According to CBRE Global Data Center Trends, July, 2023, data center inventory grew, across all four key global regions over the last 12-months.

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), streaming services, gaming as well as autonomous cars is driving strong demand. Corporates are also increasingly moving to a hybrid approach to IT, whilst data center resilience although improving remains a barrier to some.

This growth is expanding the opportunity for even greater numbers of organizations to utilize cloud and colocation (colo) data centers at an increasingly local level.

For example, Manchester, UK has witnessed various data center organizations purchasing sites for development, in what is quickly becoming the UK’s second tech hub after London. Globally, many other cities are experiencing the phenomenon of latent demand pushing site developments and growth.

Data centers are out of the closet, in respect of the wider public’s awareness and of the utility requirement of these mega structures. Power, water and sheer size of the buildings that contain the new age engines of our economies are becoming subjects of debate at local, national and regional level.

Although new energy generation – renewables, and nuclear – and grid infrastructure development remains a long-term goal, hyperscalers are expanding their availability zones and capacity through contracts with colos. Panduit is working with a Tier I hyperscaler to enhance its speed and quality of installation in colos across EMEA to open cloud computing to increasing numbers of customers.

However, Uptime Institute’s Global Data Center Survey 2023, states, ‘Enterprise operators say, data security is the biggest impediment to moving mission-critical workloads to the cloud.’

Physically secure

Security at the physical level within data centers is an essential driver for customer confidence and therefore data center growth. For multi-tenant data centers (MTDCs) this can mean many different organizations with access to the ITE whitespace, and although the actual risk may be small, securing the equipment that your organization’s data is running on is a crucial requirement.

Data center infrastructure manufacturers understand that customers require a configurable infrastructure that helps accelerate deployment.

Designing cabinet solutions that offer maximum scalability, whether colo, hyperscale, and increasingly Edge deployments enable customers to maximize the potential of their technology investment, through cabinets and infrastructure that can grow as customer demands evolve.

Data center cabinet designs increasingly factor in more density and storage capacity, making each cabinet more valuable to the business. Increasing cable density with innovations such as optical distribution frames (ODFs) ensures the highest density of fiber cables to be easily managed in greatly reduced floor space.

Customers also want superior performance features which can be customized to specific requirements. The increased equipment density has allowed further optimization of floorspace towards compute over infrastructure.

With the densification of infrastructure, the introduction of cable network mapping is contributing to system value through the capability to reduce the time and cost of patch cord documentation by up to 50 percent.

By automating the labor intensive and often error-prone cable documentation process the network engineer, using prelabelled patch cords and Bluetooth-enabled handheld scanner can place, trace and replace cables to create a comprehensive network map.

This also provides a fast response mechanism, for emergency situations, where re-routing cables becomes necessary and an up-to-date network map essential.

The increase in value of data requires additional safety features and the need to offer advanced security capabilities on front and rear doors helps contain individual organization tech investment from non-supervised or non-authorized personnel.

Security options should include a choice of physical key lock, three-digit combo, or HID electronic and/or keypad lock, and again the capability of integrated intelligence across the cabinet platform ensures that entry is registered and authorized.

Data center resilience has become more critical as businesses increasingly rely on colo and cloud to support their operations. The importance of robust power solutions including environmental sensors, Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS), Power Distribution Units (PDUs), connectivity, asset management software, and cannot be overstated.

Environmental sensors

Environmental factors, such as temperature, humidity, and airflow, can significantly impact infrastructure performance and the data center’s resilience. Environmental sensors provide operators the close proximity data to monitor these factors in real-time, preventing equipment failure and downtime.

Data center resilience has become more critical as businesses increasingly rely on colo and cloud to support their operations. The importance of robust power solutions including environmental sensors, Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS), Power Distribution Units (PDUs), connectivity, asset management software, and cannot be overstated.

Environmental sensors

Environmental factors, such as temperature, humidity, and airflow, can significantly impact infrastructure performance and the data center’s resilience. Environmental sensors provide operators the close proximity data to monitor these factors in real-time, preventing equipment failure and downtime.

By integrating sensors with asset management software, operators can gain a comprehensive understanding of the data center’s environmental conditions. This proactive approach to environmental monitoring can enhance data center resilience and extend the IT equipment’s life cycle.

Power Distribution Units (PDUs)

Efficient power distribution is vital for individual cabinet resilience. PDUs serve as the backbone for distributing power to IT equipment cabinets within a data center. They are available in two main types: in-rack and overhead.

In-rack PDUs are installed within server racks, while overhead PDUs are mounted above the racks, freeing up valuable floor space. Both types of PDUs offer benefits, and platform layout will influence the specific needs of the data center.

Emerging trends in PDU technology, such as intelligent PDUs with remote monitoring capabilities, can further enhance data center resilience by providing real-time data on power usage, efficiency, and potential issues.

Connectivity solutions

The demand for faster data transmission continues to grow, and the capability of the company’s fiber cabling network to scale has become even more important. Investing in a high-quality fiber cabling that has both redundancy and intuitive management, allows data center operators to ensure optimal performance and resilience. Spine-Leaf cabling architecture has improved server virtualization and sharpened the focus on the fiber capabilities.

Asset management software

Real-time monitoring and management of data center assets is essential for enhancing resilience. Cloud-based data center infrastructure management (DCIM) software offers a streamlined approach to monitoring and managing power, cooling, and security within a data center.

By utilizing DCIM software, operators and customers can gain valuable insights into their data center’s performance, identify potential issues, and make informed decisions to optimize operations.

As a result, using the latest DCIM solutions will improve overall resilience by minimizing downtime and ensuring that critical IT infrastructure is operating efficiently.

Today’s leading data center operators and customers are finding a holistic approach to data center resilience is essential in today’s competitive market.

By investing in advanced solutions including PDUs, connectivity, asset management software, and environmental sensors, operators can enhance their data center’s performance, efficiency, and security.

As we travel further into the AI era, it is crucial for operators to stay informed of the latest advancements and adapt their infrastructure to support the massively increasing data loads accordingly. By providing advanced platforms, they can ensure the resilience of their data center, and the commitment of the customers to drive the growth projected by the market watchers.