Growth is normally a business goal, however scaling can be very costly. Fortunately, there are new technologies that can help a company ramp up quickly and efficiently. These innovations make scaling up a data center simpler and less devastating to a company’s bottom line.

1.     Modular Data Center Additions

 Microsoft, HP, and other large companies provide entire data center modules that enable quick scale ups but at a hefty price. A new addition consisting of multiple racks and as few as 30, assembled remotely so that the cooling systems, power, cabinets, and servers are all ready to go by the time they are installed is more effective than adding an entire module with hundreds of servers.

2.     Power Enterprise Pools

 When scaling a data center, it’s difficult to know when to invest in servers and how many to add. One solution is Enterprise Pools, which is a scaling infrastructure from IBM that works with IBM Power servers. “When new apps roll out, they need to be able to scale rapidly or recover IT resources and scale down. There needs to be an elastic capability similar to the cloud and a way to not overpay for capabilities,” says Steve Sibley, the director of IBM Power Systems. Instead of paying for extra capacity, companies only pay for the servers they need. Data center operators can manually adjust the service levels for an application as often as they want, then use those service levels for automation.

3.     Object Storage

 Traditional file storage systems can be limiting when it comes to data center scale. The idea is to use a simplified ID system for files in which the ID crosses multiple storage volumes and refers to where that object is stored. Metadata is also attached to the file to make it more searchable. This helps with scaling because object storage can create “clusters” of data that scale as a company grows in a single storage management system.

4.     Auto-Tiering

 Data center managers need to accommodate high-performance apps, but the challenge is knowing when to scale up for demand and when to scale down. Auto-tiering analyzes actual app data frequency of use and matches legacy data to the lowest-cost storage option. It also uses solid-state drives instead of spinning disk drives, taking advantage of flash speed boosts.

Companies are expected to grow quickly, which means their data centers must grow quickly as well. These innovations will help companies scale up – or down, if necessary – so growth doesn’t become a burden. For more information on data centers, visit our website at www.chicago-it-support-services.com.