Decommissioning EquipmentWhat Happens To Old Equipment When The New Batch Arrives?The pace of technology means that every purchasing round usually involves buying fresh appliances, servers, desktops, laptops, and other speedy, memory-laden tools.
But creating a transition from old to new isn’t as simple as freshening up a wardrobe or revamping a room, because older equipment can’t be thrown in the dumpster or just given to charity. Also, switching to newer machines has other considerations, such as power, cooling, and maintenance contracts.
Because of the complexity of making the shift, some companies choose not to do it at all, keeping their old machines hooked up to the network or simply plugged in even though they’re no longer used. That approach is more common than many might think, says Uptime Institute’s Ken Brill, and it creates an enormous drain on physical resources.
“You have these vampire machines that are drawing power even though they’re no longer used,” he says. “That creates a strain on every system, from cooling to electrical.”
Many of these machines are even still under maintenance contracts or bundled into software-per-seat arrangements, he adds, which means that even though they’re not used, the equipment is still eating into the budget every month.
Assessment & Transition
If the data center doesn’t already have a comprehensive plan in place about transitioning from older equipment, now’s the time to create one. A schedule should be set, says Brill, that includes an expected end date for each piece of equipment (see the “Biggest Improvement: Creating An End-Of-Life Chart” sidebar for more information), maintenance schedules, and proposed changes to the configuration of the physical space or the types of equipment being purchased.
Particularly important are the maintenance agreements, Brill says, because some equipment could run beyond those dates, and a data center manager would be out of luck in terms of breakdowns. A vendor might be able to tweak agreements based on an SME’s schedule, so make that part of the negotiation over new equipment.
When physically bringing new equipment into the data center, the transition will likely be similar to what’s done during major network upgrades or patch days, in which the system is switched over at a time when employees are least likely to be trying to access company resources.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Discarding old equipment involves adhering to state and national regulations regarding what can be tossed and what needs to be handled through technology recycling firms. For companies to create a robust policy, it’s advisable to develop a relationship with a recycling firm so a regular pickup can be scheduled.
For example, an SME might arrange to have older equipment recycled three times per year on the same dates every year. This gives IT a solid deadline for getting rid of old machines, and these deadlines can be tied into purchasing cycles.
If new equipment is purchased every February, for instance, a tech recycling firm can pick up older equipment at the beginning of April, which would give IT time to implement the new equipment and do any exchanges if a fresh machine is faulty. But it doesn’t allow enough time for machines to be stacked up in closets and generally get in the way of regular operations.
When choosing a recycling firm, it’s a good idea to visit the company’s facilities, advises Robert Houghton, president and CEO of asset management firm Redemtech (www.redemtech.com). Not only will this create stronger relationships, but it will also give an IT manager a better understanding of how equipment is handled once it leaves the data center and what type of security measures are used in shredding data, erasing hard drives, and generally reducing a company’s liability should the machine end up in the hands of a digital miscreant.
Other strategies might be creating an employee buyback program or thinking of other creative ways to handle the equipment, notes Cliffie McKay of DMD Systems Recovery (877/777-0651; www.dmdsystems.com).
“Computer recyclers offer to dispose of the equipment for a very limited cost, occasionally even offering a return for the equipment if it still has value,” McKay says.
Another tactic is simply to reduce the amount of equipment that’s maintained. This can be done with the use of a colocation facility that will do hosting or employing more virtualization that cuts down on the number of servers. Less equipment can alleviate other challenges, such as the need for increased cooling, cable management, and space issues.
“It all comes down to making the data center adaptable for new configurations,” says Peter Panfil, vice president of UPS Engineering at Liebert (www.liebert.com). “You want to be able to add capacity in the future, but you need a good idea of what that’s going to look like.”
by Elizabeth Millard
Biggest Improvement: Creating An End-Of-Life Chart
Every piece of equipment has a life expectancy, and even though some machines can outlast their proposed end dates, data center managers should still keep track of how well they’re holding up.
In some cases, equipment that seems to be fine should still be replaced as a matter of policy, especially if it’s more than a year past its expected expiration date. Experts note that it’s better to pull the plug on a machine while it’s still functional rather than waiting for it to break down and cause problems across the data center. The chart should be part of a regularly scheduled decommissioning purge done as part of the purchasing and subsequent recycling go-round. Although it may take work on the front end to put this type of schedule together, a data center will likely realize greater efficiencies before too long. Also, putting one person in charge of the whole process helps to streamline maintenance, transitions, and purchasing.
Key Points
• Do an initial assessment of the data center’s equipment, including life expectancy of each machine, new power and cooling levels, and proposed efficiencies.
• Develop a transition plan that will impact the company as little as possible, such as doing the work over a holiday weekend.
• Talk to computer recyclers about what type of equipment they can handle and ask to see their facilities to get more information.
This article first appeared in Processor Magazine, November 14, 2008.
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