Power and space – in other words two of the most pressing issues for today’s data center operators – will worsen in 2010, according to a recent report by IT industry analyst firm Gartner. The report included a third problem – old technology in need of a refresh – which it said will worsen next year as well.

The analysts also identified four key questions data center managers need answers to as they cope with the increasing pressure created by the aforementioned three problems. The questions are on assessing data center costs, practical ways to cut those costs, measuring efficiency and problems with refurbishing existing facilities.

Since there is no standardized way of assessing data center costs, Gartner recommended that users “define a chart of accounts that specifies all the cost elements that constitute the overall cost and the key portfolios or categories that are part of that cost.”

Typical data center cost break-down. Source: Gartner (October 2009)

The company’s “pragmatic tips” for cutting cost are replacing old hardware with newer, more efficient machines, site consolidation, energy and facility cost management, labor-cost management and frugal technology asset management.

Jay Tenison of J L T Consulting Group – an Arizona data center consultancy – said a hardware refresh was a no-brainer if an organization could afford it.

While private enterprises may be able to take advantage of cost savings associated with installing more energy-efficient equipment, the US public sector – namely state and local governments – is often hard-pressed to find funding for new IT equipment.

“In a perfect world, when you had money to invest in new hardware … that would be the thing to do,” Tenison said. “The public sector world has to be a lot more innovative.”

Gartner said its clients reported that replacing old servers with newer ones resulted in 5-20-percent reduction in the number of servers deployed.

The analysts’ recommendations for reigning in energy and facilities costs were to maximize the use of air-side economization, segregated hot and cold aisles and server-based power management software designed to run workloads in energy efficient ways. They also recommended raising computer room air temperature to 24 degrees Celsius (75.2 degrees Farhrehneit).

The maximum temperature is short of 27 degrees Celsius (80.6 degrees Fahrenheit) maximum temperature recommended by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.

“There’s varying opinions in the industry about that,” Tenison said, explaining that many data center operators were still weary of pushing the temperature envelope in their facilities.

Gartner said that the single largest cost in a data center was the cost of labor – contributing in some cases as much as 40 percent to the overall expenses – and recommended more effective management of that cost.

The pitfalls associated with refurbishing data center sites identified by the analysts were location, life span and the amount of necessary structural work. Locations should be evaluated in terms of labor rates, power rates and security risks.

Life span of a data center depends on its ability to accommodate capacity that gets added to support business growth. Gartner recommends that an acceptable refurbished facility has to be able to provide enough physical, electrical and networking capacity for at least five years.

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