Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2019. Read them in this 11th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
Contributed by Peter Gross, Vice President, Mission Critical Systems, Bloom Energy
Rethinking Data Center Power Security
Chances are your business was impacted significantly by a power outage in 2018. Everything from storm-induced local outages to larger impacts on business services after outages to hyperscale data centers like Amazon AWS suffered in March or Microsoft Azure in September. The bad news is these outages related to extreme weather events, aging infrastructure, the menace of cyber-attacks or even a black swan event such as the Fukushima nuclear disaster, will continue in frequency in the near future.
According to the Eaton Blackout Tracker, the US experienced 3,526 utility power outages in 2017 alone and this number should be even higher in 2018. In fact, this is over a 60 percent increase from 10 years ago and are costing the US economy $150 billion annually.
While there are backup systems available, the truth is power system innovation and configurations have barely evolved in the past 25 years. Although uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and batteries, stand-by generators and transfer switches, data center mirroring or spreading workloads across data centers, may sound like a solid strategy, here are some data center energy predictions we hope to see in 2019 and beyond.
The Energy “Resiliency” Discussion Roots Firmly in the C-Suite
Data centers and businesses that rely on them need to operate 7×24 and therefore cannot rely solely on intermittent energy sources such as wind or solar. But this doesn’t mean you cannot take a more proactive role in your energy destiny. Look for this discussion to make its way into the C-Suite as more businesses will make resiliency a key focus alongside sustainable practices.
Fuel Cells Continue to Gain Traction
Fuel cells are a prime option as data centers and businesses that need to rely on consistent energy supplies. Improvements in the technology and material sciences, coupled with the increased cost of traditional energy sources, make this technology even more appealing supplying primary on-site power from natural gas or biogas, and using the grid as back-up. Fuel cells bring the benefit of providing a second, independent and generally reliable source of power to any data center.
More Innovation Inspired by Social Networking
Another interesting data center power innovation to watch for has very contemporary roots. Facebook’s Open Compute Project has presented a different approach to powering data centers leveraging a unique twin power source configuration. The first power source is a direct connection to the 480v grid, and the second is a 48v or 12v DC power supply housed directly within the data center rack eliminating the need for a centralized UPS.
The Emergence of Software Defined Power (SDP)
Yes, Software Defined Power (SDP) is a real thing. In fact, it aims to solve common issues related to data center power by providing a common control plane for the power components that orchestrate, automate and optimize the distribution of power resources. The idea is that SDP will provide on-demand power dynamically to ensure the required level of reliability at the rack level. As automation reaches into other area of business, expect SDP to begin percolating up in many discussions in the data center and beyond.
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About the Author
Peter brings more than 25 years’ experience in engineering and design of power systems as applied to data centers, trading floors, command and control centers, and telecommunication and broadcasting facilities. Before joining Bloom Energy, Peter Gross was Vice President and Managing Partner of HP Global Technology Consulting at Hewlett Packard. Prior to HP, Peter was founder and CEO at EYP Mission Critical Facilities, Inc., a consulting company specializing in strategic technology planning, design and operations support for large-scale data centers. EYP was acquired by Hewlett-Packard in 2007. Peter was the co-founder of the Critical Power Coalition (CPC), a non-profit consortium of electric power companies committed to addressing operational, technological and political issues relating to on-site quality, reliability and continuity of electric power where and when it is vital. He also served as Chief Engineer at Teledyne Technologies Inc., a leading provider of sophisticated power electronic systems and related products to a wide variety of industries, and was a partner at PRK Associates. Peter is the recipient of 2010 Data Center Dynamics “Outstanding Contribution to the Industry” award.
