How COVID-19 Affects Data Centers and Cloud Services

We’re living in unprecedented times. The effects are deeply felt and widespread, and each industry has to adapt their business, operations, and strategic aims. Data centers and cloud services are no exception.

What does the IT COVID-19 reality look like?

The specific effects faced by each data center (DC) take a variety of forms. However, commonalities exist across specific DCs. Most, if not all, are learning to operate with steeply reduced staff. Many are finding solutions for how to still continue operations while numerous employees and leaders are now working from home.

What does the IT COVID-19 reality mean for data center operations?

Beyond worker-capacity, data centers are experiencing a myriad of tangible infrastructure effects. These include, but are not confined to:

• Limited visibility of compute infrastructure
• Less control at colocation and edge sites
• Decreased ability in power monitoring
• Limited knowledge of RU asset location for managing fault isolation
• Increased risk for businesses from outage or disruption

What can management do now adapt to this new COVID-19 reality?

Data center management and leadership must continue taking action in order to adapt and even strengthen operations during this pandemic. Nlyte has worked to provide suggestions and solutions to move forward.

Viewing the DC footprint

Data center infrastructure management DCIM software can grant the needed visual presentation of the data center. This allows a view of the DC footprint where all assets, power, cooling, and alarm statistics are shown from all facilities from a central point. On and off powering of racks and equipment, then, can be handled remotely in addition to remote planning and troubleshooting. Power chain mapping, non-disruptive fault simulations, and various reliable contingencies can also be enacted.

This will allow less physical time to be spent by workers within the DC, and this will reduce their potential travel and risk of COVID exposure.

Utilizing “Dock to Decom”

Further, Nlyte’s asset optimization, “Dock to Decom,” is a planning and automated work order creation solution which allows the remote teams to place DC Adds, Moves, and Changes. Then, they can report back on how the various potential new stresses on the current infrastructure from the various changes occurred when shifting to remote. Leadership can use such data to continue making forward-looking and wise decisions for continued optimized functioning.

What can management to do to prepare for the future?

Although many are hoping that COVID-19’s curve will flatten soon, unprecedented times have few guarantees. Even once the outbreak seems to have diminished, a resurgence of COVID-19 or various other strains of the virus or another virus entirely are not out of question. To best equip their data centers for optimal functioning no matter the circumstances, leadership should look to creating a pandemic disaster plan. This plan can include a variety of instructions, shifted methods of functioning, and trouble-shooting solutions. It also should include the tools, ideally enacted before pandemic-scaled outbreaks, to maintain optimal functioning.

To take the next steps towards such disaster plan and to learn more about how to shift data center management during COVID-19, explore nlyte.com or read COIVD-19 Pandemic & DCIM Essentials.