OPINION – Vincent Liebe, Marketing Manager at Minkels, a global data center solutions vendor and part of listed company Legrand (Euronext Paris: LR), will be one of the seminar speakers during IP Expo Europe in London (7-8 October 2015). He explains what it takes to build a ‘cloud-ready’ data center facility.
Author: Vincent Liebe, Marketing Manager Minkels
“As a global provider of integrated data center solutions, Minkels is currently experiencing a strong European growth in demand for ‘cloud-ready’ data center infrastructure. An accelerated adoption of cloud in Europe will result in highly changeable workloads and an increased demand for flexibility in European data center environments,” said Vincent Liebe, who will further elaborate on Minkels’ cloud market vision during IP Expo Europe in London. “This in turn will emphasize the need for a modular approach when selecting the right data center components and choosing a logical data center layout. Modularity as well as integration and efficiency in data center design are the answer to current cloud dynamics.”
“The major cloud providers such as IBM, Salesforce, Amazon, Oracle, Google and Microsoft have accelerated cloud demand in Europe, with hybrid cloud deployments now taking the lead,” added Liebe. “Hybrid cloud is gaining ground against traditional IT infrastructure implementations and the use of pure-colocation alike – a trend that is confirmed by our global client statistics and a new European study by Vanson Bourne -commissioned by global managed services provider Easynet. The study among enterprise organizations shows that almost three-quarters of large enterprises have some sort of cloud computing in use, while two in five companies use hybrid cloud. This increased adoption of cloud computing in Europe, strengthens the need for a modular thus flexible approach when implementing new data center infrastructure. Modularity helps cloud providers and enterprises reap the benefits of all the potential characteristics associated with cloud computing.”
Cloud-enabled Data Center Infrastructure
“Location independency is one of those cloud characteristics that cries out for a maximum of flexibility in the data center environment,” said Liebe. “With inherently strong fluctuations in underlying data center resources, the independency from physical data center premises makes data center resource planning unpredictable. Modularity will keep things flexible. Another cloud characteristic positively addressed by modularity in data center infrastructure, is the fact that cloud is potentially highly scalable (up and down). A modular data center infrastructure provides a guaranteed level of flexibility and scalability for cloud environments.”
Modularity, but also energy-efficiency are key principles for implementing a successful, cloud-enabled data center infrastructure, according to Minkels. Liebe: “Modularity enables cloud providers and enterprises to achieve the actual benefits of cloud computing, while energy-efficiency helps cloud users keep a grip on increased energy density levels.”
Modular Aisle Containment
Within Minkels’ broad data center portfolio, modular aisle containment solutions are available to address these modularity and energy efficiency needs dictated by cloud. The Next Generation Cold Corridor from Minkels offers cloud users a maximum of flexibility due to its modular principles inserted on construction detail level. Minkels’ Free Standing Cold Corridor offers the same benefits delivered by the Next Generation Cold Corridor and more. Its rack independency makes the Free Standing Cold Corridor a perfect fit for highly changeable and unpredictable IT infrastructures. With energy-efficiency being created from day one, this solution even facilitates a pay-as-you-grow model while it can also cope with rapidly changing specifications of storage equipment.
IP EXPO Europe is an IT event for those looking to find out how the latest IT innovations can drive their business forward. With six IT events under ONE roof, 300+ exhibitors and free to attend seminar sessions, IP EXPO Europe is an IT event aimed at CIOs, heads of IT, security specialists, heads of insight and tech experts. IP EXPO Europe now incorporates Cloud and Infrastructure Europe, Cyber Security Europe, Data Centre Europe, Data Analytics Europe, DevOps Europe and Unified Communications Europe.
IP EXPO Europe takes place on 7-8 October 2015 at ExCel, London. For more information, please visit the event website or request your visitor voucher.
About Minkels and Vincent Liebe
Following the acquisition of global data center supplier Minkels by Legrand in 2012, Minkels has established itself as the global competence center for data centers within the Legrand Group (with a presence in more than 180 countries and revenues of 4.5 billion Euros in 2013).
Modular design and energy-efficiency are the core principles behind the extensive Minkels portfolio. The modular design of data center products would ensure highly scalable customer solutions that adapt to the dynamic needs of a data center environment. Due to its expertise in energy-efficiency, Minkels was asked to contribute to the European guidelines for fitting out energy-efficient data centers, the so-called Code of Conduct for Data Centers.
The Minkels product portfolio includes modular solutions for data center housing (Varicon); data center cooling, including DX cooling for small server rooms and Cold Corridor aisle containment solutions (VariCondition); data center power distribution (VariconPower); data center monitoring (VariControl); as well as a broad range of data center accessories.
As Marketing Manager for Minkels, Vincent Liebe is responsible for the development of Minkels’ data center infrastructure proposition utilizing the Legrand Group global footprint. For over ten years, Mr. Liebe has been working at Minkels in the data center market. Prior to Minkels he worked for 5 years in the CAD/CAM software business. Mr. Liebe holds a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.
