What are the main costs of a data center?

The average yearly cost to operate a large data center ranges from $10 million to $25 million. A little less than half is spent on hardware, software, disaster recovery, continuous power supplies and networking. Another large portion goes toward ongoing maintenance of applications and infrastructure.

What is data center cooling?

Through effective containment, data centers can reduce the risk of hot and cold air mixing. Free cooling can also help to improve data center energy efficiency. There are a number of forms of free cooling, including thermal reservoirs, low-temperature ambient air and evaporating water.

How much does it cost to power a data center?

Although technological advancements in intelligent rack PDUs and compute devices often provide greater efficiency, the energy cost to power a single server rack in a data center in the US can be as high as almost $30,000 a year depending on its configuration.

What percentage of world wide power is consumed by data centers?

The end of Moore’s law results in about 658 TWh for 2030 and an increase of the share of global data center electricity consumption from about 1.15\% in 2016 to 1.86\% in 2030.

How do you calculate cooling requirements for a data center?

Using standard conversion equations (Watts x 3.41 = BTU/Hr) and (BTU/Hr / 12,000 = Tons of Cooling) we can calculate the amount of data center cooling required. (Interesting Fact: In terms of cooling, a Ton correlates to the amount of heat energy required to melt one ton of ice at 32 degrees Fahrenheit in one hour.)

How much does it cost to build and maintain a data center?

The average enterprise data center costs between $10 million and $12 million per megawatt to build, with costs typically front-loaded onto the first few megawatts of deployment. What’s more, the typical edge data center costs between $8 million and $9 million.