ComputerWeekly Datacentres will need high-density power distribution within five years

Datacentres will need to incorporate high-density power distribution within the next five years.

Analyst Gartner has predicted that by 2015, 50% of datacentres will have a high-density zone, up from fewer than 10% in 2010.

Even datacentres built within the past five years are designed to have a uniform energy distribution of around 2kW to 4kW per rack. With the increasing use of high-density blade systems, This design envelope is no longer sufficient, according to Gartner. It recommends datacentre managers plan for 10kW high-density blade systems.

“High-density zones are by far the best way to manage the differences in the lifecycle changes of datacentres’ building structures, electromechanical equipment and IT equipment,” says Rakesh Kumar, research vice-president at Gartner. “However, many users remain unsure of the benefits of high-density zones – especially in gaining flexibility in capacity planning – as well as the potential pitfalls.

More of the ComputerWeekly article from Cliff Saran

Alex Carroll

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Alex, co-owner, is responsible for all real estate, construction and mission critical facilities: hardened buildings, power systems, cooling systems, fire suppression, and environmentals. Alex also manages relationships with the telecommunications providers and has an extensive background in IT infrastructure support, database administration and software design and development. Alex architected Lifeline’s proprietary GRCA system and is hands-on every day in the data center.