{"id":22287,"date":"2024-02-09T13:53:08","date_gmt":"2024-02-09T13:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onnecgroup.com\/?p=22287"},"modified":"2025-07-21T13:34:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T12:34:39","slug":"modularity-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onnecgroup.com\/de-DE\/2024\/02\/09\/modularity-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"Modularity 2.0: A New Era for Flexible Data Centres"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Modularity 2.0: A New Era for Flexible Data Centres<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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Over the last year, most data centre operators have been wrestling with one ongoing challenge; keeping up with ever-growing demand. With AI adoption surging, alongside growing workloads caused by streaming and cloud-based gaming, data centres need to adapt and become more efficient \u2013 delivering an IT infrastructure with flexibility and interchangeability built in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operators need to prolong the life of data centres or adapt, which will require them to replace hardware more regularly. Challenges like ineffective infrastructure and bad cabling hinder operators in adapting to changing workloads, preventing data centres from easily swapping out hardware to adapt to changing demand. Little thought is given to cabling and infrastructure. Operators need to become more flexible, but this requires a new approach that redefines what we mean by modularity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Surging Demand Creates Challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This increased demand has created three clear challenges for operators: a rapid increase in the need for AI-related data centre capacity, a construction slowdown, and the prolonged operational lifespan of hardware.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As these challenges persist, data centre operators will need to conduct rapid hardware refreshes more frequently to adopt GPU-powered racks. This means in the future, operators must think differently about how to design data centres to be more adaptable. Operators will need to embrace a new kind of modularity to get ahead of problems that limit interchangeability, such as bad cabling, poor installation and resource shortages. Failure to do so will put new or existing data centres at increased risk of falling into disarray and requiring early refreshes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Unravelling Cabling Complexities<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cabling and infrastructure problems that limit interchangeability start in the design phase due to a focus on power and cooling, rather than anticipating future changes in demand. As a result, “bad” cabling can lead to connectivity issues, data corruption, and downtime. This bad cabling is also much more expensive to replace than proper installation. Inflexible cabling may also require replacement within three years as data centres evolve, rather than its expected 10\u201315-year lifespan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cabling is critical for embracing the new kind of modularity required for modern DCs. Modularity used to be about building DCs from prefabricated modules\/containers, aiming for quicker construction. However, this didn’t always help operators scale, and many high-profile hyperscalers like Google and Microsoft moved away from this approach<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, we need to reimagine modularity as the foundation of interchangeable and connected infrastructure. It’s not just about \u201cLego brick\u201d containers structures, but constructing modular IT infrastructure with plug-and-play hardware, emphasising flexibility for frequent refreshes. Cabling must become the foundation that facilitates this flexibility. It cannot be overlooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘New\u2019 Modularity<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To achieve this new modularity, operators must take a more holistic approach to planning, and ensure cabling best practices are followed. This will allow operators to adopt a modern approach to building modular IT infrastructure where interchangeability and connectivity are foundational.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for existing sites, it can be difficult to create interchangeable infrastructure. A good starting point is creating a digital twin of the data centre to understand the infrastructure, cabling and complexities. This enables operators to streamline and standardise by introducing shorter cabling and reducing the number of connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cabling is key for modularity \u2013 it’s the foundation that gives a site the flexibility it needs over its lifespan. When best practice is followed, operators can seamlessly upgrade hardware as needed to deliver AI-compute and cater to future workloads. This means sites can stay competitive for longer\u2014with less waste, and more efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more about the five best practice cabling principles to deliver a new kind of modularity, download our free eBook today<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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learn more<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The Design Dilemma: Reimagining Data Centres for the AI Era<\/h3>\t\t\t\t

AI has taken centre stage and is rewriting everything we know about data centre design. In this blog, we explore how to cater for rising AI demand, operators have been completely rethinking their design approaches.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tMehr erfahren\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u00fcber The Design Dilemma: Reimagining Data Centres for the AI Era\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n<\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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Infographic | Key Principles Of Holistic Data Centre Design<\/h3>\t\t\t\t

Infographic: To future-proof and cope with explosive demand, operators need to consider these key principles of a holistic approach to data centre design.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tMehr erfahren\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u00fcber Infographic | Key Principles Of Holistic Data Centre Design\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n<\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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Assessing the Consequences of Cutting Corners in Data Centre Design<\/h3>\t\t\t\t

In the latest issue of Intelligent Data Centres, Niklas Lindqvist, Onnec Nordics General Manager, explores the consequences of cutting corners when it comes to data centre design and how a holistic approach can help to future-proof data centres.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tMehr erfahren\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u00fcber Assessing the Consequences of Cutting Corners in Data Centre Design\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n<\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The era of high demand is here, so data centres must become more flexible. To do this, modularity is needed \u2013 but not as we know it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":22289,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27,24],"post-type":[10],"class_list":["post-22287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-data-centre","post-type-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nModularity 2.0: A New Era for Flexible Data Centres<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The era of high demand is here, so data centres must become more flexible. 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