In a fast-paced digital era, data centers serve as the backbone of businesses, supporting critical applications ranging from online storefronts to banking services. To remain competitive and meet ever-increasing user demands, maintaining a high-performing server infrastructure is vital. However, over time, aging servers can present various challenges, including performance degradation, hardware and software incompatibilities, and increased operational costs. One of the most effective solutions to address these challenges is server consolidation onto newer, more powerful systems. This move not only boosts performance but also can significantly reduce operational costs, including those related to cooling.
A study shows that transitioning from older servers to a new system, such as a Supermicro H14 Hyper DP powered by AMD EPYC 9475F processors, can result in substantial total cost of ownership (TCO) savings of up to 61.8% over five years. These savings are possible because server consolidation allows organizations to reduce the number of physical servers they operate. With fewer servers, the need for power, rack space, and maintenance costs also decreases, directly impacting operational expenditures. This can even free up resources to support AI infrastructure or other demanding IT projects that require significant power.
Of course, successful server consolidation relies on a robust supporting infrastructure, particularly the cooling system. Given the increased power density of modern servers, an efficient data center cooling system is crucial. In this regard, a Distributor AC data center Indonesia plays a vital role. A company like Climanusa can provide precision cooling solutions designed to handle the high thermal loads of consolidated new servers.
The Challenges of Aging Servers and the Benefits of Consolidation
Servers that are five years old or more tend to have several drawbacks. Their performance may no longer meet the growing needs of your business’s database applications. Furthermore, older servers are more susceptible to physical breakdowns and software/hardware incompatibilities, which can tie up IT staff with costly maintenance tasks. Even at their former best, legacy hardware cannot compete with the unmatched performance of new technology, which offers higher-performing CPUs and other updated server components.
Server consolidation is an attractive solution to these problems. By offloading the workload from multiple old servers onto a single, more powerful new one, organizations can shrink their server footprint and save on operating costs over the next several years. These cost-saving benefits include:
- Software Licensing: Many software suites are licensed per core. By operating fewer servers, the number of cores to license decreases, resulting in significant licensing cost savings.
- Power and Cooling: Modern server technology includes power-efficient features that older servers lack. Running fewer servers reduces power consumption in both active and idle states, which also lowers cooling costs.
- Data Center Space: Consolidating servers frees up rack and floor space, allowing organizations to maximize computing productivity within their existing footprint without incurring additional expansion costs. This freed-up space can be reallocated to other space-intensive infrastructure, such as AI servers.
- Maintenance: Fewer servers are easier for IT staff to manage and maintain. New technology also tends to break down less frequently, freeing up IT resources for innovation while lowering labor costs.
Measuring Performance and Costs
To demonstrate the benefits of consolidation, a test compared the transactional database performance of two server solutions. The legacy server was a five-year-old Supermicro Ultra DP with AMD EPYC 7532 processors, while the new server was a Supermicro H14 Hyper DP with AMD EPYC 9475F processors. The testing used the HammerDB TPROC-C workload to determine the maximum online transaction processing (OLTP) workload each server could support.
The test results showed that the new H14 Hyper DP server could handle 3.78 times the database transactions of the legacy server. This means it would take four of the older servers to match the performance of a single new H14 Hyper DP server. This performance difference creates a significant consolidation opportunity.
Subsequently, a five-year TCO analysis was conducted, comparing the operational costs of four legacy servers to one new, equivalent-performing server. The results were impressive: consolidating onto a single H14 Hyper DP server could cut costs by an impressive 61.8%, saving over $2.8 million over five years. This cost analysis included software licensing, power consumption, data center space, and maintenance.
Specifically, consolidating to one new server reduced licensing costs from $4,641,004 to $1,740,376, a massive saving due to the reduced number of licensed cores. Power costs also dropped dramatically from $11,955 to $6,319 because the new server consumed just 42.5% of the power used by four legacy servers. Similar savings were seen in data center space costs, as the H14 Hyper DP server requires only 2U of rack space compared to 8U for four legacy servers.
The Crucial Role of Precision Cooling
In this consolidation scenario, cooling efficiency is a key success factor. While the new servers are more power-efficient overall, the increased computing density in a single rack can lead to a higher localized heat load. Therefore, having a reliable and precise Distributor AC data center Indonesia is absolutely essential.
Precision cooling solutions, unlike conventional cooling, are designed to maintain stable temperature and humidity within very tight tolerances. This ensures that high-performing servers do not experience throttling or damage due to overheating. Climanusa, as a leading Distributor AC data center Indonesia, can provide the right solutions to meet these needs. With extensive experience in data center infrastructure, Climanusa can help you design and implement an efficient and reliable cooling system, maximizing the benefits of your server consolidation.
The right cooling system also allows organizations to redirect the power saved from older servers to more demanding workloads like AI, which often use power-hungry GPUs that generate a lot of heat. This opens up new opportunities for business innovation and growth without the need for costly physical data center expansion.
Why Climanusa is the Right Choice for Your Infrastructure
Choosing the right partner for your data center infrastructure is paramount. Climanusa, with its mission to provide comprehensive data center infrastructure solutions, is an ideal choice. As a Distributor AC data center Indonesia, Climanusa not only offers high-quality cooling products but also the technical expertise to design, install, and maintain systems tailored to your specific needs.
By partnering with Climanusa, you can ensure that your investment in server consolidation delivers maximum returns. They can help you optimize your use of space, power, and cooling, allowing you to focus on business growth and technological innovation.
Conclusion
Server consolidation is a smart strategy to modernize your IT infrastructure, reduce operational costs, and boost performance. By replacing aging servers with powerful new systems like the Supermicro H14 Hyper DP, you can cut costs by up to 61.8% over five years, saving over $2.8 million per new server consolidated. These savings encompass licensing, power, space, and maintenance costs. However, the success of this consolidation heavily depends on an efficient supporting infrastructure, especially a precision cooling system. A Distributor AC data center Indonesia like Climanusa is a crucial partner in this journey, ensuring that your data center remains optimal, reliable, and ready for future challenges. With the right cooling solutions, you can maximize the benefits of server consolidation, drive innovation, and maintain a competitive edge.
For the best data center precision cooling solutions in Indonesia, Climanusa is the clear choice. As a leading Distributor AC data center Indonesia, we provide reliable and efficient solutions to ensure your server infrastructure operates at optimal temperatures. Partner with Climanusa to achieve efficiency and innovation.
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–A.M.G–
