June 28, 2017

If you’re shopping for a colocation data center, and a provider says they can support high density, ask them how they do it. 

Quick take

• Our new Technical Brief explains the answer to a question we get often: Can you support high density?
• Asking how a data center provider supports high density is just as important as asking whether the data center provider supports high density.
• Our adaptive data center supports 1-50 kW per rack, in the same row, without stranding capacity.
• Our dynamic cooling infrastructure allows clients to run high density in a variety of rack configurations, and to easily change density without reconfiguring the rack layout.

If you’re shopping for a colocation data center, and a provider says they can support high density, follow up on the question and ask them how.

Can Aligned’s colocation data centers support high density? Yes. In significantly less space, with a variety of rack configurations and dynamic density that is easy to change without reconfiguring the rack layout – all without any additional in-row cooling systems.

In our new Technical Brief, you will learn how supporting high density is about the ability of the data center cooling system to deal with the extra heat generated by high density servers. And about how, at Aligned, our adaptive data center supports 1-50 kW per rack, in the same row, without stranding capacity.

Download our Technical Brief to find out more about how we support high density.

Our Tech Brief explains why we’re focused on density, the density that meets our clients’ needs.

Up to 50 kW per rack in significantly less space

The question of whether (and how) a data center provider can support high density is increasingly important as more end-users are moving to higher density environments – from the typical 3-5 kW per rack to 8-12 kW and even 20 kW and beyond.

Our approach was born out of the understanding that the data center cooling problem is actually a heat removal problem. Instead of blowing cold air into the data center, our technology removes heat. It’s an approach centered on the mission to create a better data center. We describe how we’ve done that in the Technical Brief.

High density in variety of rack configurations designed for dynamic loads

Traditional data centers are configured at a static density. At Aligned’s colocation data centers, in contrast, cooling infrastructure is dynamic. Many of the same technology innovations that make our cooling infrastructure dynamic also make it efficient and effective at any density.

So whether you’re an oil & gas company looking for the next North Slope or a genomics researcher developing a cure for cancer, asking your data center provider how they support high density is as important as asking if they do. To learn how we support high density, download the Technical Brief.

Find out more:

Download our Technical Brief to find out more about how we support high density.

June 22, 2017

Aligned has joined forces with a group of global tech companies to improve green power options available to colocation and cloud customers.

Quick take

• The notion of corporate responsibility has expanded to include the impact that digital business has on the environment.
• Aligned has joined forces with BSR, a global organization working to help businesses find energy efficient colocation providers.
• We are helping BSR and 20 other global tech companies to develop and promote The Corporate Colocation and Cloud Buyers’ Principles.
• The ultimate goal of BSR is to power the Internet with 100 percent renewable energy.

Despite skyrocketing demand for data and data center services, data center power consumption has flattened over the past several years, according to research from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This good news is in large part due to energy efficiencies as facilities scale up. But in order to continue finding significant reductions in power use, data centers will need to implement additional energy efficiency strategies and technologies.

At Aligned, where we have been focused on energy efficiency from the beginning, we have joined forces with a group of global tech companies seeking to improve the green power options available to colocation and cloud customers.

We are one of 21 companies partnering with the non-profit BSR (Business for Social Responsibility) in support of its newly developed Corporate Colocation and Cloud Buyers’ Principles (PDF). The principles are guidelines for businesses to follow and goals for colocation and cloud providers to meet.

BSR is a global organization that works with a network of more than 250 member companies and other partners to build a just and sustainable world by developing and sharing sustainable business strategies and solutions. A goal of BSR and its members is to power the Internet with 100 percent renewable energy.

Giving guidance to colo customers

The 17 signatory companies of the Corporate Colocation and Cloud Buyers’ Principles include Adobe, Bank of America, Oracle, eBay, Etsy, Facebook, LinkedIn, Salesforce, and Yahoo.

Aligned is one of several leading colocation providers included to add support and input about the colocation and cloud buyers’ principles. Kelly Gallo, a manager with the Future of Internet Power Initiative at BSR, said that these companies are colocation data center and cloud service providers that support meeting environmental sustainability and renewable energy goals by working with their customers to put the six principles into practice.

BSR plans to develop a toolkit to help put these principles into practice, giving guidance to companies already expressing an interest in corporate responsibility and sustainable business practices.

Joining global climate leadership

Sustainability remains center stage in the social responsibility efforts of corporations.

Edward Cameron, managing director at BSR, told Ethical Corporation Magazine, “There is a realization [among companies] that climate leadership is good for growth, competitiveness, risk-management. It’s sensible business.”

Despite the U.S. government’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, Cameron said no company has announced that it will backtrack on sustainability or clean energy commitments. On the contrary, sustainable leadership, he said, is “vital for competitiveness, vital for jobs, vital for profits.”

He pointed to the growing number of pledges by U.S. businesses, cities, counties, states, and colleges and universities who have signed on to the ‘We Are Still In’ (the Paris Agreement) campaign.

Sustainable technology with a mission to innovate

A partnership with BSR continues a sustainability approach that Aligned has had from the beginning. We believe that asking critical infrastructure to be absolutely reliable is no longer asking enough. Our mission is to make critical infrastructure smart enough to continuously improve its economic performance and environmental impact, delivering a tremendous business advantage, while helping secure the health of the planet.

We are doing so through our cooling innovations and DCSO that combined offer intelligent infrastructure that utilizes up to 85% less water, 80% less power and 40% less infrastructure. Our approach to data center cooling was born out of the understanding that the data center cooling problem is actually a heat removal problem. So instead of blowing cold air into the data center, our technology removes the heat.

For more about how the Aligned approach benefits our customers:

Blog: A New Approach to Data Center Cooling Changes the Chiller-vs.-Free Cooling Conversation

Blog: Free Cooling & Beyond – Data Center Efficiency at the Edge

Press Release: Aligned Awarded for Global Sustainability Leadership