How adaptive data centres have risen through the ranks

The intelligent world that is currently being built and is based on 5G, AI, cloud computing, and big data technologies, requires massive data and storage.

In the era of digital transformation, enterprises across industries – including the government, finance, energy, and transportation – are feeling the pressure of massive volumes of data and need to cope with the uncertainty of service upgrade.

So how can enterprises cope with the surge in data and related infrastructure required? By using agile, adaptable and intelligent data centres.

For one, today’s advanced modular data centres can significantly simplify equipment room construction. Indeed, the solution radically reduces traditional location requirements for equipment rooms – from floor height to total area and load bearing capacity – effectively shortening installation times and related costs.

Crucial testing and even some commissioning can be done under factory conditions, greatly shortening time to market of enterprise digital transformation services as well. Simply put, a data centre can now be easily adapted for any location and space. With far lower requirements placed on net height, the latest breed of modular data centres do not need a traditional raised floor design. Instead, air conditioner pipes and cables are routed across the top, meaning that equipment can be accommodated in ceiling heights as low as 2.6m, far below the 3m minimum height required by a traditional data centre.

Another important innovation to help enterprises is the low requirement for load bearing.

The load bearing of today’s solutions falls below 1000 kg/sqm, meeting the load-bearing requirements for T3 and T4 data centres as outlined under the TIA-942 certification scheme.

Therefore, the power supply system and IT devices can be deployed in the same room and share white space. Similarly, load bearing requirements are slashed as lithium batteries are far lighter than lead-acid equivalents.

Doing away with the need to have a separate power room also represents a big saving on space. New high-density solutions save more than 75 per cent of the required battery space, compared with lead-acid batteries. That means more revenue-generating IT cabinets can be deployed instead.

Finally, flexible capacity expansion is now becoming possible. Modular data centres now offer a fully modular backup power supply.

This brings into reality a truly modular system, where enterprises pay for what they need at that time and expand as and when required. As a result, all budgets are accommodated, and savings can be made on the initial investment.

As data volumes continue to increase, it is reassuring to see that fusion module solutions can be applied to a wide range of customers and industries worldwide. With features of room structure adaptability, flexible expansion, high efficiency, and simple O&M, the advanced modular data centres of today can definitely help enterprises across the Middle East with their business success.

Sanjay Kumar Sainani is a senior vice president and CTO at Huawei Global Data Centre Facility Business