Colombia. After feeling the threat of rationing during the first quarter of this year, it became clear that it is vital for all more companies to improve their energy efficiency in order to have this resource, important for the entire economy.
Thus, when considering the development, expansion or improvement of a data center, the issue exceeds the technical guideline and goes to the strategic level because each movement that is made around the data centers, implies important investments. For this reason, the IT decisions of companies are also analyzed by the finance area and the general management.
This simply means that the determinations in the case cannot be analysed exclusively from the point of view of kapex, as they are not really an expense and are not made once. In this sense, analyzing IT investments from the point of view of Opex is more strategic and provides a long-term vision while generating a management of both energy and all resources more efficiently.
In this way, cost analyses and the relationship between investment and overall business performance are done over longer periods of time that allow for a more realistic view of energy management, cost reduction, functionality, and the data center.
Trends are directed towards some elements that are now fundamental in the management of data centers. For example, the Internet of Things, IoT, which, thanks to the intensive use of sensors and other elements, allows to analyze, manage and control all the elements within these systems, determining to which points to devote more attention, so that the energy is used optimally.
The sensors determine if a server is overloaded or if the processors are working excessively, so that the administrator makes timely decisions and, if there is a lot of heat, add ventilation and air conditioning, to refresh the server of the case, or even direct the task to other servers that are less busy, thus reducing the generation of heat and the cost of cooling processes.
Regarding this topic, innovative methodologies are also sought, such as the so-called Free Cooling, which literally translates free cooling, since this task is one of the most expensive.
Free Cooling is mainly based on taking advantage of the coldest areas of the planet, to deploy data centers there and take advantage of low temperatures to cool processors, servers and storage systems, among others, thus making efficient and less expensive the use of data center facilities.
Schneider Electric has worked on these projects for decades and has the experience and knowledge of the complex technological demands needed to deploy the data centers of the future, leveraging technologies such as IoT and Free Cooling.
Thus, companies in Colombia and throughout the region must prepare to improve the management of data centers. Schneider Electric is attentive to solving the needs of users, with state-of-the-art technology and proven knowledge.
