Most data centers not prepared for new server technologies, Gartner

Stamford (CT) - Gartner believes that more than 70% of U.S. enterprise data centers will not be able to simply transition to a newer generations of systems : Five years from now, power requirements of high-density data centers will outpace current requirements by a factor of two, forcing enterprises to rethink their data center strategy, the market research firm said. According to Gartner, legacy data centers were typically designed to accommodate a power consumption of about 100 to 150 watts per square foot. Today, data centers are being built with 300 to 400 watts per square foot in mind and by 2011, the number could rise to more than 600 watts.

The increasing power budget is a result of much denser server systems that are expected to become available in the future. These systems are expected to provide much more computing horsepower per square foot, but, assumed that corporation will need higher performing systems, the power consumption may increase as well.

“The implication is that most current data centers will be unable to host the next generation of high-density equipment, so CIOs will have to refurbish their established sites, build new ones or look for alternatives, such as using a hosting provider," said Rakesh Kumar, research vice president at Gartner.

Gartner estimates that more than 70% of the world’s Global 1000 organizations will be affected by this issue and will have to make changes to their data centers. The research firm said that the U.S. has the biggest concentration of large data centers, the majority of which were built more than seven years ago.

And legacy data centers will see the greatest disruption, if Gartner is right. The firm believes that legacy data centers will not have sufficient power and cooling requirements for the next generation of high-density server and storage equipment. The se installations may also not have enough floor space to support the growth of IT infrastructure in coming years and will not have the optimization tools and modeling techniques to manage upward-spiraling energy costs, Gartner said.

According to Kumar, “CIOs of large U.S. organizations must prepare for a period of rapid changes in their data centers,” noting that "this disruption will be accompanied by a significant increase in capital and operational expenditures." However, reacting quickly, rather than waiting, may be the cheaper he believes : "Failure to respond quickly and appropriately to the changing market conditions and technologies will result in needlessly high energy bills, expensive service contracts and delays in implementing new technologies."