Data centres are the backbone of modern infrastructure, powering everything from AI insights to financial transactions. With demand rising, where can data centres find solutions for uninterrupted uptime, efficient cooling, and robust security?

Ensuring Continuous Uptime

Unexpected downtime is costly. In the UK, IT downtime can cost businesses up to £212,000 per incident. Ensuring service availability and business continuity is crucial. Johnson Controls offers the tools and expertise to maximise uptime, focusing on resiliency and redundancy to keep your operations running smoothly. The average cost of IT downtime is approximately £4,350 per minute, which can accumulate to significant losses very quickly.

Operational continuity in data centres hinges on the interplay of uptime, resiliency, and redundancy. Resiliency refers to the data centre's capacity to withstand and quickly recover from disruptions, such as extreme weather or power fluctuations, ensuring minimal impact on operations. Redundancy involves deploying backup components and systems—across power, network, and equipment layers—to maintain uninterrupted service even if a primary component fails. Together, uptime, resiliency, and redundancy form a foundational triad that enables data centres to deliver reliable and continuous performance in an increasingly complex digital landscape.

For data centres, your building is your product. Don’t let it fall victim to preventable issues. Four in five respondents in the 2023 Uptime Institute data centre survey said their most recent serious outage could have been prevented with better management, processes, and configuration. You can effectively manage, upgrade, and enhance your data centre’s performance with Johnson Controls. We offer the equipment, digital tools, and human expertise to help you maximise uptime.
 

Efficient Thermal Management

Data centres generate immense heat, with heat densities 15-30 times higher than in typical office settings. This makes efficient cooling a top priority, as cooling accounts for roughly 40% of total energy consumption. In the UK, the energy consumption of commercial data centres was around 12.60 TWh from 2021 to 2023, representing about 4% of the UK's total consumption.

Johnson Controls' purpose-built cooling technology is designed specifically for data centre environments, achieving the same cooling while cutting the energy required by as much as 49%. Johnson Controls' range of York chillers is engineered to meet the exacting demands of modern data centres, setting a new standard in reliable, efficient cooling. Each chiller design is rigorously tested to ensure continuous operation and enhanced redundancy. Their flexible design features advanced magnetic bearing technology, employing a variable-speed compressor that minimises friction and eliminates the need for lubricants, thereby reducing maintenance demands. Low sound power levels support a good neighbour approach, making it ideal for urban data centre installations.

Built on a scalable global platform, our chillers adapt to both local customer needs whilst operating effectively at real-world data centre design conditions, including chilled water reset capabilities. This combination of innovation and robust performance makes Johnson Control's chillers an ideal choice for data centres prioritising uptime, flexibility, and sustainability.

"Cooling accounts for approximately 40% of the total energy consumed in data centres. Our technology can reduce energy usage by up to 50%."

Robust Safety and Security

Safety and security in data centres are about more than protection; they’re about preserving trust. Data centres are repositories of vast amounts of sensitive information, including financial data, personal information, and valuable intellectual property. In the UK, new regulations are being proposed to enhance the security and resilience of data centres, including mandatory minimum security requirements and a regulatory function to ensure compliance.

Data centres also support critical infrastructure such as power grids, transportation systems, and healthcare. In short, a compromised data centre poses threats that span from personal security to national security.

Fire detection and suppression are critical components in safeguarding data centres. Advanced fire detection systems quickly identify potential threats, while fire suppression solutions effectively control and extinguish fires. Johnson Controls is unique in offering both fire detection and a full range of suppression options ideal for data centres. Depending on the specific needs and data centre type, Johnson Controls can help evaluate different suppression options and which may be best suited to a given application. System offerings include gaseous suppression using inert gas systems, halocarbon clean-agent systems, or carbon dioxide systems, as well as water mist systems and fire sprinkler systems.

A variety of technologies are involved in securing a data centre, from radar to cameras to gates and barriers. There is no typical system for a data centre—each customer is unique. Installing new systems starts with a discussion of the security needs of the specific facility. Discussions must encompass both hardware and software and include topics such as the use of integrated video, mass notification, redundancy, and potentially the use of cloud technologies.
 

Why Choose Johnson Controls?

Johnson Controls provides a combined package and a turnkey solution to meet a data centre’s security and broader technology needs. Gain insights into effective strategies for securing your data centre, ensuring compliance, and mitigating external and internal threats by downloading our new white paper.

Discover how Johnson Controls can support your data centre with integrated solutions for uptime, cooling, safety, and security. Our holistic approach ensures resilience and efficiency, helping you set new standards for data centre performance. Contact us today using the form on this page to find out how we can help.