As data centers become essential to storing the multiplying bytes of data we generate every day, a lot of thought is being put into making them better. This is why the global data center design market, which was valued at just $516 million in 2015, is expected to top $1.2 billion by 2020, growing at a cumulative average growth rate of 19.03%.
Top 3 data center design trends
Green data centers
Data centers consume a lot of energy. But thanks to advanced technologies and design strategies, green data center facilities are being built. These facilities incorporate energy efficient IT, power, and cooling infrastructure, which reduce their electricity consumption and carbon footprint.
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To better define what makes a data center green, a number of standards, metrics, and certifications have been developed to calculate the efficiency of these facilities. In addition to metrics, concepts like free cooling, use of renewable energy sources, consolidation, and waste recycling are being implemented to make data centers greener.
Adoption of SDDCs
A software-defined data center (SDDC) delivers infrastructure as a service through virtualization of the physical infrastructure, while managing the hardware infrastructure through intelligent software systems.
SDDCs support both legacy applications and cloud computing services. They improve efficiency, lower costs, provide applications in minutes, offer higher availability and better security, and create opportunities to deliver workloads through the cloud.
Vendors in the SDDC market, such as Cisco, Citrix, Dell, IBM, HP, EMC², Fujitsu, and VMware, are preparing products to support centralized management of data center infrastructure, including servers, networks, and storage.
Modular data centers
A containerized data center is a portable data center pre-installed inside a shipping container. These form the basis for modular data centers, where each module is a container that can host IT, power, and cooling equipment.
This breed of data center costs less than renovating or building a new traditional facility. They’re also much easier to relocate and can be managed centrally, which is good news for operating efficiency.
