Over 260 delegates from Australia's leading businesses convene at Sydney Hilton to hear the view of international experts on matters regarding the design, construction and operation of data center space, as well as to share their own experience.
At the maiden outing of DatacenterDynamics in Australia, held at the Sydney Hilton on 24 August, platform speakers addressed an audience comprised of IT professionals and facility owners and operators regarding a wide range of topics from "Designing the Data Center of the Future to "Meeting Today's High Density Challenges. The breadth and quality of the day's content was hailed by delegates as having hit a mark which other events have so far failed to achieve.
The context for DatacenterDynamics Sydney is an industry which has been "doing more with less, as levels of investment since Y2K has caused data centre managers to seek innovative ways to extend the lifetime of the facilities in their charge. While the industry was to be congratulated for maximising existing facilities to make them viable for mission critical requirements, concern was voiced that Australia may have suffered in comparison to other Asia Pacific territories where business has benefited through the development of modern and high quality infrastructure and data centres.
However, the relentless rise in the power density of IT equipment coupled with a looming power problem and the implications of 4-year drought, is driving change as many institutions consider new facility builds, retrofits and planning for next generation data centers. DatacenterDynamics Sydney provided a timely and comprehensive overview of global trends and latest thinking and technologies affecting data center professionals.
Under the title "Building the Data Center of the Future - Optimized IT Environments for Today and Tomorrow, Charles Rego, Chief Technical Architect of Intel Solutions Services addressed the issue of the transformation of the data center and the impact of the "Seventh Wave. This keynote presentation seemed to resonate with an attentive audience, and many identified with the symptoms which Rego highlighted.
One of the most interesting and talked about sessions of a packed conference, was that presented by Don Beaty from the Ashrae Technical Committee 9.9. His informative overview of the high density issues created by increasingly compact IT, also looked at new methodologies for measuring and managing thermal issues. Beaty also urged delegates to work with infrastructure vendors when designing future facilities, where he feels a great deal of intellectual property is available to increase the operational suitability of new builds.
On the whole, it was power and cooling topics which drew the most impassioned response from delegates: The persistence of a 4-year drought in the region has created a tension as users consider the efficiency of liquid cooling techniques in a country where water restrictions are endemic. A spokesman from a leading bank commented that "we are under constant pressure to minimise water use throughout the summer months. Liquid cooling will not become a viable solution unless vendors can meet this key concern.
Power was on the agenda again as Haran Chelliah, director of Waterman AHW Pty Ltd and John Golder, director, ABN AMRO Services Australia and New Zealand conducted their Master Class "Data Center Challenges and Power Efficiency Challenges. During this session, the need for careful electrical engineering and shielding of facilities was declared paramount to avoid the detrimental effects of Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI) on the city's IT. Operators were called to consider power diversification and planned maintenance regimes.
Other discussion centred around the need for proper facility planning, cost modelling and project management when undergoing new facility builds and data center transformation. IT initiatives, it was said, need to ensure that both facility and equipment plans are aligned, and that IT managers and facility professionals take steps to ensure they are not fundamentally disconnected. In line with this, operations, too, came under the spotlight and both IT and facilities were asked to consider the evolution of their roles and consider how these important disciplines may better work together in future.
The success of the day was underlined when the Industry Experts Panel discussion was brought to a tardy conclusion with many questions still left unanswered. The need for an ongoing dialogue between all constituencies was clearly established at DatacenterDynamics Sydney. An operations manager at Copes Myer Ltd, Australia's largest retail group commented "there have been other events here, but none of this calibre attended by so many industry professionals, with such high level speakers talking about cutting edge issues and solutions.
Lead by Mike Doolan of Johnson Controls Australia, a group of delegates have spontaneously started their own user group, fashioned after the well established UK Datacenter Networking Group. The aim of the group is to continue and expand upon discussions started at DatacenterDynamics Sydney, to build knowledge and networking amongst this important community, and to prepare for DatacenterDynamics Sydney 2007.
For more information or to book your place please call +44 (0)207 426 4849, or visit www.datacentredynamics.com