Extending the Life Cycle of Data Center Equipment

Service Express is a Business Reporter client.

If you had to choose between extending the life of equipment that meets your current business needs or spending tens of thousands of dollars on new hardware, what route would you take?

Businesses often choose to replace their server, storage or network equipment every three to five years to reduce risk and improve performance in their data centers. But, despite what the OEM might recommend, there is an alternative.

While it is common practice for IT teams to plan a hardware refresh every three years, this can waste time, resources and critical IT budget dollars. Simply put, this approach doesn’t make sense if your equipment is performing well and meeting demands. Before taking the plunge, consider your needs and research alternatives such as third-party maintenance (TPM).

Extending the life of useful IT equipment

Replacing your server, storage and network hardware unnecessarily is a poor way of investing limited CapEx and OpEx budgets. The reality is that most server and storage equipment continues to meet demands far longer than the “standard” three years without risking performance or reliability.

Many IT professionals assume that failure rates are high once new hardware is released and rise again as it gets older. However, Service Express has analyzed equipment data from more than half a million devices over the past 15 years, and the findings show that data-center hardware is reliable for far longer than one might think.

Storage failures

Storage devices generally consist of CPUs, system boards, disk drives, power supplies and so on. The chart below shows that failure rates barely increase with time.

Over five years, critical storage failure rates are between 0.1% and 0.2%, equivalent to about one failure out of 1,000 components every month. This is why it’s important to consider extending the life of your equipment instead of falling into the cycle of a premature refresh.

Equipment refreshes introduce possible difficulties for IT teams. New hardware means teams need time to focus on getting familiar with new interfaces, processes and skill sets. The switch to new equipment can reduce operating efficiencies and cost more in time and productivity. Before replacing equipment that is approaching end of life (EOL) or end of service life (EOSL), consider your support options.

Extending the life of your hardware investment plays an essential role in helping organizations implement eco-friendly practices to keep hardware out of landfills and protect the planet.

If it’s working, don’t replace it

If replacing equipment too soon is suboptimal, what is the alternative? The answer is simple: Keep using your existing equipment. But you’ll want to prioritize using the right data-center support solution.

OEMs offer extended warranty agreements, but the coverage is expensive, with limited flexibility. Companies such as Service Express help organizations get more life out of their server, storage and network investments, maintaining equipment with quality parts, experienced engineers and lower support costs.

The ongoing pandemic, supply chain slowdowns and labor issues are impacting budgets everywhere. Service Express’s 2022 Data Center & Infrastructure Report states that budget reductions are one of the top three challenges for IT professionals. Using a third-party maintenance provider can save between 50% to 70% compared with OEM support costs. These savings can be substantial and can help your IT team cross lingering projects off their list.

While offering lower maintenance costs than the OEMs, Service Express also makes customer service simple (no frustrating IVR systems) and dependable. To help ensure rapid repairs, hardware monitoring automates support by opening a service ticket when a failure occurs and immediately notifying an engineer to respond.

Planning for hardware longevity

To extend the life of your existing investment, rethink your traditional refresh cycle. Adding a TPM solution to your IT strategy will help save critical resources while you meet demand. You can use the savings to fund other initiatives or, when the time is right, for a strategic refresh—but only when it becomes necessary.

Service Express is a leading global data-center solutions provider. Its 2022 Data Center & Infrastructure Report is available here.

This article originally appeared on Business Reporter. 

Header Image credit: iStock id1294874384 Body Image Credit: Courtesy of Service Express