A Research Report from the Experts
in Business-Critical ContinuityTM
DCIM Readiness on the Rise as Significant
Data Center Capacity Remains Unused
Introduction
Data center management is in a stage of transition as older management practices
developed during periods of rapid growth are being replaced by more efficient processes
and more effective use of technology in pursuit of the data center trifecta: maintaining
availability, improving efficiency and managing capacity.
In almost all cases, this is happening in an environment that is changing constantly and at
least partially virtualized. Only eight percent of respondents to the Emerson Network Power
survey on data center management practices had not virtualized at least some of their
servers. In addition, more than half will be consolidating (66 percent) and/or adding (57
percent) servers in the next three years, while 36 percent will be renovating existing facilities
and 25 percent will be consolidating data centers.
At the same time, the lull in capacity growth triggered by the global economic collapse of
2008 seems to have passed. Despite the high adoption of virtualization, driven at least in part
by the desire to increase server utilization, 44 percent of respondents expect the number of
physical servers in their primary data center to increase over the next three years.
While virtualization is delivering the expected benefits for most of those who have deployed
it, the side effect is “virtual sprawl,” an increase in complexity created by the need to manage
both the physical layer and the virtual layer.
A wide variety of software products are being used to monitor and manage physical systems,
although these platforms are not integrated with one another or with the virtualization
platform. Less than a quarter (24 percent) of participants had any integration between
their virtual and infrastructure management solutions. While this silo approach is allowing
individual systems to be managed effectively, it prohibits more comprehensive utilization of
the data center investment.
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
66%
Consolidate / replace existing servers
57%
Add additional servers
36%
Renovate / add to existing data center
25%
Consolidate multiple data centers
Lease additional space
20%
Build a new data center
18%
Do not plan on making any changes
6%
Add containerized data center(s)
5%
Data Center Plans (3 years)
1
100%
Currently, data center managers have no effective tools for reconciling power, cooling and
IT capacity in real time. As a result, the traditional practice of operating with significant
headroom continues, resulting in low utilization rates in a number of facilities. However,
a substantial majority of respondents are using IT management tools that provide some
insight into facility infrastructure. They are moving forward with initiatives to improve
management, but still lack a unified view of data center systems that would enable real-time
optimization of capacity, efficiency and availability.
Significant Data Center Capacity Remains Unused
Considering the lack of visibility across IT and facilities systems and the wide fluctuations in
demand that occur in many data centers, it’s no surprise that few data centers are running
close to what their managers consider 100 percent capacity. In terms of IT utilization, only 13
percent are operating at 80 percent or more of their capacity.
The study tells a similar story on facility infrastructure utilization. While only 13 percent of
respondents are operating at 80 percent of IT utilization or higher, 20 percent are operating
at 80 percent or higher of UPS utilization while 23 percent are using 80 percent or more of
cooling. It appears that facility inflexibility is a limiting factor in maximizing IT utilization.
Despite what appears to be ample capacity in many facilities—65 percent are using 70
percent or less of their IT capacity—more than half (57 percent) plan to add additional servers
in the next three years, and 20 percent plan to add capacity by leasing space from a colocation or hosting facility. Almost one in five (18 percent) have plans to build a new data
center.
While there are a number of reasons why significant amounts of data center capacity
remain unused, a major factor is certainly the concern within many organizations of risking
a shutdown by pushing systems too close to full capacity. Without real-time visibility into
operating capacity, managers tend to create a false utilization ceiling under which they
operate.
