HP today unveiled an approach to critical facilities design that can increase data center efficiency and reduce customers’ capital costs by 15 to 25 percent.(1) This new offering enables customers facing the challenges of today’s economic climate to cost-effectively invest in building the foundation to thrive in tomorrow’s recovery.
Multi-tiered hybrid design from HP aligns facility design with business priorities. This delivers improved operations and energy efficiency with millions of dollars in potential cost savings. The design approach accelerates the adoption of next-generation data center technologies and services.
When building or redesigning to create multi-tiered data centres, most businesses today operate under the assumption that more availability is always better. As a result, they build entire data centers based on the highest availability required by their most business-critical applications. Consequently, they invest in expensive, unnecessary redundant infrastructure along with specialized mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.
An industry-standard classification system defines tiers I - IV for data center facilities. Tier IV facilities meet the highest availability requirements. (2) Under HP’s breakthrough approach to facility design, customers can significantly reduce capital and operating costs by designing data centers with multiple tiers. Each tier matches the availability requirements for a range of business applications. Multi-tiered facilities reduce costs by eliminating unnecessary technology along with redundant power and cooling systems. In addition, the design enables organizations to easily adapt data centers tiers for changing technology needs throughout the life of a facility.
“A monolithic approach to data center design drives up construction and operating costs,” said David J. Cappuccio, vice president and chief of research, Gartner. "Adopting a multi-tiered approach scales back capital investments and operating expenses because it right-sizes facility infrastructures."
Multi-tiered hybrid design begins with a business impact analysis to evaluate and prioritize applications. The analysis also identifies where redundant technology and infrastructure are required to support business-critical applications. Applications with similar requirements are then grouped into data center zones – or tiers – designed with appropriate levels of redundancy and scalability.
Building a combined tier II and tier IV facility instead of a facility with a single level IV tier saves an organization millions of dollars. The HP multi-tiered hybrid design cost analysis tool demonstrates how adjustments in facility design can impact capital costs.
For example, designing a 50,000-square-foot data center with multiple tiers can cut construction costs by approximately 24 percent, compared to building a tier IV-only facility. In addition, designing a data center with zones for multiple tiers reduces energy and space requirements, significantly reducing operating costs.
“Customers can save millions of dollars by building multi-tiered data centers that are scalable, efficient and predictable,” said EE Chye Chuan, director, Asia Pacific and Japan Data Center Services, EYP, Education, Pursuit & Engagement, HP. “HP helps facilities and technology staffs align objectives to improve operations and reduce cost.”
Multi-tiered hybrid design is offered as part of HP’s Critical Facilities Services delivered by EYP MCF. More information about the multi-tiered hybrid design from HP is available at www.hp.com/go/eypmcf.
