Operations | Monitoring | ITSM | DevOps | Cloud

Uptime Institute's Global Data Center Survey 2026 found that the average modal rack density exceeded 11 kW in 2026, up from 9 kW in 2025. “Modal rack density” means the rack density that is most common within a data center. Arguably, the more important trend is that rack densities are becoming more varied, with more facilities supporting a mix of conventional and high-density racks.

Western Canada is becoming a live test of whether sovereign AI capacity can be built responsibly at scale, and the answer will depend less on what operators promise than on what they can measure and show. Meta’s planned C$13-billion Alberta data center, BCE’s expansion of its Saskatchewan project to a 1.2-GW hub, and the federal Responsible Data Centre Development Principles all point to the same requirement: operational transparency that regulators, utilities, and communities can verify.

Data center power distribution delivers electricity from the facility's power source to the IT equipment that consumes it. Data center monitoring provides visibility into how much power is being used, where it is being used, and how much capacity remains available to improve uptime and efficiency.

Many universities and academic institutions use data centers for a wide range of purposes: secure data storage for student and faculty information, learning management systems, and administrative operations. Universities also use data centers for research and data analysis. Research, simulations, machine learning models, and data analysis all require high-performance compute.

How many minutes of battery runtime are left in the unit protecting your primary rack right now? Most monitoring deployments can answer a question like that for every switch, server and virtual machine in the building. Ask about power and the dashboard goes quiet. Backup power tends to fall between two owners. Facilities buys the hardware and books the service visits, while IT owns everything plugged into it.

Blagomir Petrakiev, Data Centre Services Engineer in Maidenhead, made the move from automotive customer service to data centre operations after studying for his Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification. In this Q&A, Blagomir shares what it’s like working behind the scenes at Pulsant, from infrastructure checks and remote hands tasks to learning new skills and building a career in digital infrastructure.