0%
UPS capacity being used
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
0% 3% 11%
Cooling capacity being used
1% 1% 8%
Floor space being used
0% 3% 6%
Computing capacity being used
Rack space being used
NA - Not sure
100%
90%
12%
12%
8%
1% 3% 9%
0% 2%4% 9%
80%
14%
20%
18%
7%
10%
16%
19%
70%
60%
Data Center Capacity Being Utilized
2
11%
21%
16%
2% 0%
9% 2% 2% 12%
26%
50%
5% 3%2%
7% 5% 2%
16%
18%
20%
12%
19%
22%
13%
14%
19%
14%
40%
5% 2%2%
30%
20%
10% or less
Efficiency Programs Still Taking Shape
Data center energy consumption has attracted the attention of the U.S. EPA, has spawned
a number of innovations in data center technology, and has elevated energy costs to a
significant line item on many IT budgets. According to Gartner, energy costs for an 8,000
square foot data center can now reach $1.6 million annually.
Despite these drivers, 60 percent of those surveyed have no documented strategy to reduce
energy use and less than a quarter have completed an analysis of the efficiency of their
equipment.
0%
10%
20%
Already analyzed efficiency
40%
50%
22%
Currently analyzing efficiency
21%
Might analyze efficiency
20%
Will be analyzing efficiency
19%
Not planning to analyze efficiency
Don’t Know
30%
13%
5%
Analysis of Efficiency of Data Center Equipment
One challenge organizations clearly face is the absence of metrics that represent a
comprehensive measure of data center efficiency. Individual system and operational
performance is measured using a variety of metrics; including temperature, humidity, power
utilization, cooling utilization and CPU utilization. However, use of the most common data
center efficiency metrics—PUE and DCiE—was relatively low. This reflects both challenges
in supporting these metrics and concerns that they may not accurately reflect data center
performance.
3
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Temperature
90% 100%
86%
Power Utilization
80%
Cooling Utilization
70%
Humidity
67%
Battery Health
58%
Space Utilization
57%
CPU Utilization
50%
Network Utilization
47%
Storage Utilization
47%
PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness)
33%
DCIE (Data Center Infrastructure Efficiency)
18%
N/A - No metrics being measured
2%
Other
2%
Operational and Efficiency-Related Metrics
Virtualization adoption is very high (88 percent) and an astonishing 88 percent of those
adopting virtualization have achieved the expected benefits, which include improved power
and space utilization, and faster server deployment. Added complexity was cited most
frequently by those who did not achieve the benefits they expected.
Most organizations will not only be dealing with the added operational complexity created
by managing across a physical and virtual environment, they will also be managing
environments that include both virtualized and unvirtualized servers. Only two percent of
survey participants believe 100 percent of their servers will be virtualized in the next three
years. Less than a quarter (24 percent) had any kind of interface between the virtualization
management platform and infrastructure management solutions.
0%
10%
20%
Yes
30%
40%
50%
24%
No
Not sure
60%
59%
17%
Interface Between Virtual and Infrastructure Management Platforms
4
70%
80%
90%
100%
Too Many Tools, Not Enough Features
The lack of a centralized management system that can bridge IT and facilities systems has
resulted in a wide range of software tools being used—20 different software tools were
identified in the survey. More than half of the respondents use software tools that monitor
power and cooling equipment and track IT equipment, while only 27 percent have the
capability to manage IT capacity.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Monitoring facilities equipment (PDUs, UPSs, CRACs)
65%
Tracking equipment inventory and location
54%
Cooling management - temperature, humidity, airflow
53%
Monitoring IT equipment operations
48%
Help desk / trouble ticketing (incident management)
45%
Monitoring IT equipment power consumption
36%
Capacity management - power, cooling, and space
34%
Tracking asset information
32%
Change / workflow management
29%
Tracking virtual machines and virtual clusters (domains)
and their dependencies
28%
IT capacity management - compute, storage,
and network resources
27%
Equipment maintenance management
(schedule coordination, service history)
24%
Tracking applications, resources used by applications,
and users
17%
None of the above
Other
9%
2%
Data Center Management Software Capabilities
Naturally, the features most commonly deployed are those that are also valued the highest—
to a degree. While only 34 percent of respondents had deployed power, cooling and space
capacity management; those capabilities were among the most highly valued. A similar
disconnect occurs with IT capacity management.
