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Storage and Technology: Data Centers Running Low on Power
The need by organizations to store increasingly large amounts of data are putting a huge strain on data centers. Consider just one piece of the data puzzle — emails. John Shackleton, CEO of Open Source, estimates that with large enterprises receiving 3-5 million new emails every day that in just three months that they’ll need 30 Terabytes of new storage media to hold that data. Shackleton warns that “no matter how cheap storage is, there is a finite limit.”
Those emails along with data created from tens of other enterprise applications are being stored in data centers, data centers that are overflowing. And organizations are scrambling to expand and upgrade those data centers. Organizations are faced with three problems: the need to acquire new and/or additional storage hardware, the need to power the storage hardware, and the need to for physical rack space to house the storage devices.
83 percent of companies are planning data center expansions in the next 12 to 24 months. 73 percent of companies are planning to augment their current data centers with two or more facilities. Jim kerrigan or Grubb & Ellis real estate says that the demand for data center space is three times greater than the amount of space that is currently available. 70 percent of enterprises looking to expand are planning data center facilities of at leas 15,000 square feet.
Chris Crosby, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development for Digital Reaility Trust said that “the need for additional power has become the main driver for data center expansion plans as companies seek facilities with adequate power and favorable utility rates to control operating costs.” Many companies are now metering their power usage and using the power consumption numbers as a trend line to help them prepare for their future data center needs.
About 80 percent of operating costs for a data center go towards energy, with about 50 percent of that going to power the equipment and the other 50 percent to keep the equipment cool. To address the high costs of energy, organizations with large capacity needs are choosing to build data centers in lower-cost geographical areas.
But the high costs of data centers are driving innovation in trying to save dollars. Companies like Bloom Energy, for example, are developing new technologies, like the ‘Bloom Box’ fuel cell that are designed to bring in power cell reinforcements to any location.
