Top 5 Must Reads: 11/10/2023

You already know that every day at Data Center Knowledge brings advice, trends and strategies for data center professionals on how to design, build, and manage world-class data centers.

That means original reporting from our team of journalists and unique commentary you won’t see anywhere else! But in case you missed them, here are some of our favorites from this week:

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1. Road Blocks of Data Center Growth

Story by Chris Tozzi

Key Points:

• Although there remains plenty of incentive to invest in data center growth, the data center industry also faces a number of barriers to increasing the number and size of data center facilities.
• Arguably the single biggest challenge to data center expansion as of 2023 is lack of space to build data centers.
• Ideally, if you want to construct a massive data center, you'd choose a location with affordable real estate costs, easy access to energy, low natural disaster risks, and the ability to connect to high-capacity network infrastructure.
• Keep reading for a look at five key challenges to data center industry growth as of 2023, and what it will take for data center operators to overcome the barriers and keep expanding.

2. Heating Up: Data Center Competition

Story by James Walker

Key Points:

• OpenUK has partnered with the United Nations (UN) to launch the ‘Patchwork Kilt’ challenge, a worldwide competition that’s aimed at stimulating innovation in the field of open source sustainability solutions for data centers.
• Running from October 10 to November 11, participants in the Patchwork Kilt data center challenge can make open source contributions across numerous different fields for developing carbon-neutral solutions for data centers.
• Across the different submission categories, OpenUK has a range of requirements to ensure the competition stays true to the ethos of open technology.

3. What's New in November?

Story by James Walker

Key Points:

• With new projects being announced each week, keeping track of the latest data center developments is not always easy. 
• To keep you informed about the latest data center news involving design, construction, and related developments, we bring you the highlights from the past month. 
• This curated selection will help you stay on top of the latest data center development news with ease. 

4. Right-Sizing Your Data Center Floor

Story by Chris Tozzi

Key Points:

• After all, the floor – by which we mean literally the thing people and equipment stand on inside a data center facility –  usually doesn't receive much thought.
• The way you design your floor and the materials you use to construct it have a more significant impact than you might expect on energy efficiency, equipment reliability, and more.
• With that reality in mind, here's what you need to know about optimizing floor design and construction in data centers, whether you're building a new facility from the ground up or making changes to an existing one.

5. Recycling Data Center Heat

Story by Chris Tozzi

Key Points:

• Are there practical approaches to reusing heat, rather than releasing it into the ambient environment?
• In general, reusing data center heat is typically not easy. Data centers are often (but not always) located in remote areas with sparse populations, which means that there is often little demand for heat in nearby buildings.
• There may not be many people living around the typical data center, but there is often plenty of open land.
• By pumping excess heat from data centers to that land, it could be possible to put the land to agricultural use, including in seasons where the ambient temperature would not be warm enough to support crops or livestock.
• There are other ways to repurpose excess data center heat. Here's a look at some approaches that are creative but still within the realm of feasibility.

Virtual Events from the Archives...

"DevSecOps Essentials" Recaps

These segments were part of the live “DevSecOps Essentials that Enable Efficient Security” virtual event. The event was presented by InformationWeek and ITPro Today on October 19, 2023.

1. What Does Agile Really Mean in the Age of IT Automation?

In this archived keynote session, Eve Logunova-Parker, CEO of Evenness, discusses various aspects of agile methodology in the context of modern IT and its relevance in the face of automation and changing landscapes in IT operations. Logunova-Parker highlights the transition from traditional IT operations to various methodologies, including DevOps, NoOps, CloudOps, AIOps, and BizOps.

2. How to Rescue a Struggling DevSecOps Program

There are many historic and cultural differences between dev and security teams that persist today – fast vs. slow, risk-hungry vs. risk-averse, focused on profits vs. focused on cost avoidance, and more.

In this archived keynote session, Larry Maccherone, Dev[Sec]Ops Transformation Architect at Contrast Security, explains how to rescue a struggling DevSecOps program.

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