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Is DC Power Heading for Your Data Center?

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Could DC power be an energy-saving game changer in the data center industry?

As power densities expand, colocation and hyperscale data center operators need to take advantage of every opportunity to decrease power consumption. Is it possible that 380V direct current (DC) might be the solution?

To answer that query, it’s important to understand the history behind AC (alternating current) and DC power, the pros and cons of using DC power in data centers, and the potential future of DC power.

Some History: AC vs. DC                                                   

The world might be altered if Thomas Edison had won the power war back in the 1800s. In addition to inventing the lightbulb, Edison was the inventor and patent holder of an electrical distribution system based on direct electric current. He established the first electric utility company in New York in 1882 to supply electricity to 59 customers. By the late 1890s, he had constructed and was operating 100+ direct electric power plants in the Northeast.

His jolt to deploy DC power plants ended after one of his employees (Nikola Tesla) joined George Westinghouse; together, they developed an AC power distribution system. The AC power plant was significantly efficient than Edison’s DC plant; AC power plants could distribute power to customers over hundreds of miles compared to DC power plants that needed to be placed within a few miles of homes and offices.

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AI Uses in Data Centers

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Compared to many of the digital transformations we have seen in the past couple years, artificial intelligence (AI) is altering the way we all do business – including in data centers.

An increasingly used term that describes the method of using “machine logic” to solve very complex problems for humans, artificial intelligence also describes the potential for a machine to “learn” similar to the way human beings learn. Software algorithms (programming, more specifically) develop relationships between large sets of data, then repeat the same function using the same algorithms, but including the “learning factor.”

The reason we are hearing so vastly about artificial intelligence is because it is one of the fastest-growing sectors in technology today. Artificial intelligence uses are expected to increase by 63% between last year (2016) and 2022; the prediction is a $16.6 billion market that’s driven by technology companies like IBM, Intel and Microsoft.

According to Siemens, there are specific artificial intelligence uses that are expected to rise between 2019 and 2024:

  • Autonomous robots (self-driving cars): 31%
  • Digital assistants (Siri-like automated online assistants): 30%
  • Neurocomputers (machines that recognize patterns and relationships): 22%
  • Embedded systems (machine monitoring and control): 19%
  • Expert systems (medical diagnosis and the smart grid): 12%

Artificial intelligence uses in data centers are also expected to heighten. AI can help data centers reduce energy consumption and operating costs while improving uptime and maintaining high levels of performance. Need a few examples? Let’s take a closer look.

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Cabinet Seismic Ratings: Reduce the Risk of Downtime

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The International Building Code (IBC) determines that certain facilities – data centers often included – remain operational during and after earthquakes or other seismic events. Based on building type, and how vital a building’s operations are, facilities are placed into four IBC-determined risk categories:

  • Risk Category 4: Hospitals, aviation control towers, police/fire stations, facilities containing highly toxic materials
  • Risk Category 3: Lecture halls, theaters, power-generations stations, water treatment plants, prisons
  • Risk Category 2: buildings that don’t fall into Risk Categories 1, 3 or 4
  • Risk Category 1: storage buildings and agricultural facilities

Data centers typically fall into Risk Category 4, meaning that their operation is regarded vital during and after an earthquake. To protect against downtime, it’s pivotal to minimise the potential for equipment damage during seismic events – especially if data centers are not backed up at a secondary location. Some data centers are considered vital to conserving communication exchange (wireless, email, voice, etc.) after a seismic event.

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High-Speed Optical Links: Checkpoint 2 for Fiber Infrastructure Deployment

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All the devices housed in today’s data centers – from virtualization equipment to storage devices – require cabling that provides high performance and flexibility. Because of this, distributing new fiber infrastructure in data centers demand  much thought and planning.

We advise keeping these four essential checkpoints in mind:

  1. Determine the active equipment I/O interface based on application types
  2. Choose optical link media based on reach and speed
  3. Verify optical fiber standards developed by standards bodies
  4. Validate optical link budget based on link distance and number of connection points

In a series of blogs – the first one published on March 23, 2017– we will cover each of these checkpoints in detail, describe current technology trends and the latest industry standards for data center applications. This blog covers checkpoint No. 2: choosing optical link media based on reach and speed.

