Plug and Play Modular Data Centers: Could it be the future of Data Center technology?

The data center landscape is changing. Today, there are plug and play modular data centers that can be integrated into a business environment as an alternative to a more traditional in-house data center.

There are three scenarios that drive the need for such a modularized or containerized data center facility:

–   The business customer does not have enough knowledge and expertise in data center architecture, design and implementation

–  When the need for a new facility crops up, and the deadlines are very tight

–   When customers want a building block approach that scales up the data center facility as business requirements also increase

This approach allows customers to save greatly on upfront costs, especially when they only need to pay for a minimal infrastructure, and can gradually increase their capacity by adding more blocks as business needs escalate. Besides the cost factor, modular data centers offer faster deployment, which is vital when customers have strict deadlines. Scalability is made possible by modular data centers  and customers can actually decrease the number of blocks if they feel they do not need so many resources.

Such prefabricated data center modules can achieve greater Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) measurements and quality service delivery than data centers built from scratch as they are tailor-made for faster and effective performance right from their production.

Note that the three scenarios that may drive modular data centers can also be satisfied using wholesale or retail colocation. Colocation has the added benefit of no up-front capital investments in the data center facilities.

Modular data centers hold great potential for some companies, and while it may not provide the most optimum solution for a business it may as well be the best fit. Is a modular data center right for you? Ask the experts.

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.