Today’s data centers are more complex than ever and as the demand for power increases exponentially, data center managers everywhere are looking for ways to make their data centers more efficient and enjoy cost savings.
Data center power consumption can be extremely cost prohibitive, meaning available and reasonably priced power is of the utmost importance when selecting a new data center site. A data center power bill can be comprised of demand charge, power surcharge, service charge and sales tax. What the user pays for power often goes beyond the $/kWhr number.
According to reports, the cost of data center power is likely to continue to increase over time, and some analysts predict that power cost could double in the next 10 years.
With data center power costs on the rise, data center managers and data center monitoring companies have been working to increase efficiencies. Some argue that data centers have become more efficient over the last few decades, as managers start to look at efficiencies of the devices that are in the data center. Specifically, the uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) that are on the data center floor have gotten a lot more efficient and the power supplies, servers and devices have become more efficient.
But in order to maximize on efficiencies, managers are forced to monitor more aspects of the data center than ever before. A few years ago, a manager may have been focused on just monitoring data center power consumption, but managers have added other facets to what they monitor, particularly since managers are looking for ways to curb spending. For example, data centers are more concerned with environmental factors such as cooling.
In the past few years, power usage has gone up but data centers are doing a lot more work and are getting a lot more done. Data center power will continue to be a hotly monitored factor moving forward.
Carrie Schmelkin is a Web Editor for TMCnet. Previously, she worked as Assistant Editor at the New Canaan Advertiser, a 102-year-old weekly newspaper, covering news and enhancing the publication's social media initiatives. Carrie holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and a bachelor's degree in English from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by Rich Steeves