Jamie Cameron, Affiliate Director, Important Techniques at Cundall, explores why refurbishing beats rebuilding with regards to making effectivity, price, and environmental good points in information centres.
Amid the developments in AI and liquid cooling applied sciences, a major pattern calls for consideration: the refurbishment of ageing information centres. These services, foundational to the digital age, have been constructed in the course of the mid-2000s web growth. The explosive development of cloud-hosted enterprise software program, social media, and streaming companies has elevated information to a essential asset. Nonetheless, the infrastructure supporting this development is reaching, and in lots of instances exceeding, two to a few many years of service. Consequently, the necessity for complete upgrades has turn out to be crucial. Addressing the refurbishment of those information centres will not be merely a routine concern however a strategic precedence for organisations dedicated to sustaining and managing the trade’s exponential development.
Elements driving information centre refurbishment
Refurbishing older information centres relatively than establishing new ones provides many benefits, significantly for colocation suppliers – organisations that lease out information area to others. Current colocation websites typically function at low utilisation ranges, with precise kilowatt (kW) consumption considerably decrease than the kW capability offered, typically by as a lot as 50%. By upgrading these services, operators can unlock trapped capability inside the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) infrastructure or utilise secured but unused utility energy, a essential useful resource in developed markets. This method not solely enhances operational effectivity but in addition supplies a cheap resolution.
Operational enhancements usually are not the one advantages of refurbishing current information centres. Vital monetary good points will also be made. Refurbishing current information centres typically requires decrease Capital Expenditure (CapEx) than constructing new services. This method additionally contributes to sustainability by decreasing embodied carbon – carbon emissions of supplies and building processes all through the entire lifecycle of a constructing. Retrofits, versus demolition and reconstruction, mitigate upfront carbon emissions, making it a extra sustainable different. These monetary advantages and environmental benefits make information centre refurbishment a wise and cost-effective selection.
Sustainability is a key pillar of knowledge centre refurbishment. Gear lifecycle upgrades permit information centre operators to implement extra environment friendly MEP methods. These upgrades decrease Energy Utilization Effectiveness (PUE) and cut back total power waste. As an illustration, changing conventional cooling methods and legacy Uninterruptible Energy Provides (UPS) with trendy free cooling chillers and transformer-less UPS models considerably enhances power effectivity. This reduces operational prices and contributes to a greener, extra environmentally pleasant future, a trigger that all of us ought to really feel deeply about.
One other essential benefit of refurbishment is the advance in energy density. Modernising information centres from outdated designs to up to date configurations can obtain increased energy densities, thereby boosting efficiency. For instance, Cundall collaborated with a shopper to refurbish current 2MW information halls with 2N mechanical and electrical infrastructure within the UK. Transitioning to an N+1 (3+1) system elevated IT capability from 4 MW to six MW whereas retaining many of the current infrastructure. The infrastructure, equivalent to a reserve generator, enhances efficiency and resilience, safeguarding in opposition to surprising points.
Navigating complexities in information centre refurbishment
Information centre operators face important challenges when endeavor large-scale upgrades that combine with current methods. To design efficient upgrades, operators should perceive the location’s operations beneath all situations. This consists of regular day-to-day utilization, system changes throughout deliberate upkeep, and responses to the emergence of failures. This process is especially complicated for older websites the place information and building specs are sometimes incomplete or outdated. Consequently, substantial time should be invested in on-site investigations and consultations with technical operations groups. These evaluations usually contain inspecting intensive hard-copy Operation and Upkeep Manuals and As-Constructed Drawings, which might span hundreds of pages, including to the complexity.
One other important problem is sustaining operational continuity throughout upgrades. Cautious planning and sequencing are required to make sure that energy and cooling methods stay totally useful all through refurbishment. Since such initiatives typically final a number of months, non permanent energy and cooling options are important. For top-end tenants and operators, the danger of counting on a single N infrastructure (the place N denotes the variety of mills representing the extent of redundancy) over an prolonged interval is unacceptable, as it could actually restrict alternatives for deliberate preventative upkeep.
Energy density is one other essential situation, particularly in older websites the place the usual was 2-5 kW per rack, in comparison with the present trade normal of 8-12.5 kW for air-cooled information halls. The emergence of liquid cooling applied sciences, which might considerably improve rack density, exacerbates this discrepancy. Operators should considerably improve energy and cooling capability inside current spatial constraints to justify the enterprise case for such upgrades.
Rising international temperatures additional complicate information centre refurbishment. Many older information centres have been designed with a most exterior temperature of round 35°C. Nonetheless, with London temperatures reaching as excessive as 40°C in 2023, the elevated warmth stress impacts cooling methods, necessitating upgrades to forestall failures and guarantee reliability in increased temperature situations.
The case for refurbishment over rebuilding
Regardless of the challenges, retrofits and refurbishments have gotten important to the info centre trade. Establishing new information centres on greenfield websites entails important monetary, sustainability, and time constraints. Due to this fact, whereas upgrades usually are not a brand new idea, the growing business worth of knowledge and the extreme competitors for area in key places make them more and more obligatory.
The trade’s persistent scarcity of expert professionals additional underscores the necessity for refurbishments. Recycling current infrastructure is more and more seen as probably the most pragmatic method. Organisations can develop their footprint by way of sustainability and economics by means of meticulous planning and leveraging insights from trade specialists. This strategic shift aligns with the trade’s evolving wants, balancing development with useful resource effectivity.
