Cable management can be essential to data center efficiency
How organizations install cable infrastructure can have a major impact on sustainability.
By Donna DonnowitzDecember 8, 2011
The growing movement toward green initiatives in the data center is reaching fever pitch as energy consumption rates rise an an unsustainable level. As a result, more operators are working to develop the most efficient ways to run their facilities and prevent electricity costs from rising too quickly. According to a recent Cabling Installation & Maintenance report, cabling infrastructure plays a major role in achieving this objective.
Citing a whitepaper from Schneider Electric, the report explained that the decision about where cabling infrastructure is located is a key consideration in the data center. For facilities using raised floor space to hold servers, installing cables in an overhead setup is integral to energy efficiency. The report explained that overhead cabling can improve efficiency by almost 25 percent. These gains occur because cables being sent through the raised floor clog up space that is integral for cooling, making it more difficult to maintain airflow and keep data center equipment at safe operating temperatures.
Because of this, overhead cabling can enable more efficient data center infrastructure. However, the setup of the cable is not the only factor associated with improving data center sustainability. Choosing to deploy pre-terminated fiber-optic and copper cabling infrastructure can pay dividends in environmentally-friendly data center construction. The report explained that pre-terminated cabling reduces the amount of waste created during the building process.
Optimizing air flow is a common theme when it comes to cabling management in the data center. Citing another whitepaper, this time from Chatsworth Products Incorporated, the report explained that the amount of cabling infrastructure placed near network equipment will have a major impact on airflow around the devices. This will also dictate how perforated the cabinet door will need to be to ensure that enough cool air gets to network devices.
Cabling infrastructure is not the only investment that can pay off for businesses considering sustainability investments in the data center. Modular design, liquid cooling and other trends are emerging to improve environmental efficiency across the sector. However, all of these efforts need to be supported by advanced monitoring and maintenance capabilities. Console servers can pay dividends in this arena, as they give organizations the ability to remotely optimize efficiency and ensure minimal energy is wasted at any time.
Perle’s wide range of 1 to 48 port Perle Console Servers provide data center managers and network administrators with secure remote management of any device with a serial console port. Plus, they are the only truly fault tolerant Console Servers on the market with the advanced security functionality needed to easily perform secure remote data center management and out-of-band management of IT assets from anywhere in the world.
Citing a whitepaper from Schneider Electric, the report explained that the decision about where cabling infrastructure is located is a key consideration in the data center. For facilities using raised floor space to hold servers, installing cables in an overhead setup is integral to energy efficiency. The report explained that overhead cabling can improve efficiency by almost 25 percent. These gains occur because cables being sent through the raised floor clog up space that is integral for cooling, making it more difficult to maintain airflow and keep data center equipment at safe operating temperatures.
Because of this, overhead cabling can enable more efficient data center infrastructure. However, the setup of the cable is not the only factor associated with improving data center sustainability. Choosing to deploy pre-terminated fiber-optic and copper cabling infrastructure can pay dividends in environmentally-friendly data center construction. The report explained that pre-terminated cabling reduces the amount of waste created during the building process.
Optimizing air flow is a common theme when it comes to cabling management in the data center. Citing another whitepaper, this time from Chatsworth Products Incorporated, the report explained that the amount of cabling infrastructure placed near network equipment will have a major impact on airflow around the devices. This will also dictate how perforated the cabinet door will need to be to ensure that enough cool air gets to network devices.
Cabling infrastructure is not the only investment that can pay off for businesses considering sustainability investments in the data center. Modular design, liquid cooling and other trends are emerging to improve environmental efficiency across the sector. However, all of these efforts need to be supported by advanced monitoring and maintenance capabilities. Console servers can pay dividends in this arena, as they give organizations the ability to remotely optimize efficiency and ensure minimal energy is wasted at any time.
Perle’s wide range of 1 to 48 port Perle Console Servers provide data center managers and network administrators with secure remote management of any device with a serial console port. Plus, they are the only truly fault tolerant Console Servers on the market with the advanced security functionality needed to easily perform secure remote data center management and out-of-band management of IT assets from anywhere in the world.
