Sustainability implies a world full of greenery where consumption and wastage are less. We understand that sustainability objectives may seem unimportant or even implausible to some people. However, it is vital to identify perfect solutions to minimize energy consumption for the present and future generations. It is increasingly becoming mandatory for the IT industry to address the need for a reduction in carbon footprint and a boost in efficiency.
According to a 2017 article in Forbes, data centers in the United States alone use electricity annually over 90 billion kilowatt-hours, needing approximately 34 humungous coal-fueled plants. In 2016, global data centers had used approximately, 416 terawatts, almost 40 percent higher than the total energy consumption in the United Kingdom. This energy consumption was projected to become double after every four years. Today, in 2023, data centers in the United States are consuming over 205 terawatt hours of power or electricity annually. It is a huge issue.
It seems to be getting out of hand. We are witnessing that data center management is gradually shifting to remote or cloud-based management from localized management. As such, the advantages of decommissioning your data center are getting highlighted. The top advantages are:
- Safeguard against Security Hacks & Threats: It is mandatory to eliminate obsolete hardware. It can be dangerous to keep old equipment as hackers can gain access to critical or sensitive information. Moreover, updates and new security features are generally absent in the case of old-fashioned or obsolete equipment.
- Maintaining Older Equipment Can Be Expensive: Remember that newer servers will consume substantially less power than obsolete models. Peripheral expenses are bound to go up if you do not act fast and focus on data center decommissioning. More Effective & Efficient Data Management Systems: Novel models focus on automating earlier tedious, monotonous, and manual tasks. Thanks to automation, organizations can now easily keep track of data management. This will contribute to more efficiency and productivity
Steps to Decommission Your Data Center
Define Clearly Your Scope of Work: You may begin by crafting a comprehensive plan for decommissioning your data center. The plan should include the chief goals, the scope of your work, the time frame, the budget, and expectations. The plan should specify the stakeholders and the IT administrator responsible for overseeing the reporting and monitoring processes. The plan may show backup schedules for everybody to focus on realigning their work.
Take Stock of all Data Center Hardware, Software & Equipment: Your next step should be to make a list of all the equipment, hardware, and software for preventing cases of theft, unaccounted assets, and damage. The inventory-taking step is essential to identify all items, and categorize them for disposal, recycling, and resale. Focus on dependency mapping at this stage for a streamlined data decommissioning process.
Develop an Implementation Stratagem:
Data decommissioning projects involve multiple tasks, so a thorough implementation plan and schedule are necessary. Agree with everyone concerned about the labor and tools necessary for decommissioning.
Equipment Elimination, Sanitization of Data & Data Destruction: Start with reviewing all checklists and ensure all data has been backed up. Before starting the decommissioning process, review and reconsider your data destruction and data sanitization policies. You must ensure that your organization is not involved in any lawsuits, disputes, policy violations, and penalties. Time to start packing up the equipment! Ensure that all equipment and tools are accounted for.
Conclusion
Finally, your focus should be on securing your valuable data. Ensure that no sensitive information or company secrets are available to unauthorized people or parties. You may focus on preventing any data breach during the entire data decommissioning process.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
