by Brianna Crandall — March 24, 2014—Global growth consulting firm Frost and Sullivan has released an analysis of the data center cooling market, which the firm says is growing quickly due to varying computing requirements and the desire to lower energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The report found that the market earned revenues of $1.12 billion in 2012, and estimates this will reach $2.04 billion in 2018.
As Frost and Sullivan explains, the rising popularity of data-intensive services such as colocation, Web-hosting and cloud among non-traditional verticals has compelled data centers to enhance their technologies and service quality. One of the fallouts of this data explosion is the requirement for more powerful and robust cooling solutions.
As high-density server racks cannot be adequately cooled using legacy technologies, there is a need for high-density cooling modules, continues the report. Simultaneously, low-density racks continue to be in use, as not all applications require high-performance computing. This, in turn, creates demand for a wider range of cooling solutions in the market.
“The growing demand for cloud and colocation services from a large range of verticals has altered market dynamics,” explains Frost and Sullivan energy and environmental research analyst Pramod Dibble. “Data is increasingly being perceived as a vital asset, and there are substantial retrofit opportunities for cooling systems in legacy data centers that still run outdated cooling equipment, and therefore, spend inordinately on cooling and emit large quantities of greenhouse gases.”
Despite this substantial potential, cooling systems providers are still battling end-user reluctance to implement new equipment, notes the report. The researchers determined that this technology resistance among data center owners and operators stems from the apprehension that servicing of unfamiliar cooling solutions may cause expensive delays or downtime. Furthermore, a cooling solution is perceived as untested even if it has up to five years of demonstrated reliability in the data center market.
As a result, many organizations would rather deploy systems that incur higher energy costs and release more greenhouse gases than risk using a system they consider unreliable, found the report. Early adopters of next-generation solutions are almost exclusively from the high-tech sector, where innovation is intrinsic to the corporate culture and public perception.
“Nonetheless, operational efficiency is gaining momentum as a key driver for cooling solutions, particularly at the hyper-scale level for high-tech verticals,” notes Dibble. “As new technologies and practices demonstrate operational expenditure savings and environmental benefits, other verticals will follow suit.”
Thus, from the point of view of manufacturers, proving the effectiveness of a cooling solution in a variety of conditions and over a period of time is necessary for its wider adoption in the data center market. Partnerships with experienced companies will be particularly beneficial to manufacturers of next-generation solutions.
Analysis of the Data Center Cooling Market: Managing the Data Explosion (ND3D-19) is part of the Building Management Technologies Growth Partnership Service program. All F&S research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.
