Data center efficiency is paramount to control costs as enterprise requirements grow, density increases, and power and cooling demands climb. Verari solutions help customers save in areas where conventional data centers waste the most - power conversion and distribution, cooling and real-estate. 

The best way for us to help customers save is to help them design their data center with Verari’s Professional Services team and then populate it with our custom solutions. But that isn’t feasible for all companies so many times we go into a customer’s existing data center and add to the equipment that is already there – not every installation is a brand new Verari only shop.

It may sound simple but I feel that to enhance data center efficiency, IT organizations must tightly manage power consumption across the entire data center at the infrastructure level, platform level, node level  and even the component level. The most important philosophies to maximize data center efficiency are to simply buy what you need and then use only what you need. Waste not want not as the old saying goes. So much waste occurs when people don’t fully understand what they need, or how to get the most while using the least.

Understand and procure your needs
The enterprise data center is built upon standard building blocks: storage systems and compute nodes that scale out in incremental, cost-effective phases to keep pace with business requirements. It is critical to plan for growth, to scale-out - a data center that does not have room to scale properly will be forced to do so in expensive, inefficient ways. Not only does the scale-out approach avoid the period of wasted capacity typical in the scale-up approach, it also avoids the extra power and cooling expense associated with running more compute capacity than is required. Excess capacity and over provisioning are not just IT issues; they apply equally well to facility infrastructure.

My point is this - take the time to thoroughly research what you need, not only today but to scale out in the future. Once that is clear simply go out and get it. While the need to keep costs to a minimum during procurement is understandable this is not the place to cut corners. The TCO of a data center is dramatically lower if the proper, efficient infrastructure is in place from the beginning.

Use only what you need
The pay-as-you-grow philosophy that underlies the scalable enterprise environment is epitomized by using only what is needed. For example, in a typical 24-hour period, servers may be operating at only 10–15 percent utilization more than 50 percent of the time. This represents a significant power savings opportunity if underutilized systems and even components within those systems can be transitioned to low-power states during nonpeak periods. This is really a cornerstone concept of the Green Data Center – understand what you need to use and how to eliminate what you don’t.

When selecting a provider for enterprise computing solutions it might be tempting to go with Dell or another low initial cost blade server vendor. Let me warn you of this trap first hand, lower initial costs often mean a much higher TCO shortly down the road.

With Verari Systems BladeRack 2 X-Series storage and compute solutions you get a plethora of choices on everything from the power subsystem of the platform to the components that make up the individual blades. This extreme level of customization allows us to tailor a solution to your situation that makes the most economic sense for you. One size does not fit all and we don’t try to make it. Custom solutions create an environment that is conducive to efficiency and stability.

The efficiency of our solutions is where Verari Systems can really save you some serious money. Power costs continue to skyrocket and no ones system – I mean no ones – can compare to the efficiency of the BladeRack 2 X-Series. The efficiency of the platform is only the beginning of the power savings our customers experience. Due to our patented Vertical Cooling Technology, the need to keep ambient air cool in the data center is eliminated, enabling your power to go to compute rather than to cool the room. It has been estimated that in many common data centers the majority of the power goes to cool rather than compute, with the BladeRack 2 this trend is drastically reversed.

The long term TCO of using inefficient, poorly cooled and low initial cost blades is dramatically higher than utilizing a well designed, eco-conscious solution from Verari Systems that will save your organization money for years to come. We continue to research and develop new proven technologies and innovations that allow customers to focus on their core business and their customers’ core business – not their IT infrastructure.

Our unyielding commitment to eco-conscious innovation in the enterprise computing industry is characterized by the technologies we develop and patent like our Vertical Cooling Technology that not only save our customers money but also lighten the burden on the environment. Our ongoing commitment to virtualization is just another example of our dedication to reducing customers total cost of ownership and increasing versatility.

Service and Support is an area that is often neglected when considering the cost of an enterprise solution. Before you select a provider for your data center ask yourself what kind of support they offer for the times things may not be running as they should. Our world class service team is available to keep you and your customers protected 24/7.

Taking all of this into account ask yourself if you can afford solution that might (and often doesn’t) cost less initially or if the long term implications of poor design are just too expensive.