ASHRAE Journal - February 2014 - 58

COLUMN DATA CENTERS
Donald L. Beaty

Is Software-Defined
Data Center Next Reality?
BY DONALD L. BEATY, P.E., FELLOW ASHRAE

Software includes many things: software as a service (SaaS), software-defined network
(SDN), and software-defined data center (SDDC).
Our natural way of thinking about defining or describing a building is by its use. Some
examples include hospitals, apartment buildings, airline terminals, office buildings,
warehouses, churches, manufacturing, train stations, etc. It is common that when
changing a building's use, it needs to be refiled with the regulatory agencies. Some
examples of changing uses and their clear impact are warehouse to apartments (e.g.,
lofts), church to residence or office, and manufacturing to office.
A building can have a change of use, as well as a change
of zoning. Sometimes the change of use can occur
without a change in zone. Some examples of zones are
listed below. The main point is that changing the use
of a building is usually not a trivial event and cannot
be accomplished quickly (residential zone, retail zone,
industrial zone and commercial zone).
The data center of the past generally conformed to the
way that buildings changed their use, and it represented
a significant effort. Changing a data center often was
more difficult than most other uses since it was a 24 × 7
operation (no downtime to make changes).
Now, a change of use in a data center is becoming
more a case of changing applications (software) and
less dependent on hardware changes (e.g., computers
and network remain the same). The net result is a data
center whose use can rapidly change in load profile
(e.g., steady load versus volatile load). It can also rapidly
change in Tier Level (e.g., redundancy).

Why Software is Eating the World
In the Wall Street Journal article from August 20, 2011
titled, "Why Software is Eating the World," Marc Andreessen
wrote:
Six decades into the computer revolution, four
decades since the invention of the microprocessor, and two decades into the rise of the modern
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Internet, all of the technology required to transform
industries through software finally works and can
be widely delivered at global scale.*
The key phrase is "transform industries through
software."
Marc Andreessen gives a number of examples of businesses that involved people interacting with those businesses in person, but now those businesses have been
replaced with businesses that involve people interacting
with those businesses via software (usually the Internet).
Commerce is being replaced with e-commerce as one
example.
Previously, it was common to say the largest book sellers were companies such as Borders Books and Barnes
& Noble. These book sellers attracted buyers by creating
inviting stores that include places to read books prior
to purchase, along with internal coffee shops. Now,
it would be common to say the largest book seller is
Amazon and that the physical stores are replaced with
online shopping (software).
The following is an excerpt from Time magazine entitled "5 Reasons Borders Went Out of Business (and what
will take its place)."
1. It was too late to the Web;
2. It was too late to e-books;
3. It opened too many stores;
Donald L. Beaty, P.E., is president of DLB Associates Consulting Engineers, in Eatontown,
N.J. He is publications chair of ASHRAE TC 9.9.

ASHRAE Journal - February 2014

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