Meeting the demands of flexible data center design

When designing a data center, a recognized set of principles is typically followed. Scalability, resiliency, reliability, and sustainability are all essential, but the most important common feature for data-center products may be flexibility. The equipment cabinet should likewise be flexible, but this has not always been the case. Certain well-known limitations and obstacles have befallen data centers in the past. Of late, this has prompted a rethinking of the way IT infrastructure, power, and cooling converge—and the data-center cabinet is starting to adapt. This white paper discusses the importance of understanding this convergence, and also takes a look at how racks are evolving to support flexibility.