For many years, the standard data center design employed a raised floor, with cool air flowing under the floor and up into the server area through perforated tiles. In recent years, many new facilities have opted for a hard floor or “slab” design in which cold air enters the server area from above. In this video, Uptime Institute Executive Director Pitt Turner addresses the raised floor versus slab floor debate in the data center, explaining the consequences, costs and outcomes of different decisions. “There is no one right answer,” Pitt says. This video runs about 8 minutes.  

-Data Center Knowledge

Which solution do you prefer?

What is your preference?

Colocation facilities have long promised organizations the opportunity to buy data center capacity as OpEx, without investing CapEx in a new physical infrastructure. But integrated infrastructure solutions now offer a third option, by enabling organizations to buy efficient, intelligent infrastructures without paying for a lengthy and expensive physical build.

Join Emerson Network Power to discover key financial and technology considerations that will help guide your decision to invest in hosted, traditional or integrated infrastructure solutions. Participants will also see how Smart Solutions from Emerson Network Power offer OpEx savings of 27 percent and CapEx savings of 10 percent or more over a traditional design approach, while providing a level of ownership and control unmatched by outsourced services.

Presenters:  Stephen Blakemore, Solutions Sales Manager and John Bearg, Director

Register now.

October 24, 2012
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm Eastern

The fallout from the Sunday September 23rd NY Times front page article entitled “Power, Pollution and the Internet” which was purported as an “investigative reporting” piece has begun to spread.   In my last blog, I jokingly remarked that “the general public would go out and tweet and post Facebook tirades on their newest iPhones”.  Well it has clearly moved beyond that.

Only a few days later on Sept 27, Ranking Committee Members of the US House of Representatives Henry A. Waxman, Member Bobby L. Rush and Anna G. Eshoo sent letters to the US Department of Energy (DOE) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “to request an update on efforts to improve energy efficiency in data centers across the county”.  

This was posted as an open letter to the US EPA and DOE in effect demanding an explanation of how and why they could allow the apparently flagrant energy and environmental disaster equivalent of the Exxon Valdez oil spill happen, while these two major government agencies ignored the travesty. The letter specifically cited the NY Times article as the cause for their concerns and the motivating force behind the letter. Perhaps by triggering the open letter from members of Congress, the NY Times may feel they have brought “justice” to the ostensibly polluting, wasteful world of the Data Center Industry,  in the same vein as the Washington Post’s breaking open of the Watergate scandal.  

I agree that there are many "older" data centers that are less efficient than the newest designs.  There is no question that there is always room for improvement in almost any system or process and the data center is no exception.  However, the NY Times article did not provide both sides of the issue, perhaps because that would have made it less controversial.

Published on 8th October 2012 by Julius Neudorfer, Data Center Dynamics

> Read more

Emerson Webcast:  "Outside the Box"

Trends in Data Center Modularity

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 | 4 PM Eastern

Register Here

As demand for high-availability, rapid-deployment IT infrastructure continues to increase with the proliferation of on demand I T services and mission-critical applications, modular data center solutions have emerged as a favorable option for businesses that need to add data capacity and capability quickly – offering users a turn-key solution that is not only portable but flexible and scalable.

Explore emerging market demands for modular data center solutions and how these approaches are being used to achieve cost effective just-in-time growth, serve as “satellite” data center extensions or become stand-alone solutions. Then see how modular approaches are being applied to power and cooling to extend the efficiencies a modular approach can offer.

• Presenters
• Ron Bednar
• David R. Pickut, P.E., President , Pickut Technologies

New NFPA Electrical Safety Rules Mean Changes for Your Data Center

A service professional is working on a piece of electrical equipment. He’s done it hundreds of times before, but in a moment of carelessness or by total accident, an arc flash occurs. Most of us think this couldn’t happen to us. The truth is that electrocutions are the fourth leading cause of traumatic occupational fatalities, and according to the American Society of Safety Engineers, more than 3,600 workers suffer disabling electrical contact injuries annually.

Check out the Is Your Data Center Prepared for an Outage? whitepaper

To help prevent electrical injuries and deaths, the new 2012 version of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 70E: Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace makes important changes in the areas of safety, maintenance and training.

> Read Full Article

Proper gear and procedures are critical when working with energized electrical equipment. Employees working on electrical equipment without adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) risk serious injury or death when an electrical arc occurs.

Is your organization trained on NFPA 70E requirements?