When you have a data center, one of the facets that may become an afterthought is the effort to make it more efficient. This isn't surprising, given how there may be so many more other functions in the day-to-day operations identified as pressing and important. Some years back, it may have been enough to see results being achieved this way. Nowadays, however, this fact may not be the case anymore. 

The reason behind this goes back to rising and more stringent competition. Business organizations must strive for more efficiency to position themselves a few steps ahead of the competition. Data center managers are under a lot of pressure to monitor their efficiency. Unfortunately, if this isn't prioritized, your data center may continue to flop and suffer. 

To avoid this unpleasant situation from happening, these four steps can help you out in boosting your data center efficiency. 

• Optimize The Power Capacity Of Your Information Technology (IT) Systems 

Data centers are all about IT, which are systems that require the most power delivery. With this, data center managers must strive to lower the amount of power used to power all the essential IT equipment. This is also referred to as payload power. 

Note that the servers are using up a maximum of payload power. This is why you should take the necessary action to reduce the power they require. Some of those courses of action include: 

• Replace old and inefficient servers with newer ones; 
• Clean up your workloads so that you can delete those that are no longer necessary; 
• Clean up and remove those servers that are also running on power but aren't being used; 
• Submit to data center security consulting, so you have insights from experts who can help you out. 

• Double Check Your Current Data Center Architectural Design 

Did you know that the design of your data center matters? If such is something, you may not have given much thought to. Revisit your architectural design and see if any revisions have to be made. 

Here's why. Your data center's architectural and networking design can influence whether your operations and movement will be smooth and efficient. For instance, servers may not be able to operate at their optimal levels when they're not positioned accordingly. This involves ensuring the design allows the data center to maintain optimal temperatures.  

There's no fixed set of rules to follow for this purpose. The best course of action for you to take is to assess your own data center, go through your design, and discuss this with your data center manager and team, along with your contractors and architects. Due to proper positioning, you can apply improvements and changes in the design structure accordingly to positively impact the possible newfound efficiency in your data center. 

• Decide On Whether Or Not It's Time For An Upgrade 

Servers and equipment are the most expensive but also most important elements in a data center. However, those can only function efficiently if they're still new or well maintained. However, everything ages with time, and their efficiency reduces as expected. 

With this, assess the depreciation levels of your server and equipment. Perhaps some have gone way above their lifespan, and it's now an opportune time to invest in new ones. Think of this as an investment in the name of efficiency. Study this well enough, so you can be certain you're not investing in and cutting back on the wrong costs. 

If there's anything you can still sell, you may still earn a bit of money in exchange for those old hard drives. Doing so will still be a more practical choice than keeping them and having them utilize much more energy than needed without actually translating to efficient results. 

• Organize Cables 

This fourth tip may seem like only a minor change, but it's one of the most impactful. A data center is filled with so many cables. Just imagine your living room, with a television and a basic entertainment system. Even that has a lot of wires you have to organize. This would be much more in data centers, as you'll have much more equipment to plug in. 

Disorganized cables are a visual nuisance. They contribute to a messy office. Psychology will tell you that mess can also lead to inefficiency. There can be disruptions brought about by messy cables or so much time wasted trying to figure out which cable belongs to this and that. 

Take the time to organize your cables. Be sure you're doing this with professional electricians to avoid the risk of accidental electrocution. 

Conclusion 

Due to their specialized function, boosting data center efficiency may not be as easy as you thought. Many things come into play to achieve that intended goal. If you've previously wondered how to get started with boosting data center efficiency, the tips above should be more than enough to guide you. Whether on your effort and by taking in experts for this purpose, now a more efficient operation of your data center is within reach.