5
0.0 1.0
2.0
3.0
.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
Monitoring facilities equipment (PDUs, UPSs, CRACs)
9.0 100%
8.4
Cooling management - temperature, humidity, airflow
8.0
Capacity management - power, cooling, and space
7.8
Monitoring IT equipment operations
(servers, storage, network equipment)
7.7
Tracking equipment inventory and location
7.5
Monitoring IT equipment power consumption
7.5
IT capacity management - compute, storage,
and network resources
7.3
Tracking virtual machines and virtual clusters (domains)
and their dependencies
7.2
Change / workflow management
7.2
Tracking asset information
7.1
Equipment maintenance management
(schedule coordination, service history)
7.0
Help desk / trouble ticketing (incident management)
7.0
Tracking applications, resources used by applications,
and users
6.6
Value of Data Center Management Software Features - Average
Based on the absence of capacity management tools, it’s not surprising that 46 percent of
survey participants responded that they cannot accurately predict when they will run out
of data center space, power and cooling. As a result, they lack the visibility into real-time
operating conditions to utilize more of their available capacity and the insight into current
and future demand to know when additional capacity will be required.
Conclusion
The final picture from the survey is not just of an industry in transition, but of an industry
moving forward—making effective use of the management tools available today, but still
unable to optimize the capacity and efficiency of their systems. Efficiency, in particular,
is an area that is lagging. While virtualization has helped the organizations operate more
efficiently, most continue to operate without documented efficiency plans and are not using
available metrics.They are, however, positioning to take advantage of the new generation
of tools that will allow them to take the next steps in maintaining availability, improving
efficiency and managing capacity.
6
Survey Methodology and Demographics
More than 240 data center professionals and executives from a variety of industries
participated in this online survey. To gain insight into the roles and responsibilities of the
participants and the organizations, the primary role of the respondents, number of managed
data centers and size of largest data center were tallied.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Data Center Management (IT and Facilities responsibility)
50%
48%
IT Management / IT Operations
31%
Facilities Management
6%
Engineering
5%
Other
5%
C-Level Executive
2%
Project Management
2%
Role
Not surprisingly, 48 percent of the respondents are in data center management roles, while
31 percent are involved in IT management and IT operations. The majority of the remaining
survey participants are in facilities management and engineering roles. The “other”
category is comprised of employees in multiple positions, including product manager/sales,
production control/support, etc.
0%
10%
1
20%
40%
17%
2
26%
3
14%
4
8%
5 or more
Not sure
30%
32%
2%
Number of Managed Data Centers
7
50%
A little less than one third of the organizations have over five data centers. Over half (58
percent) have one to three data centers.
0%
10%
Less than 500 sq ft
20%
40%
50%
7%
500 - 5,000 sq ft
36%
5,001 - 10,000 sq ft
17%
10,001 - 25,000 sq ft
16%
25,001 - 50,000 sq ft
9%
Greater than 50,000 sq ft
Not sure
30%
13%
2%
Size of Largest Data Center
The largest data center for over one third (36 percent) of the organizations is between 500 –
5,000 square feet, while about 30 percent had a data center between 5,001 – 25,000 square
feet. To put data center size in perspective, Emerson Network Power’s global data center in
St. Louis is 35,000 square feet.
8
Emerson Network Power
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P.O. Box 29186
Columbus, Ohio 43229
800.877.9222 (U.S. & Canada Only)
614.888.0246 (Outside U.S.)
Fax: 614.841.6022
EmersonNetworkPower.com
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While every precaution has been taken to ensure
accuracy and completeness in this literature,
Liebert Corporation assumes no responsibility, and
disclaims all liability for damages resulting from use
of this information or for any errors or omissions.
Specifications subject to change without notice.
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trademarks of the Liebert Corporation. BusinessCritical Continuity, Emerson Network Power and
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Emerson Electric Co.
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