For many companies, updating an older data center is
significantly less costly than constructing an entirely new facility. Most
companies hope to get as much as 20 years of dependable service from their data
centers. Unfortunately, there are many obstacles to achieving that length of
service. In particular, some of the key mechanical, electrical and plumbing
(MEP) components that data centers rely on are not designed to last that long.
Modernizing a
vintage data center’s mechanical and electrical infrastructure can enhance
availability, raise power and cooling capacity, lower operational expenses and
reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But it also yields additional and perhaps less
obvious advantages, as well as, a variety of significant planning and operational
challenges.
Challenges
of upgrading vintage data center infrastructure
Funding the project: Before data center managers can
update a vintage computing facility, they must first persuade senior executives
to fund and authorize such a project. That means building a detailed and
persuasive business model complete with concrete ROI calculations. Without
prior experience, however, assembling such facts and figures can be difficult.
Out-of-date documentation: Retrofitting an older
data center’s electrical systems haphazardly can result in overloads and other
dangerous conditions. To prevent such problems from occurring, facilities
managers need access to complete and accurate blueprints of the data center’s
existing electrical infrastructure. Unfortunately, however, many companies
neglect to keep those documents up to date.
Risk of downtime during construction: Few companies
can afford to take a vintage data center offline for months at a time during
upgrades. Yet replacing electrical and mechanical systems in a live, production
environment without affecting availability can be a demanding task and requires
careful planning.
Code compliance: Data center operators must verify
that any changes they make to a vintage facility’s electrical systems comply
with current arc flash safety requirements. Conducting thorough arc flash
studies without jeopardizing critical workloads, however, takes specific
engineering knowledge and skills.
Benefits of upgrading a vintage data
center’s MEP infrastructure
Improved safety levels: Implementing upgrades to
power distribution equipment yields improved arc safety and ease of
maintenance, and opportunities to take advantage of remote operating equipment.
Upgrading fire detection and suppression systems can remove water from the data
center and replace it with alternate technologies.
Enhanced flexibility and functionality: A modernized
data center is better equipped to accommodate a wider range of recent
technologies, such as cloud computing. It’s also more capable of supporting
even newer innovations in the future.
Improved serviceability: Retrofitting a vintage data
center’s MEP systems usually improves their redundancy, making it easier for
administrators to repair power equipment or perform necessary maintenance tasks
without lowering availability.
Greater scalability: Increasing a vintage data
center’s power and cooling capacity enables companies to maximize their use of
virtualization and blade servers, technologies that increase scalability by
freeing up floor space for future expansion.
Enhanced customer perception: Multi-tenant data
centers such as colocation or managed hosting sites often use their facilities
as a marketing tool to prospective customers. Presenting a modern
state-of-the-art appearance in areas such as system design and aesthetics can
help organizations differentiate their data center or validate the price of
their services
Though upgrading a vintage data center isn’t simple,
careful planning and skilled execution can dramatically streamline the process
and strengthen return on investment. Above all, organizations contemplating a
retrofit of an older data center’s MEP infrastructure should seek assistance
from a skilled vendor with deep and relevant experience.
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