Power & Cooling Capacity Management for Data Centers

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High density IT equipment stresses the power density capability of modern data centers. Installation & unmanaged proliferation of this equipment can lead to unexpected problems with power and cooling infrastructure including overheating, overloads, and loss of redundancy. The ability to measure and predict power and cooling capability at the rack enclosure level is required to ensure predictable performance and optimize use of the physical infrastructure resource.

According to Gartner Inc., most data center operators are unaware of the loading and current power & cooling capability of their data centers, even at a total bulk level. The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) defines capacity management as the discipline that ensures infrastructure is provided at the right time in the right volume at the right price, and that it is used in the most efficient manner. The critical success factors are:

• Providing accurate capacity forecasts
• Providing appropriate capacity to meet business needs

This involves input from many areas of the business to identify:

• what IT systems are (or will be) required,
• what power & cooling infrastructure is required to support these IT loads,
• what level of contingency will be needed, and
• what the cost of this infrastructure will be.

This white paper from TechTarget applies the ITIL view of capacity management specifically to the problem of power, cooling, and space capacity of data centers. A model is described for the quantification of power & cooling supply, demand, and the different types of capacity that must be managed. This model can serve as a framework for describing a capacity management system, or for establishing service level management guidelines.

CLICK HERE to read this paper which describes the principles for achieving power and cooling capacity management. (Source: TechTarget)