Do you know what a data center is? A data center is a hub of modern enterprise operations, offering critical IT infrastructure that delivers resources and services to employees, partners, and customers worldwide.
That said, while many of these data centers are exclusive to bigger companies due to the sheer financial requirement they offer, even small or mid-sized businesses can have them. Of course, the challenge is still there, and a business needs to find a space that's large enough to support all the equipment, including services, power, cooling, security, and the like.
So, are you an SME looking to design your data center? If so, here are some of the best practices you must follow:
1. Understand Power Efficiency
You must always measure the power usage of your data center, whether it be monthly or even yearly. Such metrics include PUE to know the overall efficiency of the data center. You must measure PUE for the simple fact that with it, you can understand how much power you're drawing, opening opportunities to improve on it to save money in the long run.
2. Check Airflow
Airflow is king in data centers. After all, if there's no airflow, heat will be trapped in certain areas of your data center, affecting the longevity and performance of your tech. So, make sure that hot hair is quickly eliminated and that cold air replaces them instead. You can also implement solutions to stop cold air from reaching places where it doesn't have any use, such as with the use of blanking plates. That way, the right air goes to where it needs to be.
3. Push up the Temperature
It may be tempting to push your data center temperature as low as possible, but there's one problem with this: you use up more power to do so. So, while it is a good idea to keep your data center cold, you don't have to push it to temperatures like 68 Fahrenheit. Rather, consider pushing it to 80 Fahrenheit. It is not as cold, but still cold enough while still ensuring your IT gear runs well.
4. Try Alternative Cooling Solutions
You might already have an HVAC system set up for your data center. After all, they're great at what they do and meet most, if not all, the demands of a data center. However, you should reduce your reliance on it, mostly for reliability reasons. You can supplement the use of HVAC with water-cooled chillers and the like. Not only do they use far less energy, but should anything go wrong with the HVAC system, they can be there running while you get things fixed.
5. Enhance Power Distribution
One way you might lose out on power efficiency is the way the power is handled, along with the distribution of your IT gear. For instance, you might be using too many PSUs that are taking power and trying to distribute it. So, lower your use of such equipment. Not only does this reduce the power loss of being processed through different equipment, but it also reduces other things like maintenance.
Conclusion
Data centers are essential for businesses, and it's important to make sure they're running efficiently. By following the five tips outlined above, you can make sure your data center is running at peak performance. From improving the airflow to enhancing power distribution, your data center will be running more efficiently in no time.
thomastech LLC offers storage, server, and data center hardware to meet the various needs of data centers. If you are looking for data center hardware, check out what we offer!
