– David Zuckerman, VP of ServerLIFT Corporation, says:
ServerLIFT Corporation conducted an anonymous survey at a large technology trade show in the USA to determine current data center trends and examine efficiency specific to equipment handling practices.
Respondents were asked to complete a questionnaire consisting of 6 questions that related to the data center they worked in. All survey information was anonymous to encourage participant honesty and minimize bias.
A total of 258 surveys were collected. To ensure data accuracy, incomplete surveys were discarded. A total of 9 surveys were discarded to leave a sample size of 249.
ServerLIFT Corporation will reveal the results of the survey in a multi-part series detailing our key findings. This first part provides an overview of general data center trends. Check out Part II next week for an examination of data center efficiency as a comparison of installation times by lifting method.
Key findings
1. Over 50% answered that their data center was less than 5,000 square feet with over 80% reporting data centers 20,000 square feet or smaller.
2. Approximately 76% indicated that the average weight of their rack mounted equipment is between 51-500lbs.
3. More than 90% use at least two people to install equipment into racks.
4. Over 80% still rely on manual lifting to move servers and IT equipment in their data centers.
5. More than 60% move four or more pieces of equipment a month.
6. Over 50% require half an hour to forty five minutes to install rack mounted equipment (not calculated in man hours).
Survey Questions:
1. How big is your data center (square feet)?
2. What is the average weight of your rack mounted equipment?
3. How many people are involved on average to install equipment into racks?
4. What is used for moving equipment?
5. How many pieces of equipment do you normally move a month?
6. What is the average time taken to install a piece of rack-mounted equipment (not calculated in man hours)?
