As the demands on data centres grow, many organisations find that their existing infrastructure cannot keep up. Older data centres, often full of legacy equipment and practices, face challenges in meeting the expectations for performance, resilience, and operational efficiency required today. Migrating to a modern data centre offers the opportunity to overcome these limitations, introducing streamlined processes, greater scalability, and cutting-edge technology. However, this transition requires thorough planning, investment, and a clear understanding of the goals. This article outlines crucial aspects to consider for a smooth migration to a more advanced data centre environment.

Legacy Challenges in Data Centres

Older data centres typically represent outdated environments with multiple inefficiencies. Migrating to a modern data centre can help address:

Lack of Redundancy: Older data centres often feature equipment with single power supplies. Modern facilities use dual power supplies and redundant power feeds, minimising the risk of downtime.
Suboptimal Cooling Solutions: Legacy data centres frequently lack standardised cooling systems, such as hot aisle containment. Instead, these facilities may rely on scattered cooling solutions that fail to optimise temperature control across non-standard racks.
Cumbersome Cabling: Traditional data centres often feature a heavy reliance on copper cabling, which limits flexibility and increases maintenance complexity. Modern architectures favour fibre connections for improved performance.
Manual Operations and Asset Management: Many older data centres rely on paper-based logs or basic digital records for asset and access management, which can result in errors and inefficiencies as facilities scale.

Addressing Legacy Power & Cooling Challenges

Resilience in Power Supply

Legacy IT equipment may lack dual power supplies, a feature essential for sustaining high uptime. Without this redundancy, these systems are prone to outages with single-point failures. Modern facilities address this through two primary approaches:

Replacing Legacy Hardware: Investing in equipment with dual power supplies enables the facility to utilise resilient power feeds, a standard in modern data centres.
Temporary Solutions with Rack-Mounted Automatic Transfer Switches (ATS): For organisations not ready to replace legacy equipment immediately, rack-mounted ATS units offer an interim solution by supplying power to single-input devices from redundant sources.

Cooling Optimisation through Standardisation

Cooling is a major operational consideration in data centres. Modern data centres standardise cabinets for optimal airflow, often through hot aisle containment. This approach confines hot air to designated aisles, enhancing the cooling efficiency of the facility and reducing operational costs.

Older facilities, however, may contain non-standard cabinets that resist uniform installation into cooling "pods." Transitioning to modern cooling configurations involves either replacing cabinets or employing temporary solutions, like butcher curtains, which can help confine airflow until a full upgrade is possible.

Transitioning to Advanced Networking Infrastructure

Legacy environments typically rely on copper cabling for network connectivity, often running to central row switches or even core data centre switches. This approach increases the quantity of cabling, creating a complex and difficult-to-maintain network. Modern data centres address these challenges by:

Switching to Fibre Cabling: Using fibre optic cables between racks and core switches, with copper confined to intra-rack connections, simplifies cabling structures and enables faster data transmission.
Minimising Cable Clutter: Certain chassis-based systems utilise internal backplanes, reducing the need for extensive external cabling and improving system maintainability.

Embracing Digital Asset & Access Management

As facilities grow, manually tracking assets and logging access events becomes unsustainable. To improve accuracy and efficiency, modern data centres deploy digital asset management systems that automate asset tracking, making data centre operations transparent and auditable. Additionally, digital access control systems secure facilities by managing access rights and recording entries, which is vital for both routine management and emergency response.

Leveraging IoT & DCIM for Enhanced Operations

With advances in the Internet of Things (IoT), modern data centres benefit from real-time data on environmental conditions. IoT sensors, strategically deployed throughout the facility, monitor:

Temperature and Power Consumption: Sensors track environmental data, enabling proactive responses to temperature fluctuations or power spikes.
Presence and Access Points: IoT solutions offer a complete view of access control, automatically logging personnel movements for enhanced security.

Paired with IoT technology, Data Centre Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software provides a powerful tool for turning this data into actionable insights. DCIM solutions offer an all-encompassing view of power utilisation, capacity, and environmental conditions, guiding decisions for enhanced operational efficiency. Deploying DCIM software early in the migration process can prevent issues during consolidation, helping to ensure effective resource allocation.

Planning for Capacity & Power Utilisation

A successful data centre migration begins with an in-depth understanding of the facility's power utilisation. Assessing power needs allows for an accurate consolidation plan, reducing costs associated with unnecessary or inefficient power usage. Intelligent rack PDUs and metering tools form the foundation for DCIM systems, creating a clear picture of power demand and guiding capacity management before, during, and after the migration.

Common Consolidation Challenges

Data centre migrations present challenges, including:

Inaccurate Inventory Records: Failing to maintain accurate asset records can delay the migration.
Mismanagement of Resources: Clear coordination of teams and timelines is essential to avoid resource shortages or oversights.
Ineffective Use of Capacity: Over- or under-utilising resources can lead to operational bottlenecks.

Proper planning is essential, and tools like DCIM streamline these processes by providing real-time asset and capacity data.

Tracking Space Utilisation & Asset Inventory

Maintaining an accurate inventory of assets and space utilisation is vital. Legacy methods, such as manual spreadsheets or Visio drawings, are prone to errors and lack the control required for version management. While auto-discovery tools can aid in inventory, they rarely capture full asset details, such as cabinet locations, structured cabling, and device owners.

DCIM offers a holistic approach to asset and space management, tracking critical details for future planning. DCIM's capacity for what-if analysis allows for hypothetical evaluations, providing visibility into how equipment additions or removals impact capacity utilisation.

Identifying & Removing “Zombie” Servers

One of the most significant opportunities for cost savings in data centre migration is addressing the presence of “zombie” or “ghost” servers. These servers, physically active but functionally idle, waste space, power, and budget resources. Identifying and decommissioning zombie servers offers a way to optimise rack space and reduce energy consumption, making room for necessary upgrades.

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Ongoing Data Centre Optimisation

Migration to a modern data centre is a continuous improvement process, demanding ongoing optimisation. DCIM systems play a critical role in sustaining efficiency, allowing managers to set thresholds on power and environmental metrics, receive alerts for anomalies, and evaluate energy usage in real-time. Over time, these tools also help to maintain compliance with regulatory standards and corporate governance mandates.

Wrap

Migrating to a modern data centre is a complex endeavour that requires careful planning, from infrastructure and cabling upgrades to asset and access management. While challenges exist, they are surmountable with appropriate tools, thorough preparation, and a commitment to transitioning from legacy practices. The benefits—such as optimised resource utilisation, lower operational costs, and increased resiliency—justify the investment, setting the stage for a robust, efficient, and scalable data centre capable of meeting current and future demands.

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