Data Center Upgrades for Reliability and Energy Efficiency

Data centers have become integral to the core mission of a growing number of institutional and commercial facilities. As a result, maintenance and engineering managers are starting to take a closer look at the ongoing operations of existing data centers with two important goals in mind.

First, they want to improve the reliability of HVAC and electrical systems serving data centers. Second, they want to increase the energy efficiency of cooling and electrical systems and components, including chillers, portable cooling units, variable-frequency drives, and uninterruptible power supplies. To achieve these goals, managers need guidance in planning and executing of successful retrofits and upgrades of data-center equipment and systems.

To meet a facility's future needs, managers need to understand current facility requirements. Data centers are continuously evolving environments. As information technology meets continuous growth due to advances in technology, facility needs that support these systems are changing at the same pace. Understanding the way these changes affect a facility's current and future needs is a key component of a successful data center upgrade.

To plan for a reliable, efficient data center, managers need to address the following project components: redundancy, adaptability, protection, and monitoring and reporting requirements.