TECHNOLOGY
“ THIS IS THE DCIM 3.0 CHALLENGE : TO MAKE THE HYBRID IT ENVIRONMENT RESILIENT , SECURE , AND SUSTAINABLE ”
KEVIN BROWN SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR ECOSTRUXURE SOLUTIONS , SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC
As these devices degrade , their hazardous components are exposed and allowed to seep into other areas .
Despite the obviously pressing nature of this issue , governments have been surprisingly slow to act .
America , in particular – which dominates the world ’ s data centre sector with more than five times the number of data centres as the second largest market – has exceptionally limited e-waste regulations in place .
In fact , only around half of American states currently regulate companies ' e-waste , and there are also no federal laws in place to manage the lifecycle of electronic equipment .
What e-waste are data centres responsible for ? The most common sources of e-waste created by data centres include racks , computing equipment , monitors , circuits and any other electrical components within the infrastructure .
Accelerating the pace of the problem is the fact that this equipment isn ’ t just disposed of when it ’ s out of action . No – due to the exceptional pace of innovation in the sector , many data centres dispose of working equipment simply because it is out of date and , therefore , deemed obsolete . But this is not an approach that can continue .
“ For colocation providers , this focus on sustainability means customers will want more insight into what is happening in their space ,” advises Kevin Brown , the Senior Vice President for EcoStruxure Solutions in the Secure Power Division at Schneider Electric .
“ And they will want to dive into more granular levels of data to understand their energy consumption and carbon footprint .
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