Data Centers: Data Center or Army Bunker
We often associate a data center with a high technology complex and rightly so. But if anyone has the opportunity of seeing a typical data center from outside, you might mistake it for an army bunker built only for the purpose of security. Of course there are other reasons for this apart from securing the costly machines and even costlier data contained inside them. One of the reasons is to keep the cooling requirements to the minimum especially in hot and humid regions of the world so that the power requirements are lessened.
This striking contrast certainly troubles the spectators who are used to seeing posh exterior in other IT companies. Of course this may not matter much to the customers who are mainly interested to see their mission critical applications run round the clock without any downtime. Yet for those with an eye for aesthetic appeal, this certainly was something which is not very appeasing.
There has not been a great diversion from this trend but certainly things have started to look good, literally speaking. The breakthrough in this trend can be seen if you happen to visit the Datapipe Centers in California. That is literally something which is more in tune with the IT building concept as we generally know it. The atrium of the data center is beautifully enclosed in glass. Of course this is not the only facility in the world with such plush interiors but is certainly one of the few with an appealing exterior.
Still the opinion on the viability of the same is divided (as always) and many people think that a data center should focus on security, performance and energy savings than giving a flamboyant look. Many people feel that having such a glass enclosure in the hot state of California could be detrimental to the cooling requirements.
Whatever be the reality, the fact remains that a thing of beauty is certainly a source of joy as a philosopher pointed out. At the same time, data centers are huge consumers of electrical power and have a great impact on the environment. Hence they do have a responsibility towards the environment and it would be best if they maintain the delicate balance between beauty and the brains. Of course this will be made mandatory soon with the implementation of new laws such as the CRC in UK early next year.
By Rakesh Dogra for The Data Center Journal
