint, the more expensive it is to build it, maintain it and manage its environmental impact.
The rising demand vs cost management challenge
With this demand increase comes many caveats. Today, data centres are grappling with various obstacles, potentially impacting their ability to operate reliably, manage costs and demonstrate resilience when it matters most. Several factors affecting these data hubs include:
- Limited access to power in several locations
- Rising energy prices due to increased energy consumption
- Increased pressure from investors, customers and regulatory bodies to reduce carbon emissions
- The rise in frequency and severity of power outages
Data centres must meet rising compute power demands while practicing operational efficiency and sustainability to aid ambitious clean energy usage targets, drive down costs, tackle corporate responsibility and improve disaster resilience.
Here are three ways data centres can save money and prepare themselves for workload-driven energy consumption in 2024:
Do more with less space
The more power an operator can fit into a smaller real estate footprint, the lower real estate costs are relative to the revenue generated. Data centres typically categorise space into two categories: ‘white space,’ indicating areas with equipment that increases capacity and so directly makes a profit, and ‘grey space,’ back-end support systems that do not directly generate profit – for instance, generators and Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems.
Minimising grey space with smaller, power-dense equipment allows operators to maximise the profit-driving white space. Profitable upgrades include replacing older, less efficient infrastructure equipment with newer, more efficient technologies. While the initial investment may seem high, upgrading to more efficient equipment will ultimately lower long-term costs.
Upgrading the UPS battery system is a great place to start. Choosing a UPS battery with a higher power density reduces the grey space required, because fewer battery cabinets are needed to meet the data centre’s power demand. Look for a battery cabinet with the smallest linear footprint per watt so you can pack more power in less space and free up room for additional servers – or even a smaller overall facility. Non-flammable chemistries, such as nickel-zinc, also eliminate the need for additional safety equipment, permitting, and space considerations required by lithium-ion batteries. This can further lower battery system footprints.
Avoid expensive outages
Research from Uptime Institute found outages are becoming longer and more costly, with one-in-five organisations reportedly experiencing a significant outage in the past three years.
However, 43% of outages in a data centre are caused by the failure of the UPS system itself. Many batteries can fail open or with a high impedance path, which prevents the battery from supporting the critical UPS load.
Nickel-zinc (NiZn) batteries’ greater reliability makes them ideal for use in a data centre. In contrast to other battery chemistries, a weak or depleted cell in the battery string will continue to discharge and carry the load. All that’s needed is a simple battery replacement at the next planned maintenance cycle: little cost, and no operational impact. Nickel-zinc batteries help data centres protect themselves against the high costs of power backup failures.
Nickel-zinc batteries also do not go into thermal runaway. This safety advantage reduces site risk, which addresses potential insurance concerns and eases the approval process by Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ). As a result, NiZn batteries don’t need the safety equipment for greenfield or retrofits required for Lithium-ion batteries. Instead, they are a convenient drop-in replacement for lead-acid batteries in data centres.
Run equipment at higher operating temperatures to reduce the need for cooling
Today, data centres dedicate a significant portion of their operating budgets toward facility cooling. Recently, data centre operators including colocation giant, Equinix, and Meta and Microsoft have begun employing flexible temperature strategies and operating at higher temperatures to reduce costs.
While operating cooling systems at higher temperatures can lower energy load and reduce costs, it requires a balancing act to avoid the risk of shortened equipment lifespan, safety issues and voided product warranties. Fortunately, current technology allows data centres to reduce cooling system investments, improve sustainability and lower costs while maintaining operational reliability and safety.
For instance, Ni-Zn UPS battery cabinets can operate at higher temperatures than their counterparts. Modular designs pose an opportunity to create climate-specific environments for the UPS and battery systems. By utilising nickel-zinc batteries, these rooms can operate at higher temperatures and offer the combined benefits of lower CAPEX for lower-capacity cooling systems, and reduced OPEX over the life of the cooling system.
As high-temperature events increase in frequency due to climate change, investing in battery systems that can withstand harsher environments in 10-15 years is a distinct advantage for facilities being built today.
More resilient, cost-effective data centres
As data centre demand skyrockets, facilities must prioritise actions that will help drive down costs, increase operational efficiency and help meet sustainability targets. Those who do this first can enjoy the advantages of meeting the growing appetite for data while converting savings and efficiencies into profits.
