Increasingly, businesses are coming around to the thought of owning a data center. As such, there are a lot of options in the data center space, and one of the latest—and least understood—is the modular data center. Getting a better handle on what it is, and what it isn’t, can be a huge help in determining if this technology is the right one for your business.
What You Should Know About the Modular Data Center
A modular data center, much as the name suggests, is a data center that’s built out of individual pieces—modules—that can be moved around as needed. Though it has several benefits, there are some less positive points to keep in mind.
Ultimate flexibility. If you’re willing to keep modules on hand, it becomes possible to adjust the data center according to your needs on the ground. More storage? Add some. More processing power? Add it too. Need more cooling for all that processing? It adds right on. It’s almost the physical equivalent of a cloud-based system; scalability is built into its very DNA.
Great in emergencies. Since the data center is modular, it becomes a lot easier to break it down and move it. It’s meant to be moved. If you’re in the midst of a disaster scenario, you may be able to just move your data center outright, establish it to basic functionality, and then expand it later to make it run almost c as if nothing happened. This also makes it easy to start fresh; it’s effectively plug-and-play.
Certain limits. The downside to a modular center is that it isn’t good in extreme situations. If you need, for example, high-performance computing, you may need more processing and cooling capability than a modular system can allow. Such systems require custom-built tools, or access to them, so a modular system may not work here.
Vendor lock-in potential. Additionally, users may have to depend on one particular vendor to supply the modules in question. This could leave you at a disadvantage down the line if someone else comes up with a better module, or you want to go to a different solution entirely.
Drop us a line at Emcon IT to learn more about the types of data center services that can help you improve your business. We offer an array of data center solutions, including complete relocation, to help make your data center everything it needs to be, modular or otherwise. When you’re ready to make the most of your data center, get in touch with us to get started.