IT aside, the vast majority of power usage in a data centre is due to cooling and the need to relocate heat away from the CPU. Traditionally, air cooling is the go-to solution and makes up the vast majority of cooling solutions in the data centre world.
IT aside, the vast majority of power usage in a data centre is due to cooling and the need to relocate heat away from the CPU. Traditionally, air cooling is the go-to solution and makes up the vast majority of cooling solutions in the data centre world.
IT aside, the vast majority of power usage in a data centre is due to cooling and the need to relocate heat away from the CPU. Traditionally, air cooling is the go-to solution and makes up the vast majority of cooling solutions in the data centre world.
IT aside, the vast majority of power usage in a data centre is due to cooling and the need to relocate heat away from the CPU. Traditionally, air cooling is the go-to solution and makes up the vast majority of cooling solutions in the data centre world.
Now in it’s sixth year, Keysource’s State of the Industry Report 2023, focuses on the data centre trilemma: balancing speed, substance and sustainability. It’s packed with insights from over 250 data centre professionals, and it’s essential information for anyone involved in our industry.
The report highlights the trilemma the industry is facing in dealing with the competing and compelling challenges of developing and delivering on sustainability targets; the pressure to speed up project delivery to remain competitive; and the continuing supply chain and skills issues. This is against a background of rising costs and new EU and imminent UK Regulation changes.
”The pressure to speed up project delivery is perhaps the most concerning finding of the report with 75% of those surveyed identifying quality issues which could reasonably have been identified or better managed earlier as a result. Certainly, we are seeing some organisations prioritising speed above all else which is at best risky, especially considering our respondents’ strong concerns about getting the correct advice as the skills shortage continues to bite.
Jon HealyChief Operating Officer, Keysource
The report shows that the skills shortage continues with competing demand both ‘client side’ and within the supply chain for the same people. This is reflected by the fact that only a third of respondents are confident in the quality of the information that is being provided which negatively impacts the ability to make informed decisions. As a result, nearly half of respondents chose to sub-contract more projects or services than they had planned, as the industry turns even more to supply chain partners to keep to programme timescales. According to the majority of respondents this approach had a positive impact including better quality and quicker delivery, with the inevitable trade off of a higher cost.
There are some encouraging findings around sustainability with 69% of respondents having a seat at the table when discussing sustainability targets and over half having a separate ‘green budget’ that can be used for sustainable solutions and initiatives. However, this positive progress is at odds with the just 17% who consider sustainability to be a high priority and the fact that less than a third said they were making significant progress with their sustainability strategy – with over half still not having one at all! In addition, 64% of respondents haven’t evaluated the carbon impact of existing data centre services and solutions and 57% aren’t intending to evaluate future investments, meaning missed opportunities to make both carbon and financial savings.
”The inrush of available capital that we have seen enter the data centre market is reflective of its promising returns and the comparative performance of other markets. This is coupled with a relatively low risk given its resilience through recent years, which is overall very positive for the short and medium term of the industry. This said, these conditions can quickly change given the influences this sector has from a range of areas such as technology, regulation, energy resources, corporate governance, and a lack of skilled people.
So, whilst this year’s state of the industry report shows that the data centre and related sectors continue to grow despite these challenges and the current global unrest, political scepticism, and economic uncertainty, it also flags that a number of common challenges still remain and these are forcing decision makers to operate differently. Our industry has a clear trilemma and the need to solve all three are equally important!
Jon HealyChief Operating Officer, Keysource
Speak to our team today for tailored advice and guidance on creating and operating a data centre fit for the next generation of computing.
Operating a data centre is expensive, but energy consumption is vital to the ongoing expenses of a data centre, which is one of the reasons why the industry is making such a drive for sustainability.
Today, the most significant cost of running a data centre is energy, with the average data centre spending 25% to 60% of its total expenses on energy consumption alone in the UK. It illustrates the need to act by integrating green technologies into new and legacy data centres.
