"It is easier to buy a data center server than to maintain it”

CyberMedia
News
(CMN): Could you explain about the contemporary energy
challenges, especially in the IT systems and infrastructure domain?

David
Blumanis (DB): Redundancy in power networks is a major energy
challenge and utilities can't keep up to the demand owing to growth
and development. It is constraining some organizations. There are
also escalating costs, even as governments are getting more and more
strict on CO2 emissions.

In India,
the
focus is on large energy consumers, like data centers, but there is a
catch-22 situation because of the need for more energy, while trying
to reduce the consumption. Land prices are shooting up, especially
when you look at expanding your center for large operations. So,
there is no room for additional generators and coolers, when the
capacity is within/inside the building.

Automation
is
adopted in the country, where, according to a recent study, there is
16% power deficit. The cost of electricity will double in the next
five years. Next, energy dilemma is coming and very quickly, it is
going to hit homes, offices and elsewhere. Even a mere push of a
button on a BlackBerry consumes a lot of power, as the action
involves a lot of data centers. Almost 50% of power consumption in a
data center is because of cooling. However, just with a $20 sensor to
turn off lights, you can possibly save $700.

CMN: As
far as energy challenges are concerned, what is the present scenario
in the Indian IT services sector and data centers?

DB: Over
the past couple of years, there is a dramatic change and energy is a
focus area now. It was not the case even two years ago. There are a
lot of legacy data centers in India, which are very inefficient.
Unfortunately, only some organizations have been early adopters,
while the rest are constrained in the energy efficiency environment.
There, however, is awareness and customers here do employ efficient
power solutions.

Now,
high-density technical adoption is on in the country and my personal
view is energy will be a key focus in the next two years. While
carbon footprint is being looked into in mature markets, there is not
much happening in India. For instance, Australia is coming up with a
stringent mechanism for hundreds of companies to have carbon
reduction programmes. In Asia, Singapore is following similar
programs and Japan is extremely focused, even more after the tragedy
(the recent earthquake and tsunami). US penalizes non-conformation to
energy-efficiency standards.

CMN: What
are the current trends in data center architecture? Does APC go by
those or have its own protocols?

DB:
Most of the players have been designing data centers the same way
over the last 60 years. Only now, the high-density environment brings
in new ways to build data centers. With cloud computing being the
trend of the future, there is the pressure of data center
capabilities. Now, the focus on logical and physical security in
banking, finance and other sectors is increasing. APC is the first to
build modular, scalable data centers and high-density cooling
systems. We invest a lot on our R&D. Vendors are copying us and
we are happy about that. We still build traditional data centers,
even as we are into innovative ones. We try to change the way the
world makes data centers and have been doing it differently for years
now.

CMN: What
has APC got to offer the IT services sector and data centers in
energy management in India?

DB: In
India, adoption is starting to happen now and a lot of people have
virtualization projects. The cheapest data center might not
necessarily be an efficient one. Due to operational costs, it is
easier to buy a data center server than to maintain it.

We have a
program-India for India-which looks specifically into the
challenges and situations of Indian customers As much there are
unique challenges here, the market is aware, big and growing. We are
focused on R&D, as India is a large manufacturing hub for us.
There are specifically-designed solutions that are cost-effective for
the market.

We are
building intelligence at firmware level and are bringing together and
integrating all racks, such as facilities and IT, in a building. We
look to give visibility to virtualization software. Our central
design is in Mumbai and our project execution center in the country
is made up of all business units.

CMN: What
is your EcoStruxure concept all about? In what ways does it mitigate
energy crises and deal with challenges?

DB: It
is a building management solution and can be applied for any
individual building. Through the concept, we do capacity planning and
simulate 'what if ' scenarios. It has a software that cuts across
at the granular level and has everything broken down to segments,
such as facilities and building structure. In the next 15-20 years,
there will be technology refresh. After the Internet age, now it is
the digital age. We expect the next to be the energy age. We want to
make sure that we reduce the
carbon footprint and savings of even up to 60% on electricity bills.

Moreover,
some of the hosting facilities consume a lot of energy compared to
any other building in a city. The dynamics are changing in the
emerging markets, like India, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Korea and
China. The focus from the CIO and the CFO on these issues is
increasing. We offer full turnkey solutions, as over the last 7-8
years, the realization on high-density technology is rising.

Energy has
to
be managed on an ongoing basis through the whole life cycle by
capacity planning. We want to give visibility to smart grid at homes.
In EcoStruxure, we offer virtualized environments to assure a certain
amount of energy efficiency. It is a mix of products and systems in a
network. We achieve good results through intelligent sensors in right
places. We can assess a facility and make sure it is modular and
scalable. We have prediction management tools. It is about IT racks
across the floor, rightsizing the entire environment and capacity
planning.