TIA 2013: The Future of the Network took place last week and offered intensive learning, insightful discussions and related technology demonstrations. The conference began on Monday, October 7 and continued through Thursday, October 10, 2013. This years’ event was held at the Gaylord in Washington DC National Harbor, a beautiful and recently developed area. The perfect backdrop to a tightly organized event that addressed key issues in the industry.
The show’s host sponsor, Genband, featured an excellent display in the Solution Zone exhibit floor. After visiting Genband we walked away with some interesting facts and statistics that confirmed our thoughts on the need for more efficiency options in the data center. According to Genband, power and cooling expenses continue to rise at a time when the prices of storage and Internet transit services continue to decline. The cost of network storage, for example, has dropped from $1 million in 1960 to 10 cents in 2010. Likewise, Internet transit rates have dropped from a high of $1,200 per megabit in 1998 to $1.05 per megabit in 2013. Meanwhile power costs in the last decade have gone up by 50 percent.
Fitting to these discussions on the floor, on Oct 9th, Zach Cravens (Dell), Julius Neudorfer (North American Access Technologies) and I, Jeff Hudgins (UNICOM Engineering) presented the “Ultra-Efficient Data Centers.” The session was a panel discussion moderated by Herb Congdon II and was attended by data center professionals. There are significant energy efficiency gains that can be realized by introducing fresh air cooling and moving from AC to DC power distribution; specifically, 380-volt DC. By leveraging fresh air as well as 380V DC power distribution, organizations can achieve an ultra-efficient data center with numerous benefits over traditional designs. Congdon kept the discussion alive and thought provoking by examining both the benefits as well as the roadblocks to implementing these emerging technologies.
Interested in Learning More?
Contact UNICOM Engineering at 800-977-1010 or visit us at www.unicomengineering.com.