By: RK Mission Critical

In my blog post entitled, “Top Ten Data Center Predictions for 2016.” I predicted that 2016 would be The Year of Modular. This year we saw an increasing number companies in data-intensive industries such as healthcare, retail and financial services add prefabricated modular (PFM) data centers to their technology portfolios. Yet despite this surge in popularity, many organizations are still reticent to adopt them. I get it – there are a lot of mixed messages circulating in the marketplace. Read on as I debunk the five most common myths about PFM data centers.

Myth #1 – PFM data centers are an unproven, risky investment

This is a common misconception. According to 451 Research, there are at least 50 vendors that claim to provide PFM data center solutions. Since each of them has their own service offerings and construction methods, it pays to do your research. In the case of RK Mission Critical, the technology used in our off-site constructed data center is the same as can be found in traditionally constructed data centers.

Myth #2 – PFM data centers aren’t secure

Beginning in 2014 (aka – “The Year of the Breach”), industry stalwarts such as Target, Anthem and JPMorgan Chase all fell victim to expensive, high profile data breaches. Each of these cyber attacks led to fines, executive departures, lost revenue – and IT teams scrambling to figure out what went wrong. As a result, many of them mistakenly assume that PFM data centers are less secure than those that are traditionally constructed. However, PFM data centers can offer even higher levels of security. For example, indoor data center units are designed for colocation providers to maximize the mechanical and electrical infrastructure within their existing real estate asset, but also leverage the existing security system. Unlike building out existing space with the standard raised floors and cages, enclosed modular units offer another layer of security for customers that demand it – which is pretty much everyone these days.

Myth #3 – PFM data centers result in increased capital costs

With so many new vendors entering the market, it’s easy to get confused about what services and solutions they really offer. There are a limited number of “stock” PFM data center vendors that have difficulty deviating from their standard offerings. So any changes you request can lead to a bigger bill. However, most PFM data center providers such as RK Mission Critical only offer custom-designed, purpose-built solutions that meet an enterprise’s current needs with the ability to scale easily. Our solutions often result in less capital expense.

Myth #4 – PFM data centers are only good for certain workloads

People get thrown off by the term “modular.” They often envision small, enclosed spaces that are limited by their dimensions. Which is why RK Mission Critical refers to its solutions as “off-site constructed data centers.” Our PFM data centers can be used to create larger contiguous spaces that have a similar look and feel as traditional data centers. They provide almost limitless design flexibility, allowing enterprises to create structures that meet their exact requirements.

Myth #5 – PFM data centers force you into using their technology

People often confuse the term “pre-fabricated” with having limited vendor and technology choices. However, RK Mission Critical and other manufacturers offer custom solutions that are vendor and technology-agnostic. This approach provides IT teams the freedom and flexibility to configure their environments using any technology vendors they choose.

Considering investing in PFM data centers, but not sure where to start? The RK Mission Critical team stands ready to help. Contact us to discuss your specific data center needs.

By: RK Mission Critical

Now that 2015 is behind us, strategies are being developed by enterprises, colocation providers and web giants alike for the next great developments in IT.

Will 2016 be the year that cloud kills the data center? Will the race to the edge continue? Who is happy that the term “fog computing” never caught on? Below, author Ron Vokoun with RK Mission Critical shares his fearless predictions for the 2016 data center industry.

2016: The Year of Modular

There has been a great deal of talk about modular data centers, yet relatively low adoption. That will change in 2016 with a substantially higher rate of adoption due to new concepts on the market.

Most people relate modular data centers to shipping containers. Modular no longer has to have the negative connotations associated with constraining containers thanks to concepts like CENTERCORE. With open white space and ceiling heights similar to that of traditional construction, while maintaining the advantages of speed to market, scalability, and accelerated depreciation of modular, the market paradigm is poised to shift. Leading colocation providers such as FORTRUST are adopting modular at scale.

“The modular approach to data center design, construction and delivery to the end-user is long past due. The old paradigms of traditional raised floor data center design and/or the “build it all out and then fill it” models are simply inefficient and wasteful capital management.”