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From Then to Now (and Beyond): The Advancement of Multimode Optics

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Multimode optics, including multimode VCSEL-based transceivers and multimode fiber, has been dominating data center short-reach links. Why? Because they can offer:

  • Lower link costs
  • Less power consumption
  • Higher resistance to fiber misalignment and dirt at connections

There are many innovations in multimode optics on the horizon that will address several challenges, helping support and refine the appeal of multimode optics in the years to come. Let’s discuss them here.

 

VCSEL: The Light Source of Multimode Optics

VCSEL stands for “vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser.” Because of its moderate cost, low power consumption and ability to be manuafactured at high volume in production facilities, it is the light source used for multimode optical transmission.

A VCSEL is typically comprised of 40 to 60 layers of alternating semiconductor materials, each λ/ 4 deep; the bottom and top mirrors of the cavity are made with distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs).

 

Economic Advantages of Multimode Optics

When measured to singlemode optics, multimode optics continue to be the cost-effective choice for shorter-reach data center applications. The cost of multimode fiber cable is higher than that of singlemode fiber cable, but multimode transceivers are what bring the price down:

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Know Your Fiber Link Budget

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With data centers migrating to 40G, 100G, 200G and even 400G, fiber link performance becomes more significant than ever before. A dead fiber link causes system downtime, which costs your organization revenue, frustrates users and increases total cost of ownership.

Through a stream of blogs, we will explain the basics of fiber link models and power budgets (the amount of loss a data link can tolerate while maintaining proper operation) using multimode fiber and singlemode fiber.

To understand this, it’s vital to start with the basics – which is what we’ll cover here.

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The Advantages of High-Quality, Low-Loss Fiber Connectivity

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Data centers and LANs are migrating effortlessly from 10G to 40G and 100G Ethernet to provide scalability and accommodate more bandwidth as future applications become reality; meanwhile, the imminent deployment requirements of next-generation 200G and 400G Ethernet speeds are already in range, mainly driven by cloud data centers and the wireless 5G ecosystem.

In previous blogs, we’ve discussed the differences between singlemode and multimode transceivers, and the differences between “fiber link budget” and “channel insertion loss” as they relate to this migration. When it comes to actual deployment, however, it’s crucial to note that a high-quality, low-loss fiber solution makes all the difference when it comes to reducing risk, avoiding performance errors and minimizing total cost of ownership.

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3 Ways Data Centers Can Use CFD Modeling

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You might of heard about computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling when it comes to the design of high-performance Formula 1 racecars. By using CFD modeling to maximize down-flow forces while minimizing friction – for the racecar body and smaller “wings and struts” – Formula 1 produces a winning combination.

In a similar manner, CFD can be utilised in today’s data centers during design, capacity planning, troubleshooting and day-to-day operations. It can be used to properly develop the best design and operations solutions throughout the entire data center ecosystem, from the micro environment (chips) to enclosure environments (cabinets and containment) to the macro environment (computer white space and the entire data center hall).

Here are three ways in which your data center ecosystem can benefit from CFD.

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Minimize Complexity with Port Monitoring: A substitute to Port Replication

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IT managers frequently face new challenges as they have no choice but to migrate to next-generation, faster networking infrastructure.

Managing fiber infrastructure has become a mundane undertaking as fiber counts increase. Connectivity agility needs to be brought about from Day One to support future network reconfiguration and upgrade cycles.

 

What is Port Replication?

In many mission-critical applications, a backup link is required in addition to the primary link to ensure high service availability.

Port replication on active networking gear can provide highly reliable networking service that allows fast troubleshooting for connection issues and minimizes system downtime. In this scenario, the system has 100% redundancy; server and switch port usage is reduced to 50%. Additional cable and floor space can add to overall system costs.

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Bending Loss – The Risks of Reusing Installed Fiber Cable

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Due to its ultra-high data transmission capacity, ultra-low loss and installation flexibility, glass optical fiber is the most engery-efficient data transmission media available today. Optical fiber cables have been distributed worldwide to connect people and “things” together.

Stated by CRU’s Optical Fibre and Cable Monitor, last year, the global optical cable demand reached 318 million kilometers in the first three quarters of 2016.

As we mentioned in a previous blog, two types of optical fiber are available for different network environments and link distances:

  • Multimode fiber (MMF) for short-reach links up to a few hundred meters, typically used in data centers environments
  • Singlemode fiber (SMF) for long-reach links, such as in LANs, access networks, metro/transport networks and hyperscale data centers

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