Data centers and their services continue to evolve as demand increases. You likely make use of some type of data center every day in both personal and professional settings, so it’s important to stay updated on the new trends and innovations that are shaping the industry. This is doubly important if your company utilizes data center services for its operations, as these developments can have significant impacts on the way you do business and on your bottom line.
Here are some of the data center industry trends to keep an eye on and consider for your business:
Virtual servers and software-defined data centers (SDDCs)
Virtualization is not new, but its applications in a data center setting are constantly growing and being improved. With virtualization, instead of renting physical servers and architecture from the data center, you get access to a pool of computing resources. This pool of resources can be arranged and utilized as though it was a physical network infrastructure, without the need for costly hardware. This method simplifies data center management, speeds up delivery of IT services, improves flexibility, and lowers costs.
Cloud infrastructure optimization and refactoring
It’s a mistake to set up your cloud infrastructure but fail to revisit its design later to make improvements. Data centers and service providers are finding new ways to optimize hastily assembled or poorly designed cloud infrastructures to make them more efficient, resilient, and cost-effective. Instead of paying more for additional cloud computing resources, look to your IT department or IT services provider to eliminate redundant, overbuilt, or unused cloud infrastructure. This will free up resources and save on costs over the long run.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning
It’s hard to get away from these terms in the technology world, and with data centers, it’s no different. But for data centers, artificial intelligence (AI) is not just a poorly defined buzzword. Due to the physical and virtual size of server farms and their complexity, predictive analytics and machine learning are becoming invaluable tools for managing them. For example, Google was able to cut 40% of its data center cooling costs by utilizing AI to manage the cooling infrastructure. Data centers that leverage AI are seeing real results, and are able to reduce costs while improving service delivery.
Skills growth prioritization
It can be easy to laser-focus on hardware and software when talking about cloud infrastructures and data centers, but the human element must not be ignored. As new kinds of technologies and best practices emerge, having the right people to implement these developments is just as important as acquiring them. If you prioritize infrastructure modernization without investing in organic skills growth for IT personnel, you might find that your new infrastructure is not as efficient or cost-effective as it could be. Industry experts are encouraging new skills growth centered on automation and new methods of cloud architecture design.
Green and sustainable practices
Green initiatives are taking hold in most tech industries, and rightly so. But in the case of data centers, environmentally friendly and sustainable practices are not just a way to improve public image and mitigate the climate catastrophe. As with cryptocurrencies (though not to the same extent), data centers use a lot of energy, which is becoming more expensive and hard to come by as demand continues to skyrocket. By investing in solutions such as free air cooling, waste heat capture, ultrasonic humidification, and low-power servers, data centers can reduce their power draw and expenses while demonstrating their commitment to fighting climate change.
If you’ve got questions about other developments in the data center landscape or want to know more about what these new trends and innovations can do for you, contact Liberty Center One. We have over 15 years of experience delivering solutions focused on data protection and high-availability environments, and our expert team of cloud infrastructure specialists would be happy to share their insight.