Solid-state storage is poised to enter mainstream use in data centers in the near term, driven by large potential performance advantages and supported by dropping cost premiums compared to disk-based systems.
Whether it's mounted directly in servers or makes up a next-generation storage array, a key ancillary benefit for data center operators is reduced cooling load due the 10x energy efficiency premium that solid state delivers.
Only a handful of data center operators actively manage for energy efficiency, and most IT managers will never directly see energy cost savings returned to their budgets, but don't disregard this benefit.
Are you facing cooling challenges in your data center due to increasing rack power density? Servers with solid state storage will at least ameliorate that problem.
And have you priced new data center capacity lately? Avoiding just one watt of power use on your raised floor helps avoid the capital cost of securing new data center facility capacity - worth as much as $2 with today's construction costs. Add another dollar-per-year in energy costs to support that watt.
So if a vendor knocks on your door touting the performance benefits of solid-state solutions, listen intently. And if the economic case doesn't quite pass the bar, be sure to factor in the energy savings, capacity avoidance, and data center cooling management benefits and redo the calculations.
Action Item: Data center operators and storage vendors should explicitly include the ancillary energy efficiency advantages of solid-state solutions in their cost/benefit analyses - it may very well push projects past rate-of-return hurdles.
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