The Many Pros of Prefabricated Modular Data Centres

While the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer a global threat, organisations continue to struggle with the impact it had on the work environment. This is according to GbengaAdebowale, enterprise sales director for Central Africa at Vertiv, a global provider of critical digital infrastructure and continuity solutions, who explains that, as a result of enormous numbers of employees moving to remote or hybrid work arrangements, pressure on networks surged and they became increasingly complex, hybrid constructs typically based around an enterprise data centre.

The aim was – and remains – to enable seamless interactions across cloud, colocation, and edge resources. However, the transition to hybrid and remote working has been plagued by several factors, not least of which was the slowdown in data centre builds during the pandemic.

“Constantly changing capacity demands, external market forces and the ramping up of compute-intensive applications, such as AI and machine learning, have combined to exert unprecedented pressure on data centresand networks,” Adebowale says.

“This reality is forcing organisations to consider alternatives for meeting their urgent capacity needs.”

According to Adebowale, prefabricated modular (PFM) solutions are becoming an increasingly popular option thanks to their speed of deployment, as well as the ability to deliver a sophisticated, customisable, and scalable solution to modern capacity challenges.

“They offer factory-built reliability, flexibility, and rapid deployment beyond the possibilities of traditional stick builds or other alternatives,” he explains.

Traditional data centre capacity solutions

For more than 20 years’ colocation (colo) has delivered a reliable solution for companies looking to add capacity quickly, mitigate latency challenges, or expand beyond their physical footprint. Now, as enterprise data centreoperators are looking to support an increased compute load due to the advent of advanced computing technologies and added complexity – as well as power and cooling needs – the colo market is booming.

According to the Data Center Map, there are approximately 5,000 colo data centres worldwide, and around one out of five organisations is currently leasing capacity from colo providers. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.5 percent through 2027, eventually reaching $136 billion by 2028.

A similar trend is emerging in Nigeria. According to the ’Nigeria Data Centre Market Outlook to 2027’ report, the local data centre market is on track to reach an impressive $288.8 million in 2027, up from $131.6 million in 2022. Colocation services account for more than half of this, thanks to the convenience, security, and reduced power interruptions delivered to local businesses.

The modular data centre alternative

In today’s post-pandemic market, the ability to add data centre capacity quickly, reliably and safely is a business imperative, and prefabricated modular solutions are increasingly gaining recognition as the preferred alternative.

Since their introduction about 15 years ago, the technologies and building practices of prefabricated modular data centres have been considerably refined.

“These sophisticated, fully integrated IT solutions can be configured to meet specific needs and deployed quickly wherever computing is needed,” Adebowale explains. 

And the market is taking notice. In a recent OMDIA survey of data centre decision-makers, 93 percent of respondents said they plan to make prefabricated modular solutions their default construction process going forward. Any early hesitancy has long since passed as operators have found these technologies to be an easy, affordable, owned alternative to established approaches, offering several benefits over traditional data centre builds. These include:

Factory engineered: Because they are engineered, assembled, and tested in the factory, prefabricated solutions are rugged, reliable, and repeatable – an important consideration when adding capacity incrementally. That reliability pays dividends over the system’s lifespan, reducing the need for repairs and service calls.

Speed of deployment: Integrated modular solutions can be built while on-site activities continue, eliminating the wait times typical for new installations. In addition, because they are fully integrated and quick to deploy, these solutions can be commissioned and made operational much faster than traditional builds. Vertiv’s unified infrastructure and design approach provides manufacturing and construction efficiencies that can lead to time savings of up to 30 percent, when compared to new builds.

Scalable: Most organisations do not grow in megawatts. With integrated modular solutions, they can add capacity as it’s needed, where it’s needed. Right sizing these additions to meet specific IT load requirements simplifies capacity planning and eliminates waste, reducing energy use, costs, and carbon footprint.

Customisable: Modules can be custom-built to customer specs, and then the configuration and build can be repeated quickly and efficiently as demand increases. This reduces complexity and challenges across the network and simplifies operation and service.

Flexible: Most facilities are built to support air cooling, but if rack densities increase – to support advanced computing applications, for example – traditional cooling technologies aren’t always sufficient. Introducing liquid cooling technologies in these environments would require a significant infrastructure investment. Integrated modular solutions can be built and configured to support various architectures, including high-density computing and liquid cooling.

Portable: As today’s networks become more distributed, they become less predictable. A modular solution can be portable in order to be relocated as network demands change.

Cost certainty: While modular solutions are not immune to external market conditions, wild fluctuations are unlikely. In addition, the total cost of ownership is typically lower for integrated modular solutions than stick build or long-term leases.

“There is no question that for enterprise data centreslooking to add compute, power, or cooling in smaller increments, modular solutions represent a lifeline that can mitigate urgent capacity demands and facilitate lasting growth,” Adebowale concludes.