Living in an era of hyperconnected communities, economies, and global networks, data centres serve as crucial hubs linking society, corporations, and governments. However, the climate crisis and impending disasters pose significant threats to the resources essential for data centre operations, making them highly vulnerable. The resilience of data centres is not only critical for seamless telecommunications but also for other indispensable elements in modern society.
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The resources supporting data centre functionality fall into two categories: tangible and digital. Tangible resources encompass buildings, water, energy, and physical equipment like servers, cables, storage, and network switches. Digital assets include data and applications. To combat challenges from harsh weather and the climate crisis, data centres require redundant energy and connectivity resources.
As we wrap up the year and gear up for 2024, the sustainability of data centres becomes paramount for stakeholders. Key service providers such as NTT, Equinix, and BT Global Services have not only implemented sustainability measures but also promoted their data centre platforms and solutions to clients. Building resilience is crucial for sustainability, particularly evident in top-tier data centres that boast the highest security levels and minimal downtime. A security breach in these centres could lead to irreparable damages, with 50% of businesses unable to recover from a data breach. Today, world-class data centres strive for both resilience and sustainability in their processes and operations.
Various information services, including email, video, social media, computing, online shopping, and collaborations, rely on data centres. However, the multitude of IT devices housed in these facilities consumes electricity and generates heat, necessitating additional cooling equipment and energy. In 2018, the data centre industry consumed 205 terawatt-hours of electricity, representing 1% of the total global energy production in 2020 (Masanet et al.). Projections indicate a continued upward trend in energy consumption for the sector, particularly in hyper-scale data centres that can host hundreds of thousands of servers.
This underscores the importance of making data centres more energy-efficient and sustainable to meet the growing demands of our hyperconnected world.