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Avoid energy costs by moving all data centers to colder locations? It won’t happen that quickly. The current on-site IT infrastructure offers sufficient flexibility and scalability, but some
Avoid energy costs by moving all data centers to colder locations? It won’t happen that quickly. The current on-site IT infrastructure offers sufficient flexibility and scalability, but some companies are not yet on board.
The way we house and use our data centers today cannot survive in the changing IT landscape. New developments are just around the corner and awareness of data consumption and sustainability is increasing. A hybrid multi-cloud model based on HCI offers sufficient flexibility and scalability to meet the requirements of the current IT landscape, including with regard to sustainability.
However, a lack of knowledge and acceptance among companies means we are not yet where we should be and it is up to the experts to “educate” companies. The experts present at the round table on data centers and IT infrastructure organized by ITdaily will analyze the current IT landscape and how it deals with data centers and infrastructure.
In the ecosystem of data centers and IT infrastructure, everything starts with “measurement is knowledge”, even if this is often underestimated or forgotten. “In many companies, thousands of tasks run on different servers that are actually redundant,” says Xavier Warnier, CCO at Datacenter United. This requires a lot of energy and energy costs money. But even privately, we are no longer aware of how much energy our data needs. “There’s a lot going on in our living rooms alone,” adds Frank De Campenaere, Senior Solution Sales Executive at Lenovo.
Many companies run thousands of tasks that are actually unnecessary.
Xavier Warnier, CCO Datacenter United
They don’t realize that everything you do, from creating an image via ChatGPT to sending an email, uses power in a data center. “Colruyt used to send emails telling the customer that an email response would actually have cost five francs,” remembers Luc Costers, regional manager for Nutanix BeLux, CIS and Eastern Europe. We know you shouldn’t print emails, but today we don’t understand the impact digitalization has on energy consumption, costs and the climate.
Sustainability is becoming an issue in various industries. Companies are increasingly setting their goals to achieve specific sustainability goals. This can be an accelerator to deal with it better and make the right decisions. “If I don’t clean my data, it costs my company,” says Tom Van der Hulst, Business Unit Manager Intelligent Infrastructure at NTT. “Maybe we shouldn’t load our servers with hundreds of photos from the last company party, but would a handful of good pictures be enough?” he continues.
If I don’t clean my data, it costs my business.
Tom Van der Hulst, Business Unit Manager Intelligent Infrastructure NTT
A first step towards a more sustainable approach to the data center is to operate it more efficiently. “Which data and workloads are redundant and require a lot of energy from the servers? To achieve this sustainability, we carry out an analysis based on the current infrastructure,” says Van der Hulst. More and more organizations are wondering whether the location of their data is the right choice.
So what is it? the path you should take Want to set up your data center today? The men at the table all support the concept of a hybrid multi-cloud environment with hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI). In such a hybrid environment, you distribute your data and workloads across servers and in the cloud. “The advantage of the cloud is that you can buy exactly what you need,” says Van der Hulst. Combined with an on-premises HCI environment, workloads suddenly become very mobile. In contrast to classic Tier 3 environments, HCI offers more flexibility in distribution.
“Today I only see very few IT departments that know what their IT really costs in all aspects,” says Costers, who, not coincidentally, has a solution in Nutanix in his portfolio. It is precisely these insights that are essential for making the right decisions. Ideally, you run the workload where it is most efficient. “We don’t measure enough these days,” says De Campenaere. “We know that machines use much less at night than during the day,” he continues. Lenovo’s TruScale-as-a-Service model determines how much and where the greatest consumption is to enable efficient offshoring. Power consumption is the key parameter for Lenovo’s on-premises server service model.
These days I see very few IT departments that know what their IT really costs in all aspects.
Luc Costers Regional Manager Nutanix BeLux, CIS and Eastern Europe
The rapidly changing technology landscape, coupled with a greater focus on sustainability, is accompanied by a need for new technologies such as heating networks or cooling at higher temperatures. “Today there are servers that can reach temperatures of up to 40 degrees, which is a big step forward in terms of sustainability,” says De Campenaere. This allows energy consumption for cooling systems to be limited. “It is impractical to cool to 18 degrees in the summer while servers can run at 30 degrees,” adds Warnier, based on his expertise at Datacenter United.
On the other hand, there is another possible approach in which data centers are relocated to colder locations and therefore do not require cooling equipment. In some situations, energy costs outweigh the costs and the north proves to be a valuable option.
“Belgium is almost the most expensive country in Europe when it comes to electricity,” notes Warnier. To reduce these costs, “customers can distribute workloads across different countries depending on the level of accessibility of that data.” Regarding latency This is not always the prevailing solution and the statement “keep your friends and your dates close” does indeed make sense. Additionally, choosing the right location for your workload is about more than just latency and the energy component of the overall cost of, for example, service delivery.
The technology landscape does not stand still and is becoming more complex every day. There is a lot of ignorance about data (consumption) and the introduction of new innovations scares off many companies that remain loyal to their traditional data centers. The men at the table are all too aware of this. “It is up to us to guide and sensitize customers,” it is said several times. The way we deal with data centers must evolve as technology usage changes, such as the additional computing power that artificial intelligence already requires.
This is also a challenge for experts in the field. Because technology moves so quickly, it sometimes lags behind the times. Taking the step further, looking for synergies and continuing to innovate can provide answers to the ever-new technological challenges. A flexible and modern IT infrastructure is a must.
This article is part of a series following the roundtable on data center and infrastructure organized by ITdaily. Read more here.
Source: IT Daily
As an experienced journalist and author, Mary has been reporting on the latest news and trends for over 5 years. With a passion for uncovering the stories behind the headlines, Mary has earned a reputation as a trusted voice in the world of journalism. Her writing style is insightful, engaging and thought-provoking, as she takes a deep dive into the most pressing issues of our time.
