Antoine Harb, Team Leader Middle East and North Africa at Kingston Technology explains that it is of paramount importance to take on data centre’s sustainability challenges as we accept the new normal.
Antoine Harb, Team Leader Middle East and North Africa at Kingston Technology
In an age where data is increasingly seen as the currency of the future, there is now an unmistakable need for powerful data centres that can be relied on for speed, accuracy and large computing capacity.
The demand for data centres has become especially stronger during the pandemic in light of the rapid rollout of cloud services and digitalisation. It is because of this global demand that the industry is expected to expand by leaps and bounds in the years to come, further fueled by data to be churned out by technologies such as 5G and the Internet of Things. According to a report released by Technavio, the market value of data centre will surge to USD 519.34 billion during 2021-2025.
However, with the considerable uptick in data centre facilities and processed data, questions are mounting about the environmental sustainability of their operations. The concerns raised are not without basis. It has been estimated that data centres will be responsible for one-fifth of the world’s energy demands by 2025, dwarfing the power consumption of many individual countries. This is a big leap from the industry’s 1% total global energy usage recorded in 2020 by a study published in the Journal of Science.
The data centre market has responded by taking steps focusing on energy costs and operational infrastructure. It entails examining the operations of the facilities on one hand and their design on the other.
In the area of operations, you, as data centre owners, can automate your temperature control, cooling and power distribution and protection processes by deploying sensors and artificial intelligence tools. These technologies can pave the way for more enhanced predictive capabilities and higher visibility through real-time and remote monitoring of your facilities — thus enabling you to execute effective energy-saving tactics.
As for the design, one of the measures that can be performed is the development of modular energy-efficient data centres. This promotes sustainability via utilisation of recycled materials, reclaimed water and other renewable energy sources such as wind, biomass, tidal, geothermal and solar.
But just as important as your operations and design are transparency and the partnerships that you build over time to be in line with your overarching sustainability goals. For the latter, you hold your supply chain partners, from customers to suppliers, to the same sustainability standards that you uphold.
In today’s market, Kingston Technology’s DC500 Series SSDs can deliver both value-added benefits because these products are designed to reduce license and capital costs by up to 39% and improve productivity and hardware performance. You may choose which of Kingston’s most cost-effective SSDs to deploy according to your data centre workloads.
Furthermore, you can optimise your existing technology infrastructure through memory and SSD upgrades in keeping with circular economy principles. Kingston’s entry-level SSDs are 10x faster than a spinning hard drive, thereby enabling cost optimisation and innovation.
It has been found that an international data centre service provider was able to lower its data centre power cost by 60% after replacing its high RPM mechanical HDD with Kingston’s DC500 SSD. Needless to say, the sizeable energy savings could accelerate both your money-saving strategies and environmental sustainability efforts.
‘Powerhouses’
The data centre industry has been making headway with its sustainability-related measures. In fact, it has been estimated by the International Energy Agency that, despite the expected deluge of data centre traffic and workloads, the global data centre industry’s energy demand may eventually go down. The predicted decrease is largely credited to the steady implementation of appropriate energy-efficiency practices, especially in the cooling systems, coupled with the rollout of new hyperscale data centres, which will be reportedly managed on 100% renewable energy.
Considered ‘powerhouses’ of cloud computing, data centres are essential to business continuity, resiliency, adaptability and growth — all are crucial during this pandemic and its aftermath. But more importantly, the data centre industry cannot abandon its social obligation to the environment amidst the world’s continuous transition to a digital reality.
Sustainability will continue to be part of the narrative, as it should be, with the global community’s advancement to a more sustainable and inclusive world. Data centres will undoubtedly play a huge role in turning this aspiration into a reality, with data driving and delivering value that is fundamental to our future.
