Data centres need to be redesigned, says OnLine Distribution

According to recent reports from IDC, data centres will need to be fundamentally re-engineered to meet the challenges ahead, as companies grow their business. Automated management tools have become essential to keep down IT admin costs low, and data centres need to keep up with growing business requirements. Companies in the region need to have the ability to automatically manage applications, servers and the network, from a central point, explains Venu Menon, Director, Online Distribution.

"The Middle East is now a manufacturing hub, and remote assistance and control of data is a major challenge. According to recent reports, without modification, data centres will only keep pace with increasing business needs for a year and 10 per cent of them do not even match current business requirements. It has been estimated that standardising on a smaller number of management tools could help data centres shave up to 50 per cent of costs from their operations. Companies in the region need greater visibility and control over the servers in their data centres while removing the need for multiple management tools,"

says Menon.

Storage, security, in-house or remote management of data are the basic elements dealt with in a data centre and with segmentation and vertical housing of data, centralisation of data has become a major challenge. Many CIOs and IT directors are opting for a quick-fix solution of buying more servers, but this is not a long term solution. "They need to look to make investments in solutions that will meet their current and future needs - offering scalability to grow and adapt with their business, and extending the life of their data centre," adds Menon.

Meanwhile, the combined pressures of rising energy costs and uncertainty over power sources are also forcing IT vendors to find ways to use less power, decrease harmful emissions and build eco-friendly equipment. Electricity costs are rising, while blade servers and other high-performance server technologies require increasing amounts of electricity to run. Data centre power consumption is a growing global concern on both a business and environmental level.

Power, heat, cooling and resultant system density are among the top challenges facing data centre operations. Users report that energy efficiency is moving from 'desirable' to 'mandatory' in many enterprises. Despite their perceived advantage in achieving server consolidation, blade servers are cited as the worst offenders when it came to energy and thermal problems.

"With the increase in demands on IT, it is the industry's responsibility to help customers make smarter choices around all data centre issues, including energy consumption. Data centre owners running large amounts of IT equipment should consider using combined heat and power (CHP) technology to reduce their emissions and electricity consumption," adds Menon.