Data centers have become the bedrock of every successful enterprise digital transformation initiative by enabling the seamless delivery of emerging technologies such as 5G, cloud, blockchain, AI and so on. To manage the massive data exchanges, data center network technologies encompass a diverse set of components, ranging from servers, storage systems and networking equipment to advanced software that efficiently manages and controls these essential resources.
Global spending on the construction of data centers is forecasted to reach USD 49 billion by 2030, according to Synergy Research Group. In 2022, public cloud players, also known as hyperscalers, allocated an estimated USD 9 billion to build more capacity; this figure is expected to grow by more than 4% year-on-year until 2030.
Early Beginnings
The first Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) data center was secretly developed by engineers at the University of Pennsylvania in the US and was mostly used for military artillery calculations during the Second World War. Early data centers were complex and the cabling systems often caught fire due to overheating. It was not until the 1960s, when International Business Machines (IBM) came up with the first transistorized computer called TRADIC, that data centers branched out from the military sphere to the commercial sphere.
The TRADIC model was smaller in size but consisted of bigger computational abilities and was easier to fit into multipurpose spaces like office buildings. As information technology (IT) operations grew in complexity, companies felt the urgent need to control IT resources. With the advent of client-server computing, during the 1990s, microcomputers or ‘servers’ found their place in old computer rooms. The availability of low-cost networking equipment, coupled with new standards for network cabling, made it possible to use a ranked design that placed the servers in a specific room inside the company. This was eventually named a ‘data center.’
The dot-com economy during the late 1990s witnessed the growth of data centers as companies sought faster internet connectivity to establish their presence during the internet boom. Since installing such equipment was beyond the means of many small companies, many computing companies set up large facilities called Internet Data Centers (IDCs) as a service offering to provide them with a range of solutions for systems deployment and operation. Since then, new technologies and practices have been designed to manage the scale and the operational requirements of large-scale operations. These practices eventually migrated toward the development of private data centers and were adopted largely due to their practical results.
Piloting Sustainable Data Centers
Data centers can be either privately owned by public cloud providers, large enterprises, telecommunications companies for their internal operations, or colocation firms that rent out the space. Colocation companies generally offer not only physical space but also network capacity, power, and cooling infrastructure for servers.
As the engine for digital transformation, the uninterrupted operation of data centers is becoming all the more crucial even as it is beset by several factors. Primarily, data centers are energy guzzlers. As per the International Energy Agency (IEA) report, data centers account for about 1% of global electricity demand. The energy consumption for a typical data center is split with around 50% being used by IT equipment, 35% used for cooling and HVAC, 10% for electrical infrastructure and support, and 5% for lighting.
The electrical demand for data centers varies from a few kilowatts up to megawatts, depending on the size and location. Due to this, data centers are in the spotlight in the global decarbonization push. The pressure to make data centers sustainable is therefore high, and some regulators and governments are imposing sustainability standards on newly-built data centers.
In an effort to better measure, track and reduce the environmental impacts of the digital infrastructure, data center operators and industry associations in Europe launched the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact— pledging to make data centers climate-neutral by 2030, with intermediate (2025) targets for power usage effectiveness (PUE) and carbon-free energy.
The 24/7 Carbon-free Energy Compact, coordinated by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll) and the United Nations is an ambitious project designed to accelerate the decarbonization of the world’s electricity systems to mitigate climate change and ensure access to clean and affordable electricity for all in line with SDG7.
Similarly, The Open Compute Project is a collaborative community focused on redesigning hardware technology to efficiently support the growing demands placed on computing infrastructure. Broadly, to address the issues related to climate change, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the World Bank, in partnership with the BMZ Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) have developed a practitioner's guide entitled, 'Green Data Centers: Towards a Sustainable Digital Transformation.'
The guide covers six critical dimensions that practitioners should consider when developing green data centers:
- Climate-Resilient Data Centers
- Sustainable Design and Buildings
- Sustainable ICT
- Sustainable Energy
- Sustainable Cooling
- E-Waste Management
Data Center Security
An increase in internet-based technologies makes data centers more vulnerable to security attacks. Any security attack on the data center can damage the entire organization’s network and data.
Several security threats affect the data centers. These include but are not limited to; unauthorized access, MAC flooding, Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) spoofing, IP spoofing, Denial-of-Service (DoS), viruses, worms and trojans and internal security etc.
Moreover, the uptake in edge computing as a result of latency-sensitive applications across industry operations will leave data centers vulnerable to cyber threats. The growing demand for new data centers is also creating potential investment opportunities in the fragmented pre-fabrication and modular (PFM) sector that allows for reduced construction time, cost savings, swift delivery, scalability, a repeatable process and flexibility.
However, modular data centers lack the robust physical security layers that traditional data centers offer. It becomes imperative for the end user of a modular facility to run their physical security measures, such as anti-climb fencing, a main entrance gate, security guards, biometric identification, and other necessary precautions.
Furthermore, the impact of artificial intelligence will take precedence in data center operations, including automating tasks, predicting failures, and optimizing resource allocation. However, such deployments need to be handled with extra caution as nefarious activities in the AI realm are becoming more and more advanced and sophisticated by the day.
Finally, given the increasingly cloud-native environment, the role of compliance in data centers has become crucial. Data centers are expected to follow practices that empower them to achieve approval by authorized agencies that verify the center’s practices, policies and protocols in alignment with regulatory and industry requirements.
In Conclusion
Even as the data center industry navigates many challenges in the face of soaring inflation and rising interest rates, it needs to embrace innovation, prioritize sustainability and tighten its security parameters. This will ensure that future digital transformation platforms are efficient and reliable. Secure and smooth data center operations will be instrumental in enabling exciting opportunities both in existing markets and across new markets, including the Middle East, which has become the hub for establishing world-class data centers.