Energy consumption is the biggest expense involved in running a data centre. This is because of the immense costs of running servers and the necessary cooling infrastructure. In fact, data centre energy consumption has grown so much that it now accounts for 3% of the global electricity supply.
So, what are the largest contributors to your data centre energy bill?
Whilst these steps can help, creating a green data centre with the help of professionals can always yield better results. Consulting with Keysource on upgrading your data centre or building a sustainable data centre from scratch can allow you to maximise efficiency opportunities.
Keysource and Deep Green are proud to announce that we have won the Edge Project of the Year award at the DCS Awards! This recognises our innovative approach to data centre design and construction, which uses sustainable technologies to reduce energy consumption and environmental impact.
An innovative start up Deep Green has seen the heat generated by a data centre used to heat a Devon public swimming pool. The computers inside the white box are surrounded by oil to capture the heat – enough to heat the pool to about 30C 60% of the time, saving Exmouth Leisure Centre thousands of pounds. The data centre is provided to the council-run centre free of charge and the leisure centre’s electricity costs for running the “digital boiler” will also be refunded.
Sean Day, who runs the leisure centre, said he had been expecting its energy bills to rise by £100,000 this year. “The partnership has really helped us reduce the costs of what has been astronomical over the last 12 months – our energy prices and gas prices have gone through the roof.”
The future of the data centre has to be at the heart of communities, contributing too, rather than detracting from local communities. We can do this as part of an integrated planning process, leveraging the heat for district heating, support local community services like swimming pools or even as part of new residential and commercial developments.
Rishi Sunak recently highlighted the £800m investment in supercomputing, and what better way to achieve this in a sustainable manner, to support NetZero 2030 than an integrated Metropolitan Edge data centre within every community. Keysource and Deep Green are working together to scale this approach across the UK.
Energy costs are at an all-time high and swimming pools are struggling to stay open. (Last summer, BBC News revealed 65 swimming pools had closed since 2019, with rising energy costs cited as a significant reason.) This also bucks the trend of data centre projects by repurposing the heat generated to serve the local community.
The project was able to find the ‘load’ that marries up with the Direct Liquid Cooling compute approach in a footprint that can be sustainable and secure whilst ensuring the IT hardware has valid ‘warranty’ in DLC / Immersed environment.
Moving forward this approach also addresses the Grid limitations and energy requirements that are significantly limiting opportunities to develop new data-centre capacity and creating significant negative publicity for the data centre industry which is manifesting itself in moratoriums on new project development. In essence, rapidly growing industry energy requirements and carbon footprint represent an existential threat to existing DC business models.
This approach utilises small pockets of ‘spare’ and already allocated grid capacity to deliver edge and HPC capabilities within the fabric of society. The energy recapture model saves pools at least 63% on their energy requirements to heat the pool. In exchange, the pools provide space, power and connectivity to support the deployment.
It utilises the energy efficiency benefits of immersion and direct liquid cooling in combination with heat re-use to deliver a PUE of 1.005 or lower and runs on 100% renewable energy.
As with many projects in the sector we faced supply chain delays and had to also manage the programme with the swimming pool. The availability of skilled people was an issue as we were looking for specialist partners to work with, with strong supply chain and coverage to support the installation.
Warranty restrictions of existing components is not favourable to immersion projects so we had to work with OEM manufacturers to validate the use of their technology within immersed environments.
A cut in gas consumption for pool heating by 91%; a current PUE of 1.005 with a projected PUE of 1.003; projected cost savings of £2500 per month: and projected reduction of carbon footprint of 3 tonnes per month.
Keysource is a leading provider of data centre design, construction, and management services. We have a proven track record of delivering sustainable data centres that meet the needs of our clients.
Our team of experts can help you every step of the way, from planning and design to construction and commissioning. We will work with you to understand your specific needs and goals, and we will develop a custom solution that meets your budget and timeline.
We are committed to sustainability, and we are always looking for new ways to reduce our environmental impact. We use the latest technologies and techniques to design and build data centres that are as efficient as possible, improving their energy efficiency, reducing their water consumption, and minimizing waste.
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