A large data center can cost from €50,000 and up to €200,000 per year to run. A lot of this money is spent on electricity… And soaring electricity costs in Europe are about to make data centers very expensive.
One thing that can help with rising costs is modernizing your data center. Replacing old, 3-tier architecture cuts electricity costs dramatically while improving data center density.
Our clients save up to 45% on electricity bills after switching to new equipment with us. Over time, the net cost of upgrading is often zero - or negative. Yes; switching to new equipment can save money without costing your organization anything.
But how do modernizing data centers slash data center energy costs, exactly? And how much can your organization save by upgrading to HCI?
This is what we’re going to discuss on this page. We’ll talk about how data centers are getting so expensive; why modernization can cut costs; what you can do to get a free energy audit from Agisko.
Why are data centers becoming so expensive?
There are two reasons data centers are so expensive right now.
1. Rising Energy Costs
Energy prices in Europe are booming. In the last 12 months, they’ve doubled in the UK and tripled in the Netherlands and Belgium.
This is a problem for data center operators. Data centers consume a lot of electricity. An average data center can take up to 20+ KW/month to run.
With the energy rate hikes, data centers are bound to be expensive… Even if they aren’t using more electricity than before.
2. Inefficient Old Equipment
Most data centers - almost all data centers older than 3 years - use 3-tier infrastructure. Different storage media types are deployed across multiple tiers, housing different types of data.
The silos created by this multi-tier infrastructure increase complexity across each step of data center operations. Redundancy and energy wasted on tasks like switching and controller use are common.
This was all fine when electricity was cheaper. Today, though, electricity is expensive. Old equipment can add 6 figures in electricity costs - 7 or 8 figures for large operators - easily.
This problem can be fixed by upgrading to modern Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) data center equipment. This saves you piles of money in and of itself. Even better - you can upgrade piecemeal, paying as you go, to make sure you don’t overspend on new equipment.
To learn more about how HCI can save you thousands of euros, read the section below!
How to save up to 45% on electricity with HCI
From 3-tier infrastructure to Hyperconverged Infrastructure (Nutanix)
Almost all pre-2019 data centers use 3-tier architecture. Each tier has separate vendors, software, excess capacity, etc. Each tier adds complexity, increasing electricity and cooling costs.
Switching to Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) changes this complex environment into a single, cluster-based infrastructure. This infrastructure is less complex, with fewer redundancies - so it uses less energy.
On average, Agisko’s customers use up to 45% less electricity with HCI. If you’d like to see how much you can save, and what the next cost of modernizing will be for you, click the image below for a free audit.
In addition to energy savings, HCI also increases data center density. That’s because HCI uses less equipment and has a smaller footprint (see the section below). Switching lets you contain more storage and processing power in the same location!
4 ways new data center equipment saves you money
1. Automation frees up bandwidth
Modern HCI solutions use automation to eliminate processes that were manual in the past. For example, Nutanix HCI automates deployments at multiple geographical locations - as well as IT upgrades. These upgrades save man-hours and reduce operational complexity.
2. HCI is easier to work with
Traditional infrastructure has separate tiers. Each tier comes with unique operational skillset requirements, learning curves, and processes. This makes these data centers difficult to work with.
HCI changes that. It has a single layer and a single user management interface. It lets operators complete more tasks, more quickly, without requiring highly skilled specialists. It’s a lot easier to work with, which saves time and money.
3. Better results and outcomes
HCI data center performance is better than that of a 3-tier data center. There are several reasons for this.
One is data locality. When data is written, one copy is stored on the same node as the application that wrote it. This data can be retrieved without accessing the network itself. This reduces latency and prevents congestion, even in busy environments.
Another reason is that wasteful activity and energy consumption are both reduced. This increases mechanical capacity, prolongs the lifespan of your equipment, and improves overall performance.
4. Higher data center density
An HCI data center requires less equipment. You need fewer switches, connectors, servers, etc. You also need fewer storage units, forklift upgrades, etc.
With a smaller data center footprint, you can keep your data center small, cheap, and cool. You can also increase density, getting more processing power, storage, etc without expanding your facilities.
In Summary
Rising energy prices and inefficiencies common to old data centers are making data centers expensive. One of the best ways to save money and become more efficient in the long run? Upgrade from traditional, 3-tier data centers to HCI storage instead.
This will save you money, create better results and outcomes, and let you work with a smaller footprint. It will also give you a data center that scales well, requires fewer expensive specialists to operate, and lets you pay for what you use - and nothing else.
Which data center modernization solution to go with?
Some HCI tech isn’t HCI at all; it’s traditional 3-tier architecture packed into HCI as a new form factor. What you really want for maximum savings and performance improvement is true HCI, with cloud-like infrastructure and distributed architecture.
That being the case, Nutanix is your best choice for HCI. It was designed for the cloud era, with pay-as-you-go economics; no hidden costs; a suite of best-in-class tools to manage your private and hybrid clouds.
Gartner and Forrester both identify Nutanix as a leader in HCI. And we have to agree. If you’re going to upgrade, it’s hard to go wrong with the provider.
Get a free data center energy audit
Are you about to pay thousands of euros in extra electricity costs?
Is your old equipment going to become a money sink for your organization?
The best way to find out is with a data center energy audit. These usually cost hundreds or thousands of euros, depending on facility size and equipment… But right now, we’re offering to audit your data center energy consumption for free.
All you have to do is click the links in this section or the image below. We’ll come and tell you how much money you can save - if any - with an equipment upgrade!
