by Jeff Burges, President of DataSite
Containerized or Modular Data Centers are a relatively new and growing method of delivering critical computing environments. They have specific advantages in many applications, but they carry with them specific disadvantages as well. The end user must weigh the pros and cons with specific focus on their situation to determine whether or not to consider this type of technology.
Within the typical data center footprint, power and cooling consumption varies widely from rack to rack. This is the nature of the equipment used in the data center; an EMC storage array that use little power next to a blade cluster using 20kW in a single rack, with some 2kW and 4kW racks in between. And as the computer manufacturers continue to innovate, the disparity is likely to increase, not decrease. So, flexibility in the power and cooling systems of the data center is a key to hedging against the impact of changing technology.
Container Data Centers limit flexibility. They are constructed to deliver a uniform amount of power and cooling to the racks in the Critical Area (white space). Further, they are tight space wise, creating a less desirable environment for users who must gain access to their Critical Area frequently, which is most users.
Containers are best used for very consistent deployments. For instance, Microsoft runs the BING search engine on deployments of 2,000 server containers or modules. They deploy hundreds of these containers. The server type is identical in all containers, and they are virtualized which enables them to pool massive computing power into virtual machines (one “machine” may be 5,000 servers large). In the case of Microsoft, for running BING in particular, the flexibility limitation of containerized data center space is not an issue.
Other examples of containers being a preferred method include highly constrained environments like urban sites where building or expanding a data center is challenged due to lack of floor space or the right type of property for data center build out, or locations with minimal human interface such as forward military deployments or oil industry field locations. In these cases, there is a location, site, or computing equipment purpose driving the use of data center technology with such limitations.
When an end user is not subject to any of these unique circumstance, and constructing a flexible, expandable data center designed to accommodate everything from 25w/SF to over 250w/SF, and provides ease of tapping chilled water for tomorrows water cooling technologies, they are best served to utilize modern data center space. Although there is some thought that the up-front cost per kW is lower with Containers, we have not seen that to be the case. The uniform distribution of power and cooling in relatively large deployments of 300kW per module, while limiting the amount of physical space the user has to rack and stack that much power/cooling demand, will more likely than not result in under-utilization of capacity, which results in stranded capital and operating inefficiency.
Owned by BURGES Property + Company, DataSite owns and operates secure world-class data centers with a unique blend of purpose-built, specially constructed facilities and expertly managed infrastructure. DataSite facilities are designed to offer affordable colocation options that meet the demanding power density and up-time requirements of the modern computing environment. DataSite’s Tier III data center designs provide completely redundant and continually operating facilities that are concurrently maintainable with zero scheduled downtime. Please call us at 877-374-2656 for more information.
