Data center white space is the area within a data center where IT equipment is placed and that has the potential to be used for additional storage and computing. It could be an empty room, a cabinet, or a storage rack. White space enables DC operators to add to the critical IT infrastructure without having to invest in expensive new hardware or expand the physical size of the data center itself.
As businesses become increasingly reliant on technology, the demand for data centers and their services continues to grow. To meet the demands of modern data traffic, data centers need the capability to scale at a moment’s notice. White space can be an overlooked asset in many data centers as it may not appear to be a valuable resource at first glance. However, it can be a great way to maximize the efficiency of a data center and future-proof your network.
By maximizing the white space in your data center, businesses can save money, improve performance, and reduce downtime. With the consumer desire and business necessity to be online 24/7 and the pressure to keep downtime at next to zero, this can be a worthwhile consideration for your data center architecture.
The Benefits of Maximizing White Space
When looking at white space, data centers should consider a well-planned fiber network infrastructure to maximize operations and cost-efficiency. This can encompass anything from rack placement, to blanking plates, and cable management. The question is, what exactly are the benefits of maximizing your white space?
Increased Efficiency
With an optimized design, data center white space allows for better airflow, improved cooling, and a more efficient use of space, resulting in increased energy and cost savings. It also allows for better cable management, improved access to server racks, and greater scalability, which further increases efficiency and productivity.
The largest cost for DC operators today is, most likely, the energy consumed to operate and subsequently cool the many pieces of active equipment supporting the operation. Optimizing theses could lead to a substantial cost saving. For example, ensuring that hot and cold isles and cable penetrations are correctly sealed, and that unused rack positions or unused positions within panels are correctly blanked off will all improve air flow and consequently increase efficiency.
On a larger scale, considering the effective ambient temperature required for the active equipment, increasing the ambient temperature by just a few degrees (within the equipment’s operating parameters) could significantly reduce the amount of energy used to provide cooling. Of course, precautions should be taken to ensure that the cool air supply and hot air recovery paths are not constrained by other services utilizing the same space.
Improved Scalability
Data center white space allows for more flexibility and scalability when adding or removing equipment, making it easier to meet changing needs and demands. With improved scalability, businesses can expand or reduce their capacity on-demand with minimal disruption, allowing for more efficient use of resources. Additionally, improved scalability allows businesses to quickly respond to changing market conditions, allowing them to take advantage of opportunities and avoid potential losses.
An excellent way to achieve improved scalability is by building out the white space of the data center in a modular pre-configured way. Using standardized parts and accessories allows operators a simple scalable package that grows with the consumption needs of the data center and its customers. Infrastructure is an intrinsic part of this process and using solutions that allow simple moves, adds, and changes alongside consideration for future upgrade paths provides the foundation for an efficient and scalable infrastructure.
Greater Reliability
The reliability of a DC is always at the front of an operator’s mind; the services provided can support critical business needs, thus any downtime can have a significant impact on a customer’s business. Ensuring that there are suitable backup systems in place to support service in the event of an incident is crucial, and consideration needs to be given to what services and/or customers need to retain availability during any planned or unplanned maintenance.
Data center white space allows for better access to equipment and better monitoring of systems, making it easier to detect and correct problems before they affect service availability and reliability. Increased redundancy options are also possible with white space, providing the ability to quickly switch to backup systems and components if the primary system fails. This helps to ensure that critical services remain available and that service disruptions are minimized. Data center white space is a valuable resource that should not be overlooked. By properly utilizing this space, businesses can save money, improve performance, and reduce downtime.
Bank and trading platforms, for example, would be considered a 24/7 365 service, with little if any planned downtime. In order to support this kind of service, redundant paths, dual power supply and sufficient back up power to allow continuation of service should be considered. Specifying high quality, standard compliant low loss connectivity provided by a manufacturer of good standing with experience in the data center environment is necessary, but what other benefits can that provide? Many can provide services to support design and specification, on-site installation support, and a wealth of trained and approved installation partners, providing a robustly installed, standards compliant network.
AFL Hyperscale's White Space Solution
As cloud applications and virtualization become more complex, you need access to efficient fiber network connectivity solutions. Scalable modular systems can provide rapid growth at an economical cost.
Our white space solution features a streamlined collection of our global best-selling products curated for use in specific areas throughout the data center hall, ranging from the Main Distribution Area (MDA) to Local Distribution Points (LDPs) and more to ensure continuity throughout your infrastructure and minimize the risk of downtime.
Addressing common connectivity pain points, these solutions help you:
- Save time by simplifying network planning, installation, and testing with our optimized range of high-performance products, perfect across a range of network applications.
- Scale your modular connectivity solutions so you can grow your fiber network quickly and cost-effectively as data demands continue to rise.
- Simplify your architecture with minimal parts required, including Polarity F mapping that removes the need for complex polarity drawings and troubleshooting in the field.
The white space solution is divided into the following categories:
MDA to Server
Whether a Hyperscale, Colocation, or Enterprise data center, our MDA to Server solution is a fast, flexible modular connectivity platform that ensures customers can grow their network at the scale and pace their business requires.
MDA to SAN
AFL Hyperscale’s MDA to SAN solution enables you to achieve optimal network capabilities through high-capacity housings, easy-to-install cassettes, and high-performance assemblies.
MDA to LDP
Future-proof colocation fiber networks, speed up deployment time, lower the cost of installation, and reduce network complexity with this solution.
MDA-IDF-LDP
Create manageable and flexible distribution that makes it easy to connect your customers to your colocation network with our MDA to IDF to LDP solution.
To find out more, explore the webpage here.