Will Robotics be in Texas Colocation’s Future?

1
Will Robotics be in Texas Colocations Future?
2
Will Robotics be in Texas Colocations Future?

• What will a Texas colocation center of the future
  look like?
• Is it possible a robot will retrieve a drive or
  blade and deliver it to a replacement site?
• As organizations place greater reliance on data
  center services, providers must find ways to
  operate more efficiently.
• This growth is predicted to fuel the need for new
  robotics automation.
• Data centers will continually invest in ways to
  better control operations and automation tops the
  list for achieving efficiency gains.
• Robotics automation has been particularly
  successful in warehousing applications.

3
Will Robotics be in Texas Colocations Future?

• These warehousing technologies know where
  inventories are located and how to put them in
  order.
•  
• Operating in a Texas colocation center wont
  quite be the same and will take further
  development.
• However, developers have already made significant
  inroads into robotics automation for data center
  applications.

4
Will Robotics be in Texas Colocations Future?
HOW WILL ROBOTICS AUTOMATION CHANGE TODAYS DATA
CENTERS?
The advantages robotics could provide over
todays data centers include Vertical
scalability Todays Texas colocation centers
scale only horizontally. When additional space
is needed, the facility expands out. Robotics
allows the data center to scale upwards so
providers can maximize floor space most
efficiently. No need for lighting Because
robotics replaces human staffing requirements on
the data center floor, a Texas colocation center
wont need to maintain lighting. By eliminating
lights, data centers can save substantially on
power costs. Downtime reductions Today,
administrators swap out faulty hardware. With
robotics, a Texas colocation center is
automatically managed and controlled. All
functions are predicted and calculated.
5
Will Robotics be in Texas Colocations Future?
HOW WILL ROBOTICS AUTOMATION CHANGE TODAYS DATA
CENTERS?
The advantages robotics could provide over
todays data centers include Higher
temperature operations Just like some of the
newer server technologies, robotics are designed
to run at higher temperatures. Return on
Investment As with many new technologies, Texas
colocation centers will likely incur a
significant upfront investment with robotics
automation. However, greater availability and
better management create cost savings that can
lead to a favorable ROI in the long-term.
6
Will Robotics be in Texas Colocations Future?
HOW WILL ROBOTICS AUTOMATION CHANGE TODAYS DATA
CENTERS?
However, robotics Automation in Texas colocation
data centers will also create several challenges
providers will need to overcome   Custom
hardware requirement -- Current hardware is meant
to be handled by administrators, not machines.
Therefore, everything from the server hardware
and racks to the Texas colocation center itself
would need to be designed for robotics
automation.   Specialized cabling How would
robotics work around current wiring and cabling?
These configurations add another layer of
complexity to the robotics automation design
considerations.
7
Will Robotics be in Texas Colocations Future?
HOW WILL ROBOTICS AUTOMATION CHANGE TODAYS DATA
CENTERS?
However, robotics Automation in Texas colocation
data centers will also create several challenges
providers will need to overcome   Upfront costs
As one can expect, a robotics-driven data
center would be a costly endeavor, at least in
the early stages of the technologys
availability. For some time, however, the ROI
analysis will most likely only make sense for the
very largest data center organizations.   New
staffing requirements - At first, data center
staff may be concerned robotics automation will
replace them. Although the data center floor may
have no human staffing, technical expertise will
always be needed to oversee and maintain the
operation.
8
Will Robotics be in Texas Colocations Future?

• Robotics automation could provide an entirely new
  approach to data center operations.
• With robotics technologies, a Texas colocation
  center can scale vertically upward, operate at
  higher temperatures, function in darkness and be
  run with fewer people on the data center floor.
• Technical experts could manage and maintain the
  robotics infrastructure from a central command
  center.
• They will have total visibility and control into
  the entire data center environment.
• Progressive data centers will continually look
  for ways to improve operations.
• As new technologies like robotics automation
  become available, some data center innovators
  will incorporate them into their infrastructures
  when and where they make sense.

9
About the author

• SCOTT BRUEGGEMAN IS CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER AT
  CYRUSONE, A GLOBAL ENTERPRISE COLOCATION PROVIDER
  OPERATING 24 HIGHLY SECURE DATA CENTERS ACROSS
  THE UNITED STATES, LONDON AND SINGAPORE.
• LEARN MORE ABOUT TEXAS COLOCATION BY VISITING
  HTTP//WWW.CYRUSONE.COM.