Data centres grow rapidly due to IoT and Big Data

Ravichandran Purushothaman, India President, Danfoss, talks about data centre cooling and ever-increasing data volume and connectivity impacting data centre’s infrastructure.

How do you evaluate the growth of the data centre cooling market? According to Technavio’s report, India’s data centre cooling market has the potential to grow by USD 775.85 million during 2020- 2025, and the market’s growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 22.49 percent. This clearly indicates the growing demand for efficient and reliable cooling solutions in India’s data center market.

Data centers are in high demand among cloud service providers (CSPs), government agencies, and telecommunication organisations as advanced technologies, such as cloud-based services and big data analytics, are increasingly used by businesses for their operational needs. Cooling techniques that are cost-effective and consume less energy are expected to be adopted by data center operators. In India, the data center cooling market is fragmented- by technique (liquid-based cooling and air-based cooling), architecture (room cooling and rack and row cooling), and cooling system (air conditioners, economisers, cooling towers, chillers, and others).

As organisations and data center providers strive to improve the energy efficiency of data centers, the liquid immersion cooling segment of the Indian data center cooling market will grow rapidly.

How does the increasing data volume and connectivity impact the data centre’s infrastructure?
There will be a significant impact on data center infrastructure with the ever-increasing data volume and connectivity. With the rise of IoT, Big Data, and other technologies, data centers are experiencing exponential data storage and processing requirements growth, leading to a strain on existing infrastructure.

The Government of India’s (GoI) focus on creating an ecosystem for sustainability also impacts the data center industry. This has led to the need for more advanced and energy-efficient cooling solutions to maintain the optimal performance of data centers. The Singapore government’s recent target for future data centers to aim at a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.3 or less may set policy benchmarks worldwide. Additionally, with the passage of the Personal Data Protection Bill in the Indian Parliament, companies will be legally mandated to store critical data and information within India, thereby increasing the demand for safe and secure data storage facilities. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has already mandated the storage of all payment system data locally, further emphasising the need for robust data center infrastructure. This indicates the increasing importance of energy efficiency and sustainability in the data center industry.

What new cooling solutions are shaping up for removing heat generated in data centres?
Cooling is the first step in decarbonising data centers. With lower-GWP refrigerants and energy-efficient solutions, Danfoss technologies are optimised for operating conditions at higher temperatures to reduce the need for cooling, thus naturally reducing power consumption. Data centers can be cooled up to 30 percent more efficiently, and excess heat generated by them can be recovered using chillers and heat pumps with Danfoss technology. The advent of oil-free compressors like Turbocor enables this new chiller to handle higher water temperatures. Highly efficient & reliable Danfoss VFDs on compressors, Pumps, Fans & Precision Air Handling Units reduce a datacenter’s overall carbon footprint. The Power Usage effectiveness (PUE) of a data center significantly depends on using this energy-efficient equipment in the plant room. Danfoss’s headquarters in Nordborg, Denmark, exemplifies this concept. In 2015, fossil fuels accounted for 100 percent of its heating. It is now on the verge of achieving CO2 neutrality. By 2024, excess heat from Danfoss data centers will provide 25 percent of the total heat supply for factories and offices covering 250,000 square meters (2.69 million square feet).

The excess heat captured from the data center can be distributed to a local neighbourhood, reducing data centre energy costs and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The future data centres will be hybrid data centers where the better of two worlds can be combined: the cloud and the on-site data center. And the excess heat can be utilised in energy grids where it is produced.

Please talk about improvements for efficient monitoring of data centres.
The data center cooling sector has witnessed the latest improvements through trends like Condition monitoring, Integrated Energy Systems Management and Real-Time Monitoring of energy consumption. The intelligent drives enable early detection of potential problems in electrical equipment before they cause a system failure and offer advanced monitoring and control features, such as vibration analysis, temperature and motor current monitoring. It prevents equipment downtime and reduces maintenance costs. We can easily generate and store valuable insights from intelligent drives over the cloud or other on-premises systems to improve matters.

Cloud-based monitoring and control systems provide real-time data on equipment performance, energy consumption, and environmental conditions. This system provides a holistic view of how various energy-efficient products work synchronously to contribute towards the overall functioning of the data center cooling by leveraging AI, Machine Learning tools. It offers a competitive edge to reduce carbon footprints and the cost of ownership of data centers. Overall, these improvements in monitoring technology and systems help to increase efficiency, reduce downtime, and lower energy costs, leading to a more sustainable and profitable operation.

How do you look at the emergence of green data centers in the future?
The emergence of green data centers is a positive step towards reducing the environmental impact of data centers. The rapid growth of India’s digital economy and mobile data consumption is certainly exciting, but it also poses significant challenges for the energy sector. Data centers are estimated to account for about 3 percent of global energy usage, equivalent to approximately 200 million tons of carbon emissions. If this trend continues, data centers will have the fastest-growing carbon footprint in the IT sector.

By 2025, global demand will be an estimated 180 zettabytes – the equivalent of every person alive today needing 48 laptops for data storage. Seen from a climate and energy point of view, the main challenge is cooling since around 40 percent of a data centre’s power is used to cool its servers. And fortunately, using technologies available today, Danfoss helped Facebook make its data center in Sweden the cleanest and one of the most efficient in the world. High-pressure Danfoss pumps with capacities of 13,000 l/h cool Facebook’s servers using mineral-free water that guarantees 100 percent sanitisation – suitable for employees and data. This system already saves Facebook 50 percent on costs. The data center is also solely hydro-powered and emits zero CO2. In the U.S., Danfoss’ compressors, heat exchangers and drives have helped Lenovo cut 90 percent of the electricity consumption in two of their data centers. The data center solutions should go way beyond cooling. In district heating systems mainly based on renewable energy and covering 64 percent of Denmark, we already have the technology to use surplus heat from data centers. Therefore, it is essential to prioritise the development of green data centers that are energy-efficient and sustainable. Additionally, green data centers can help companies meet their sustainability goals, which are becoming increasingly important to consumers and investors. Overall, the emergence of green data centers is a positive step towards reducing the environmental impact of data centers and building a more sustainable future.

What best suggestion will suit operations and management strategy to create optimised data centres?
As is known, Data centers generate a lot of heat, which needs to be dissipated to prevent equipment from overheating. However, traditional cooling systems consume much energy and can be expensive. Implementing advanced liquid and free cooling techniques can be more energy-efficient and cost-effective. The IT equipment and the infrastructure that supports it consume a significant amount of energy, like lighting and cooling systems. Power management strategies like virtualisation and consolidation, power capping, and energy-efficient hardware can help reduce energy consumption and lower costs.

With data centers being significant energy consumers, using renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydropower can help reduce the carbon footprint of data centers and lower operating costs in the long run. Automating data center operations can help optimise resource utilisation and reduce human error, leading to cost savings and increased efficiency. Danfoss EC+ solution is also a reliable fit for the highest wire to Air efficiency for Data centre applications. Implementing these strategies can create optimised and cost-effective data centers while also reducing the carbon footprint of the data center industry.

Danfoss India is in the 25th year of its establishment in India. In line with the vision for Amrit Kaal, Danfoss aims to be the preferred decarbonisation partner for its customers to enable decarbonisation in an intelligent, cost-effective way while ensuring carbon neutrality in our operations.