2011 Data Center Trends | modular power

Posted on: January 16th, 2011 by Bill

I was reading the Data Center Dynamics Focus Dec 2010/Jan 2011 edition, and they had several touts speak to what the biggest developments in 2010 and what they feel is in store for 2011. Here’s my two cents on that one:

Cloud Computing

With the rise on location independent content, specifically in the social networking, gaming and media businesses, we will grapple with how that applies to critical environment. And the result will be the reduction of critical environment footprint and storage to house the same amount of enterprise information. On the other hand, the media and content side of the web will continue to explode.

The Rise of the Modular Data Center

While originally seen as a platform-specific application, mechanical and electrical systems are now being elegantly and efficiently packaged, completing the modular circle. By extension, the Class level of the containerized systems now approach or equals the traditional stick-built environment for reliability and quality of construction. This will finally bring containerized solutions into the mainstream outside of the web- and content-based business who have traditionally employed them.. And the result will be the massive and widespread use of containerized solutions by enterprise customers outside of the collocation business. The collocation business will begin to provide both “white” space and “parking” space for containers on their campuses. So will enterprise users.

Creativity From Manufacturers

After over a decade of iterative changes and improvement in manufactured systems, we now are being presented with a host of new systems and components from the industry’s manufacturers. This is being driven by several factors: designers demanding new gear and system application approaches; energy consumption; arc flash safety; and the modularity of larger systems. And the result will be the constituent systems of the data center, whether that be in the traditionally-built or modularly-built environment will look far different in 36 months than they do today.

And in January 2011, I’ll reflect on these prognostications to see if I’m full of feathers.

Make it an “up” day everyone!