Cool factor

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So your geography, where winter temperatures are almost as high as summer temperatures, is not going to help you. - Victor Smith, EMEA strategic technologist at Dell.

Apart from consolidation, datacentre managers can replace old equipment with newer, ‘greener' systems to reduce power and cooling consumption.

"Common sense is another area that datacentre managers should apply when selecting equipment for their environments. It is no secret that not all hardware is created equal when it comes to power consumption. Datacentre managers should lean towards equipment with lower power and cooling needs so as to avoid problems, rather than spend future resources trying to reduce its effects," says Khalil.

There is also virtualisation technologies, which can drastically reduce power and cooling needs within a datacentre by reducing the number of servers needed.

The actual choice of cooling technologies can also help mitigate issues, and datacentre managers need to be smart when picking between air or liquid-cooling methodologies.

"Water has a 3500 factor higher cooling capacity than air. I would say up to 10 KW per rack can be cooled effectively by air, but above this it will not be possible anymore, and you will have to go towards water cooling," says Heidegger.

"Liquid cooling is an area of opportunity that enables lower power investment in cooling; this does not offer drastic reductions in overall power consumption, but it can provide savings. DC power is also being discussed in the marketplace as a way to be more efficient - by centralising AC to DC conversion for savings. This also does not offer drastic reduction, but may provide future opportunities," adds Khalil.

In the area of power, datacentres of the new-age can utilise greener power solutions, instead of depending on government generated and delivered power at all times.

"There is a growing trend of using alternative energy like solar power to build datacentres, although it is yet to be seen if this trend will take off in the region. Some companies have even gone as far as building their datacentres close to a hydroelectric power station simply because it is more cost-effective," says Abdulhadi.

Sharma says, "Solar and wind based power plants, which are ‘green' sources of electricity have the ability to fill the power deficit. In addition, facilities are also shifting to CFL lights or LED lights, instead of normal bulbs for lighting commercial and residential corridors and lobbies, thereby reducing electricity bills by over 20%. Using LCDs instead of CRTs, laptops instead of desktops and maximising natural lighting in establishments can also reduce power costs and result in better efficiency."

Using an effective power management tool can also help companies save on power and cooling costs.

Watching out

Though there are multiple technologies available in the market to offset power and cooling costs, datacentre managers have to understand that there is only so much any new-fangled solution can do.

"Some technology in the market is available to resolve some of the issues, although it is really a question of approach and design that solve the problem," states Abdulhadi.

Datacentre managers also need to overcome the prevailing common wisdom on cooling that datacentres need to be run at almost freezing levels in order to protect equipment.

"Have a look at high temperatures in your datacentre as good as you can. Run the datacentre at 26 to 28 degree and don't overpower cooling equipment. Many organisations tend to have very powerful cooling units but they really don't need them. It is quite possible that they can go for lesser ones," says Heidegger.

"Researches and studies have proved that datacentre power density has increased ten-fold in the last ten years and that cooling represents upwards of 60-70% of the total datacentre power spend for organisations. These spends are driven by the datacentre power requirements and the cubic feet per minute (CFM) of cooling airflow. The main wastage of power in the datacentre is due to "over-sizing" when the facility is built on a scale that does not match the IT loads being placed on it. Most datacentre operators do not realise the consequences of building such redundant units in terms of the power that is consumed," agrees Mohammad Tolba, practice principle, datacentre transformation at HP Middle East.

The other constant challenge that datacentre managers will have to battle is the non-communication between IT teams and facilities teams, both of which are involved in running the datacentre.

"None of the things that we talk about and suggest are rocket science. It is just that there is this disconnect between the people who have control of the infrastructure, and the people who have control over the IT. And as an industry we have got to fix that," says Smith.

Datacentres in the Middle East, which were set up early during the economic boom, have had to face continuous problems with power distribution and cooling, along with escalating costs, due to either the lack of proper planning procedures or inadequate awareness of new technologies.

However, all power and cooling problems can be handled and controlled well in newer datacentres, provided IT, facilities and datacentre teams are willing to put in the required resources, effort and collaboration.

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