• Robert McClary, Sr. Vice President & General Manager, FORTRUST Data Centers

Retail and Wholesale Colocation Merge

The line between retail and wholesale colocation has been increasingly blurry over the past few years. The line used to be drawn at about 1 MW of capacity, but the wholesale players are now coming down as far as 250 kW and are offering more managed services than ever. Meanwhile, traditional retail players such as ViaWest are signing customers to increasingly larger deals into the multi-megawatt range while still offering the same array of managed services.

The Race to the Edge Will Continue

The rise of edge data centers is well documented with early pioneers EdgeConneX and vXchnge establishing an early advantage over the rest. With our never-ending appetite for content and decreasing attention spans, the race to the edge will continue with more players joining in. The focus to-date has been on cable and telecom connectivity, but the next frontier will be mobile where more and more people are accessing their content.

DCIM Adoption Will Continue Slow and Steady

The DCIM market has been riding the hype cycle for quite some time. But hype alone cannot sustain the over 70 companies listed on the Rhonda Ascierto’s DCIM Metro Map. With all of the attention, yet relatively low adoption, one must assume DCIM is past the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” and the “Trough of Disillusionment” and is now trending toward maturity and productivity.

The knock on DCIM is that there is too much noise in the market (i.e., too many players) to determine who is real and who isn’t. Adoption will continue slow and steady until the market shakes out and there are more visible success stories.

Renewable Energy Adoption Will Accelerate

The adoption of renewable energy in 2015, especially by the colocation market, was surprising. It shows that renewable energy has matured to the point where it is no longer a marketing gimmick, but is now a competitive advantage.

The colocation market is cutthroat competitive. So, if renewables didn’t make business sense, colocation players would be putting themselves at a disadvantage by sourcing their energy in such a way. I believe adoption of renewable energy will accelerate in 2016, if for no other reason than risk mitigation. After all, who wouldn’t want to lock in your power rate for 20 years?

TCO Loses Ground

In 2016, Total Cost of Ownership will actually lose ground in data center design consideration. It defies logic, but I have witnessed a movement back toward pure CapEx-driven decisions over considerations of energy efficiency, accelerated depreciation and other financial factors. This seems to be more prevalent with enterprises, but I have seen examples across market sectors. Kudos to those enlightened souls that understand the benefits to be gained for years to come.

Water Usage Rises in Importance

The drought in California brought the issue of water use and conservation to the forefront of our consciousness in 2015. Given that water is the most subsidized and underpriced utility in the U.S., it will become a larger factor in TCO (for those that actually use this metric), but that will not be the reason it rises in importance in data center design.

Although geographically driven, risk mitigation will be the reason water usage climbs the ladder of design considerations. Simple availability has to be a consideration in this era of droughts and other extreme weather. As with renewable energy, it simply makes business sense.

Ghetto Colo Becomes a Product Offering

Lower levels of redundancy have become a product offering. Although I cannot take credit for the catchy name, heard after hours at a 7×24 Exchange Conference a couple of years ago from Jason Scandrol, quoting the words of a wise IT sage he once worked with.

Whether it be bitcoin miners or a research cluster, there are many instances that do not require anything more than street power. Why pay for the redundancy if you don’t need it? Look for more service providers to follow suit.

Rise of the Data Center Density

Power densities were relatively flat in 2015, with some trending upward toward the end of the year in the projects we evaluated. This trend will continue in 2016 with a steady rise in density across all market sectors.

Legacy equipment is finding its way out of enterprise data centers, giving way to new equipment capable of more computing in a smaller footprint.

Production data centers in higher education are averaging 5 kW per cabinet, while a research facility we designed came in at an average of 40 kW per cabinet.

Hybrid IT Rules the Day

Many have predicted that public cloud would dominate the IT landscape. Although usage is rising sharply, it is nowhere near the IT market share that some have predicted. There are many reasons this growth hasn’t come to be, such as security concerns, migration complexity and simple FUD.

Given the massive growth of IT and data in general, there is room for everyone. Enterprises will spend more time evaluating what they can offload into the cloud, colocation—and what they want to keep in their own data center.

If you would like to discuss your data center needs, contact us at info@rkmissioncritical.com!