Escalating cloud costs, privacy and security concerns, fear of vendor lock-in: These are just a few of the reasons why companies are moving workloads out of the cloud. As organizations optimize their IT environments, some are moving workloads back to the data center, while others (think: cloud natives) are making their first foray into a hybrid infrastructure model.
Cloud repatriation, or cloud rebalancing, makes sense if you’re looking to reduce overall spending and get more control over your infrastructure. Partnering with the right provider means you can have the best of both worlds—taking advantage of relevant public cloud offerings while maintaining more control of sensitive workloads in an on-premises or colocation environment.
Whatever your reasons for undertaking cloud rebalancing, it’s important to understand the role of data center density so you can allocate resources well in your new environment. Optimizing data center density enables more effective workload placement and improves cost efficiency. It can also improve performance and energy efficiency, simplify management and facilitate better business continuity. While you can take a DIY approach to cloud rebalancing, working with an experienced data center provider can eliminate a lot of the headaches and allow you to focus on your core business.
What to consider when moving workloads out of the cloud
When you put workloads in the cloud, you don’t have to worry about space, power, cooling or physical security; the cloud provider takes care of all that. But during cloud repatriation, there’s a lot to think about. You have options for where to put your IT infrastructure, and each option comes with pros and cons.
You could move workloads to an existing on-premises data center or build your own private data center. A DIY approach, however, is much more involved than simply buying some servers and plugging them in. You have to supply enough power and ensure you can cool equipment efficiently, something that’s becoming more complicated with the demands of AI and high-performance computing (HPC). To ensure the resiliency of your infrastructure during outages, you need redundant backup power systems. You also have to ensure the physical security of the equipment and choose a location that offers high-performance connectivity to clouds, services and business partners. Managing all that with a view firmly on sustainability means a lot of this can be complicated and expensive, especially if running a data center is new to you.
Another option is to repatriate workloads into a multitenant data center. A colocation provider not only takes care of the space, power, cooling and physical security for you; often, they’re already proactively addressing density challenges and scaling their investments in cutting-edge power and cooling technologies, as well as sustainable data center design. Colocation data centers that offer high-performance virtual networking support a hybrid infrastructure approach, providing easy connectivity between your public and private workloads, applications and other resources. And increasingly, they provide a similar experience to the cloud, with prebuilt cabinets and on-demand provisioning of virtual resources.
Six data center density challenges
As you prepare to repatriate workloads from the cloud, it’s important to understand some of the issues surrounding data center density. It can affect the cost and performance of your infrastructure, as well as determine your preparedness for future growth or changes. Modern equipment has significantly higher power density than previous generations had. Data center rack density has been steadily climbing for years, and these increases are now accelerating because of technologies like AI and other HPC applications.
Higher density presents some challenges that you should be mindful of during cloud repatriation:
1. Lack of available power
The availability of sufficient power to support high-performance data centers is a pressing problem. In some regions, the power grid may not be able to meet the demands of densely packed data centers. This can lead to delays in deployment, increased costs for power infrastructure upgrades and potential limitations on scalability. Ensuring a reliable and scalable power supply is critical to support the high-density configurations needed for repatriation.
2. Rising energy costs
The global energy market is subject to fluctuations, which can lead to increased operational costs for high-density data centers. As energy prices rise, the cost of powering and cooling densely packed equipment can become a significant financial burden.
3. Cooling requirements
As density increases, so does the amount of heat generated. Advanced cooling solutions are necessary to manage this heat effectively, ensuring equipment remains within a safe operating temperature range. This is not a consideration you have to make when using the cloud.
4. Power management
High-performance data centers require dedicated power distribution systems to handle the increased load, and backup power systems to avoid downtime.
5. Maintenance complexity
Densely packed equipment can be harder to maintain and manage, requiring sophisticated monitoring and management tools. Proper planning and investment in management infrastructure are essential.
6. Regulatory and compliance issues
Different regions have varying regulations and compliance requirements that can impact data center operations. Physical data centers may face stricter regulations related to energy consumption, emissions and e-waste management, which can complicate repatriation efforts.
It’s important to think about these issues as you explore your options for cloud rebalancing.
Ways to address data center density
The answer to a lot of these density challenges is to deploy infrastructure in a place that has the space, power, cooling, connectivity and security required to support your workloads. When you’re beginning to do capacity planning, you need to determine how much power, on average, you’ll be drawing per cabinet. Typically, this is measured in kilowatts (kW) per cabinet. You should think about future growth and plan for flexibility.
It’s difficult to get all your capacity planning correct up front. Flexible cabinet spacing is one way to address this. It allows you to spread your workloads out to optimize power and cooling and improve system performance, while giving you the option for future growth without over-densification. When you’re moving to a data center for the first time, it’s crucial to make sure your infrastructure can handle future growth without constant physical expansion.
If you have a higher density deployment or are looking to use more demanding equipment for AI or HPC, you’ll need the best-of-the-best power and cooling technologies to manage those density challenges. Higher density equipment creates more heat, but advanced cooling technologies like liquid cooling make it possible to keep your equipment in one space despite that.
The best way to tackle power density and cooling density—and thereby optimize your deployment—is to work with a colocation provider that’s experienced in housing, protecting and connecting critical infrastructure. Equinix has been constantly innovating our data center design to address the new power requirements of high-density equipment. We’ve scaled our investment in liquid-cooled infrastructure to deliver direct-to-chip liquid cooling and enhanced air cooling in our data centers. Equinix also has data center experts to help design and plan your deployment.
Cloud rebalancing may initially seem like a daunting task, but deploying with a global colocation provider can simplify the process and help you work through the challenges of managing data center density. And it will be worth it: Having the right mix of public and private infrastructure can deliver significant gains in performance and cost efficiency for your business.
Learn more about migrating to a high-performance data center by downloading our checklist, Four key considerations when migrating to a High-Performance Data Center.
Subscribe to the Equinix Blog