business model
When proposing any type of policy change, legislators must also keep in mind the parties they will affect and their ability to conform to the new regulations.
Data centers must be profitable to continue existing. There are two major costs associated with data centers, the cost of building the data center and the cost of maintaining one, known as CAPEX (Capital Expenses) and OPEX (Operational Expenses) respectively.
First, we will analyze the CAPEX of data centers. The figure below is the typical distribution of construction costs for a data center:
Data centers must be profitable to continue existing. There are two major costs associated with data centers, the cost of building the data center and the cost of maintaining one, known as CAPEX (Capital Expenses) and OPEX (Operational Expenses) respectively.
First, we will analyze the CAPEX of data centers. The figure below is the typical distribution of construction costs for a data center:
The majority of capital expenses result from mechanical costs, and the majority of that section consists of the technology costs, especially the servers themselves. The relevant relationship here is that oftentimes a larger investment at the start into higher end technology and good planning can result in reduced operating costs as time goes on.
This brings up the other cost category, operating costs, or OPEX. This covers the power, personnel and maintenance required for the system. Power costs break down into system power, IT load, cooling and miscellaneous.
This brings up the other cost category, operating costs, or OPEX. This covers the power, personnel and maintenance required for the system. Power costs break down into system power, IT load, cooling and miscellaneous.
The graph on the left track operating costs per server for the last 20 years. The blue line shows that the cost of the server itself has remained relatively constant over time, but the costs associated with running the server have continuously increased. This trend has led to an increased interest in data center efficiency- fueled both by environmental concerns as well as from a financial perspective.