Are our data centers soon migrating to the far North?

Avoiding energy costs by moving all data centers to colder regions? It won’t happen that quickly. The current local IT infrastructure offers sufficient flexibility and scalability, yet some companies are still missing the boat.

Avoiding energy costs by moving all data centers to colder regions? It won’t happen that quickly. The current local IT infrastructure offers sufficient flexibility and scalability, yet some companies are still missing the boat.

The way we house and utilize our data centers today cannot be sustained in the changing IT landscape. New developments are on the horizon, and awareness of data consumption and sustainability is increasing. A hybrid multicloud model, based on HCI, offers sufficient flexibility and scalability to meet the needs of the current IT landscape, with a focus on sustainability.

However, a lack of knowledge and adoption among companies means that we are not yet where we should be, and it is up to experts to 'educate' businesses. The current IT landscape and how it deals with data centers and infrastructure are analyzed by the experts present at the roundtable on data center and IT infrastructure, organized by ITdaily.

 

Knowledge is Power

In the ecosystem of data centers and IT infrastructure, everything starts with "knowledge is power," although this is often underestimated or forgotten. "Many companies have thousands of tasks running on various servers that are actually unnecessary," says Xavier Warnier, CCO at Datacenter United. This consumes a lot of energy, and energy costs money. But even at a personal level, we are no longer aware of how much energy our data consumes. "There's a lot running in our living rooms alone," adds Frank De Campenaere, Senior Solution Sales Executive at Lenovo.

You don't realize that everything you do, from generating an image with ChatGPT to sending an email, consumes power in a data center. "Colruyt used to send emails with a note at the bottom informing customers that a response by email actually had a cost of five francs," recalls Luc Costers, Regional Leader Nutanix BeLux, CIS, and Eastern Europe. We know not to print emails, but today, we don't realize the impact that digital activities have on energy consumption, costs, and the climate.

 

Sustainability

Sustainability is emerging as a key theme across various sectors. Companies are increasingly setting objectives to achieve specific sustainability goals. This can serve as an accelerator to manage these goals better and make the right decisions. "If I don't clean up my data, it becomes a cost for my company," says Tom Van der Hulst, Business Unit Manager of Intelligent Infrastructure at NTT. "Maybe we don't need to burden our servers with hundreds of photos from the last company party, but a handful of good images might suffice?" he adds.

The first step towards a more sustainable approach to data centers is improving their efficiency. "Which data and workloads are redundant and consuming a lot of server energy? We conduct an analysis based on the current infrastructure to achieve sustainability," says Van der Hulst. More and more organizations are questioning whether the location of their data is the right choice.

 

Today's Go-To Model

So, what is the best approach to setting up your data center today? The experts around the table all support the concept of a hybrid multi-cloud environment with hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI). In such a hybrid environment, you distribute your data and workloads across servers and in the cloud. "The advantage of the cloud is that you can take exactly what you need," Van der Hulst explains. When combined with an on-premises HCI environment, workloads become highly mobile. HCI offers more flexibility, allowing you to distribute them, in contrast to traditional tier 3 environments.

"Today, I see very few IT departments that truly understand the cost of all aspects of their IT," says Costers, who happens to have a solution for this with Nutanix in their portfolio. It is precisely these insights that are essential for making the right decisions. Ideally, you run the workload where it is most efficient. "We are not measuring enough today," says De Campenaere. "We know that machines consume much less energy at night than during the day," he continues. Lenovo's Truescale as-a-service model maps out how much and where the major consumption occurs, allowing for efficient shifts. Power consumption is the key parameter for Lenovo's on-premises service model for servers.

 

Warmer Temperatures, Colder Regions

The rapidly changing technological landscape, coupled with an increased focus on sustainability, brings a need for new techniques such as heat networks or cooling at higher temperatures. “Today, there are servers that can operate at up to 40 degrees Celsius, which is a significant advancement in sustainability,” says De Campenaere. This allows for reduced energy consumption by cooling systems. “It’s impractical to cool down to eighteen degrees in the summer when servers can run at thirty degrees,” adds Warnier, drawing from his expertise at Datacenter United.

On the other hand, there is another potential approach where data centers are relocated to colder regions, eliminating the need for cooling equipment. In some cases, energy costs are the primary concern, making the North an attractive option.

“Belgium is almost the most expensive country in Europe in terms of electricity costs,” Warnier acknowledges. To reduce these costs, “customers might spread their workloads across different countries depending on the level of accessibility of that data.” In terms of latency, this isn't always the best solution, and the saying ‘keep your friends close and your data closer’ does hold true. Moreover, choosing the right location for your workload involves more than just latency and the electricity component of the total cost, such as service delivery.

 

Educating Customers

The technological landscape is constantly evolving and becoming more complex by the day. There is a significant lack of awareness regarding data (usage), and the adoption of new innovations can be intimidating for many companies that remain loyal to their traditional data centers. The experts around the table are well aware of this. “It’s up to us to educate customers,” is a recurring sentiment. The way we manage data centers needs to evolve alongside changing technology usage, such as the additional computing power that artificial intelligence already demands.

For experts in the field, this is equally a challenge. As technology grows at such a rapid pace, it can sometimes feel like they’re playing catch-up. Stepping up efforts, seeking synergies, and continuing to innovate can provide solutions to the ever-new technological challenges. A flexible and modern IT infrastructure is essential.