How Important Are Spare Parts for Your Data Center?

Malicious attacks, natural disasters, and failed hardware are common causes of downtime for data centers. While cyber-attacks can be prevented with foolproof security, hardware requires a plan B in the case of failure. Spare hardware is the best strategy to mitigate the threat of equipment failure or damage. 

Data centers are the most vulnerable to hardware failure as the entire infrastructure depends on devices. Hardware spares serve as a critical component of data center redundancy. And the more redundant the data center, the more resilient it is. 

But the advantages of spare hardware aren’t just about the uptime or availability. The implications of effective spare parts management can contribute to business growth. 

Spare parts are typically a part of maintenance. Enterprises can choose to have spare parts on-premise or work with a third-party maintenance (TPM) provider to supply the part when needed.

Benefits of Spare Parts for Data Center Infrastructure

For medium to large enterprise data centers, it’s imperative to have spare hardware management as part of the inventory management system. 

You pretty much just need to invest in spares for critical devices and components. Still, depending on the size of the facility, extra hardware can be a big investment. But the advantages offered are worth the cost. 

Downtime Prevention

The most obvious advantage and why many companies invest in spare hardware is to prevent downtime. Most enterprises have to deliver on the uptime they guarantee. If critical equipment fails and results in an outage, the uptime will be negatively impacted. 

More importantly, downtime means sales or productivity loss, and that, in turn, causes monetary loss. Here are some eyebrow-raising findings from Uptime Institute 2022 Data Center Resiliency Survey:

• 80% of data centers faced some type of outage in the last three years.
• Power-related issues caused 43% of outages.
• Over 60% of outages resulted in a loss of $100,000 or more.

Downtime and outages are expensive. But the blow to the company's reputation is even more consequential than money loss. Long outages can impact the enterprise’s standing in the industry, giving competitors room to get ahead. 

Preventative and predictive maintenance strategies are vital to prevent incidences of downtime. Spare critical hardware should form the cornerstone of your preventative maintenance plan. 

Achieving Promised Availability

Uptime clearly is the priority for many IT enterprises, especially those that provide consumer services. However, availability is an even more important metric. While uptime only guarantees that the servers will be up and running, high availability ensures that resources are available for consumption.

Spare critical equipment ensures that resources are ready to be used around the clock. As data center networks are intricately connected, one device failing can render other equipment inaccessible. For instance, a failing router may prevent access to storage or transfer data extremely slowly, affecting the availability of the data residing on that particular storage array.  

Avoiding the Hassle of Repairs

Some data center equipment, such as storage and switches, can be difficult and expensive to repair. Enterprises don’t need to wait for costly repairs with a spare already in possession. The faulty device can be replaced with a functioning spare. 

A spare would likely have cost more than repairs, but unlike a repaired device, a new replacement will provide the same performance and reliability. Moreover, you don’t have to go through the hassle and wait for repairs. 

Higher Customer Satisfaction

Strong uptime and higher availability result in customer satisfaction. That, in turn, results in higher customer retention. If you provide service via the data center, investing in hardware redundancy will keep the services running even on a rainy day. 

And if you ask any business leader, finding new customers is much more costly than retaining them. 

Even if you don’t provide services to end consumers, data center availability is essential for maintaining high productivity. The employees need access to the resources and data. With spare parts, you can ensure they don’t lose work hours because of downtime. 

How to Choose Spare Parts?

Keeping spares for every piece of hardware in your data center infrastructure can be incredibly expensive. Therefore, the most feasible choice for spares is essential hardware, the equipment without which your systems will come to a stop. 

Power systems like a UPS are critical for most data centers because they power all the equipment. Similarly, switches and routers that keep the traffic flow can also qualify as critical, especially those in the control plane. 

Servers and storage can also be made redundant with spares. Depending on your redundancy strategy, you can have one extra server or duplicate the existing servers. The latter is a costly undertaking, but it ensures the highest level of redundancy and resilience. 

That all said, the architecture and infrastructure vary for data centers. So identifying which equipment is most critical for the continuity of operations is recommended. 

Consult network managers and engineers to identify the most important devices and find their spares. 

Choosing the Right Partner for Hardware Spares

Many enterprises use TPM providers to find and install spares as part of IT maintenance. In other words, an IT services provider arranges, ships, and installs the replacement hardware. Finding a reliable TPM provider that guarantees the availability and timely delivery of spare parts is necessary. Here are some important things to keep in mind:

• Pay attention to the service level agreements (SLA) regarding spare hardware in your maintenance contract. Ensure it's quick enough for repairs to reach your location within 24 hours. 
  
  
• Ensure the spare part already exists and is reserved for your use. They're unreliable if the provider cannot guarantee the spare’s procurement. 
  
  
• Choose the provider strategically based on your location. The nearer they are, the quicker they can get your parts. 
  
  
• Ensure the spare parts are tested and maintained in the provider’s possession. This ensures it is ready to plug and go when you need that part delivered. 
  
  
• Good customer service is vital so that you can request spare parts whenever. Ideally, the provider should offer 24/7 customer support so that your requests for spares are dealt with promptly, even on weekends or holidays. 

Sparing Integrity Program Is the Answer

Hardware spares are essential for data center redundancy. But to make that a reality, you need a partner that delivers. OneCall IT maintenance service from PivIT offers the most reliable spare hardware management program, Sparing Integrity. 

With this program, you can establish guaranteed SLAs, as short as four hours, depending on your location. But PivIT’s spare program differs from other TPM because you have all the information about your spare. From the device's serial number to its location in the rack at your chosen facility, you know exactly where your spare exists. 

And unlike other TPM providers, those spare parts are dedicated for your use. In other words, no other customer can claim that particular hardware. 

No matter where your data center exists, the extensive logistics network of PivIT ensures that the part sits at the nearest location. Furthermore, each spare is cycle-tested periodically to ensure its functioning properly.