ROBOTICS IN DATA CENTERS

ROBOTICS IN DATA CENTERS

Robotics can be defined a subsidiary of technology that has to do with the design, construction, operation and application of robots. Robots are programmable mechanical devices designed to perform one or more tasks repeatedly with speed and precision without any human interference.

Robotics is a rising trend across many industries, as the technology has progressed in recent years. The movement toward robots will provide a major contribution in the data center sector. As the dependence on the data center continues to grow, full software and hardware robotics automation has now become a necessity both now and in the future. A robot-driven lights-out data center will have a rail-based robotics capable of scaling the entire data center. This will make the modern data center no longer impeded by horizontal expansion space. The use of robotics make data centers to literally scale upwards. The ability to utilize space in the best possible manner is always a challenge for data center providers, so having the functionality of scaling both horizontally and vertically becomes a huge advantage. At the moment, it is somewhat clear that robotics will most likely not (at least not for quite some time) take out the need for unique human interaction within the data center. Robotics will indeed assist in creating automation around human labor that is monotonous. Robotics will free up professionals to do bigger and better things, as it actually encompasses a more automated environment and increased productivity.

The process of developing this platform will not be totally easy. One of the major challenge is that, there really isn’t an archetype or a schematic for such a design today. In addition, there are some feasibility challenges to consider as well. Here, we will be taking a look at some of the challenges and benefits.

CHALLENGES

Ø  Currently there is no server hardware designed to be operated by machines and so there will be need to design a customized hardware for this purpose.

Ø  Cabling would have to be done in a most unique format. There would be need to pay close attention to design factors with respect to the process of wiring and cabling in a robotics environment.

Ø  The upfront cost for automation is huge.

BENEFITS

Ø  Robotics allows the data center to be extremely efficient with space as it helps the data center grow vertically instead of just horizontally

Ø  Robotics help to drastically reduce the need for lighting.

Ø  Enormous decrease in downtime. This is made possible because of the structured and fully functional operational flow setup thereby making it easy for every aspect of data center management to be controlled and calculated.

Ø  The machines in the data center can run at a little higher temperature. This is because within a fully integrated, lights-out data center, environmental variables can be completely shifted towards even more efficiency and easier control of hardware.