Gems of Wisdom from Beyond the Product

by Jodi Holland on 1/30/24 2:26 PM

“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.” — Oscar Wilde

When you’ve worked in the deep trenches of critical infrastructure long enough, like quite a few of our longest tenured employee owners, you know that the most valuable lessons don’t come from a textbook or a policy manual. Rather, we learn the most, right in the field, from those real world mistakes and mishaps—or “experiences” as Oscar Wilde would say.

So, we asked our Associates about their most valuable gems of wisdom that they could pass on to colleagues in the industry. Here are some of the top answers we received. We're sharing them here, in hopes that we'll be able to save others from learning some unfortunate lessons the hard way.

SERVICES

  • Spare parts are an on-site technician’s best friend.
  • A single-point-of-failure is NOT an end user’s best friend.
  • A hungry mouse can be disastrous to critical wires.
  • The smallest of unchecked details can be the source of a project’s biggest (and most expensive) problem.
  • Arc-flash is dangerous and not anything you ever want to see.
  • Weekly exercises are the surest way to know your GenSet will work when needed.
  • The UPS battery system is like a loaf of bread…you only get so many slices (or discharges)…and the bigger, and more often, the discharge, the quicker you’ll need a new loaf.

Let us know what you think of these nuggets. Have you had the unfortunate opportunity to learn any of these lessons on your own? Or do you have an important one to add to the list? Email us at Marketing@DVLnet.com. If we get enough responses, we’ll post a Part 2.

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Topics: Data Center, service, optimized performance, top trends

The Data Center of the (Very Near) Future

by Robert Leake on 1/22/20 8:37 AM

Leaders in technology all over the world are starting off the year focused on a review of the last twelve months, and also where the next decade’s marketplace trends will lead us. The latter is being highlighted by the Uptime Institute, with the increasing needs of resiliency and risk, cloud and innovation, upward demand curves, and the Edge. Across this vast landscape there are a few things which stand out in a very applicable way in the worlds of Critical Power and Thermal Management.

The first is not a shocker: Data growth is happening, and it’s not slowing down anytime soon. Explosive growth is being driven by data warehousing, IoT, Machine-to-Machine learning, and, of course, AI. The Global Datasphere is expected to reach 175 Zettabytes in the next five years, and all this data will need to be collected, processed, distributed, accessed, stored, and backed-up.

man working in data center

Data centers will continue to see an influx of compute equipment, demand for maximizing floor space, and an increasing need to leverage hardware and software innovations. There will be immense pressure on data center operators to assure every variable is considered.

In today’s environmentally-friendly-focused world, it’s no surprise that data center energy consumption and remedying inefficiencies are also rising priorities. By the end of the decade, we should be able to see significant strides in the worlds of “Green Power” (i.e. Wave and Wind Power, Carbon Capture, and future technologies), and begin to see how the improvements we’ve made in critical facilities are impacting the environment.

However, the power conundrums of today also need answers. The strategies behind uninterruptible power, switchgear controls, generator “use”, and cooling efficiencies are the ways data center operators can positively affect their usage and costs in 2020 and beyond. The data center equipment that are powering and cooling environments today were great at the time of their installation, whether 25, 15, or even five years ago, but recent technological advancements provide answers to problems of energy inefficiencies and improvements to power consumption expenditures.

The realms of Thermal and Power are seeing advancements like iCOM, remote monitoring software, and leveraging stand-by for active applications. These efficiencies have evolved over time. We at DVL have helped orchestrate this evolution for our customers, which allowed us to learn how to recognize the most value from each project. Technology offers an amazing opportunity to reduce costs, manage easier, and improve impacts on the environment – but only if it’s being utilized.

Finally, that brings us to the Edge. But first, a pop quiz: Would you define the Edge as:

  • A Regional Data Center
  • A key to the future of infrastructure driven by 5G
  • Facilities sitting somewhere between On-Prem and the Cloud
  • Whatever it needs to be, as long as latency is reduced
  • All of the above

Fact is, defining the Edge probably depends on who you’re talking to. The Edge is something we at DVL have seen evolving for years as we have helped customers shape what it looks like in their networks. In the Northeast US, land is at a (pricey) minimum, and businesses have been needing to think about new ‘outside-the-box’ locations for data management for a long time. In the west, data center builds are constructing closer to renewable energy sources. And everywhere is starting to think about ‘data thinning’ in an effort to distribute compute capacity while reducing latency.

Our efforts in engineering on the Edge have included everything from regional data centers to enhanced IT closets. In many instances, repurposing existing non-technical space into a data center is at the core of the project, and something DVL Engineers embrace, in an effort to tailor solutions to your needs.

All of these trends intertwine – data tonnage is changing how we efficiently power and cool data centers. Energy availability and renewability is impacting building from the Core to the Edge. The Edge is evolving as the data tsunami continues to grow.

With technology becoming an ever-increasing part of life, the data center world is going to feel the pressure of being the heartbeat of how the world operates. Engineers are tasked with expanding the abilities of the infrastructure, making sure it's not killing the environment, and assuring it's "always available" - oh and getting the most value from every investment. Our team at DVL has been addressing these same needs for 35 years, and we’d love to understand how we might be able to do the same for you.

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Topics: the edge, top trends, mission-critical

Data Center Cooling Trends

by Jodi Holland on 1/29/19 8:13 AM

As we wrap up January, we hope you found value in the Liebert Air Conditioning information that DVL and Vertiv have presented.

We have discussed:

Additionally, ASHRAE wrapped up their winter meeting last week, and Vertiv was prominently present with their Liebert products. Significant items that were announced and displayed were:

DSE_iCOM2_002-SA-new

  • Vertiv VRC rack cooling system for network closets
  • New Minimates for small spaces that consume 30% less energy
  • iCOM CMS monitoring system for small spaces
  • 50kw Rack Door with fans
  • Liebert DSE Optimization to increase efficiency of CRAC units by 50%

Please contact your DVL Data Center Engineer to learn how we can help you.

 

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Topics: cooling, data center cooling, retrofit, top trends, R22

Vertiv Announces Top 2019 Trends for the Industry

by Jodi Holland on 12/6/18 11:59 AM

For the third year in a row, Vertiv has consulted with their experts from around the world, to compile a list of trends they predict will most affect the data center industry.

2019-trends

This year’s list, which is meant to serve as an anticipatory tool to help IT professionals look to the future, predicts and discusses trends that will further simplify "the edge" and create a “workforce revolution” as we begin to see a growing amount of new IT professionals replace outgoing retirees.

Read more about what you can expect to see in the coming year.

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Topics: vertiv, the edge, top trends, ups systems, direct liquid cooling

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