In data centers, electricity powers nearly everything. Thousands or even millions of dollars might be lost every hour due to a malfunctioning piece of equipment, a dead replacement, or a loss of utility power. 

Backup power is essential to the overall design of a data center because of these hazards. Having a backup plan, and a backup plan to a backup plan, is always a good idea if you want to ensure that your data center is running as efficiently as possible. 

Redundancy measures are more crucial than ever as businesses continue their digital transformation journeys and store more valuable and sensitive data in data centers and the cloud. We will go over the idea of data center redundancy, the numerous kinds that may be found in data centers, and what to expect when navigating different data center tiers and redundancy levels during a migration. 

What is Data Center Redundancy? 

Redundancy in data centers can increase output, enhance security, and strengthen organizational trust. Natural disasters, power outages, equipment failure, and purposeful or inadvertent human acts are just a few of the many ways that data centers might be disrupted. Business operations and data will be protected to the extent that more data centers protect against these disturbances.

The Importance of Data Center Power Redundancy

Data center power redundancy lowers risks, aids in the protection of sensitive data, and saves a lot of money on downtime. The cost of repairing damage in 60% of system failures exceeds $100,000 for businesses. Businesses must seriously treat challenges like equipment maintenance, natural disasters, power outages, and networking issues to safeguard their data and operations.

Types of Redundancy 

Five types of redundancy can be found in data centers, power, cooling, network, backup, server and hardware, or any combination of these.

Power Redundancy

In the event of a power outage, power redundancy ensures continuous operation. To do this, the facilities need to have multiple power sources. Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), backup generators, and additional utility feeds are a few examples of this. Depending on the type of power backup, redundancy can provide varying degrees of coverage. For example, whereas UPS systems only offer temporary power, generators may power data centers for much longer periods.

Cooling Redundancy  

Data center equipment may overheat without cooling redundancy, which could result in damage and data loss. Several cooling measures, such as additional air conditioning units and backup power for cooling, can aid in preventing this harm. Installing numerous sets of pipes, heat exchangers, and pumps can be utilized to create redundant cooling loops in the case of liquid cooling. A hot/cold aisle arrangement may also be used in facilities to enhance ventilation and cooling efficiency for IT equipment.

Network Redundancy 

The goal of network redundancy is to offer a backup for the possible routes that data can take within a data center. Fibre optic lines, extra switches, and routers can be used to add redundancies. Moreover, technologies like spanning tree protocol (STP), which provide flawless failover and avoid loops, can be used to combat network disturbances.

Back Redundancy 

Backup redundancy can be increased by using data replication, remote backups, and cloud-based backup services. Backup redundancy is concerned with safeguarding several copies of data to avert data loss caused by hardware malfunctions, cybercrime, and natural catastrophes. As an extra backup redundancy strategy, having a second data center in a geographically diverse location is beneficial. The backup center minimizes downtime and data loss by ensuring business continuity and protecting against region-specific difficulties in the case of a disaster or outage impacting one location.

Server and Hardware Redundancy 

Redundant components that cover both server and hardware redundancy can be configured in a failover or load-balancing mode to function seamlessly in the event of a hardware breakdown. Replicated servers, network devices, and storage arrays are the three elements that can boost resilience.

How to Choose a Data Center Power Redundancy Configuration

Ensuring the continuous availability and reliability of your IT infrastructure depends on selecting the appropriate data center power redundancy architecture. This is a comprehensive resource to assist you in making a well-informed choice. 

Assess Your Requirements

Assessing your business needs and realizing how important uptime is to your operations should be your first steps. Determine the possible effects of blackouts and downtime on your company, such as monetary losses, irate clients, and reputational harm. 

Understand Redundancy Levels

Data center power redundancy is typically categorized into N, N+1, 2N, and 2N+1 configurations. Each level offers varying degrees of redundancy and fault tolerance.

• N: No redundancy, single power path.
• N+1: One extra component or system for redundancy.
• 2N: Fully redundant systems operating independently.
• 2N+1: Fully redundant systems with an additional backup component.

Consider Tier Standards

Familiarize yourself with data center tier standards (such as Tier I to Tier IV) defined by organizations like Uptime Institute. These tiers provide guidelines for infrastructure redundancy, uptime, and reliability.

• Tier I: Basic infrastructure with no redundancy.
• Tier II: Redundant components for some systems, allowing for planned maintenance without downtime.
• Tier III: N+1 redundancy for all critical systems, ensuring 99.982% uptime.
• Tier IV: 2N+1 redundancy for all critical systems, offering 99.995% uptime.

Evaluate Cost vs. Benefit

Assess the cost implications of different redundancy configurations against the benefits they provide. Higher levels of redundancy typically come with increased upfront and operational costs but offer greater reliability and uptime.

Consider Future Growth

Factor in your organization's growth projections and scalability requirements. Choose a redundancy configuration that can accommodate future expansions and increased workloads without compromising performance or reliability.

Assess Power Distribution

Analyze the data center's power distribution design, taking into account redundant power supplies from utility companies, backup generators, and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems. Make sure the infrastructure as a whole has power redundancy. 

Consult with Experts 

To determine the optimal redundancy design for your requirements, seek advice from IT consultants, electrical engineers, or data center specialists. They may offer insightful information and support you in making a decision that is well-informed and takes into account your financial limits and unique needs. 

Read More: Why Out of Band Network Important in Colocation?

Ready to See How Server Colocation UK Can Help You?

Data center power redundancy is one of the many areas of expertise we have gained throughout our long history of serving facilities of all sizes. Server Colocation UK can help analyze your data center's power needs and determine how to configure redundant power supplies for maximum uptime or cost efficiency. Contact us online or find a representative to start mitigating risk and increasing uptime.