Now may be the most appropriate time to figure out a way to handle the increased need for data center power.
As reported in the 2011 Data Center Industry Census, data centers worldwide are expected to consume 19 percent more energy in the upcoming 12 months than they have in the past year, according to a recent DatacenterDynamics piece.
Data centers currently consume about 31GW. The average total power to rack is about 4.05kW, with 58 percent of racks consuming 5kW per rack, 28 percent consuming from 5kW to 10kW per rack and the rest consuming more than 10kW per rack.
Data center power demand is expected to be the greatest in areas where there’s the highest projected facility growth in the next year, and developed markets show a lower percentage increase but larger actual amount of extra power required.
China and Brazil are the largest growth markets, each looking to require huge amounts of extra power, according to the article.
Energy cost and availability are the number oneconcern for data center owners and operators. Of 5,400 interviews, 44 percent of data center owners and operators believe increasing energy costs will have a strong impact on their data center operations in the next 12 months.
Nearly a third of those surveyed are concerned about the significant impact of energy availability.
While data center energy demand is expected to rise so significantly, there are companies that offer solutions to data center power consumption including Server Technology (News - Alert), a provider of power distribution products and power monitoring software. Server Technology has provided the biggest companies in the world with power management solutions for over 25 years.
Data center customers rely on Server Technology’s products and solutions to control and manage power to data center equipment, provide mission-critical information to help reduce downtime and provide analytics to help improve energy efficiency, achieve green initiatives and reduce operating costs.
Recently, Server Technology unveiled new firmware 6.1, a release that boasts a new user-friendly interface and unique Systems Summary dashboard that allows data center managers to instantly know how much infeed power they are using and the status of the CDU. The company also unveiled the Sentry Power Manager (SPM) 5.0, an “unbelievable” solution for rack-level data center power management.
Rachel Ramsey is a TMCnet editorial assistant, contributing news items and feature articles on a variety of communications and technology topics. Rachel has previously worked in PR and communications at The Wriglesworth Consultancy, an award-winning London PR firm. She has also contributed to the creative services department at CBS 3 and The CW Philly in Philadelphia. To read more of Rachel's articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by Carrie Schmelkin