A systematic literature review about integrating dependability attributes, performability and sustainability in the implantation of cooling subsystems in data center

In recent years, data centers (DCs) have evolved a lot, and this change is related to the advent of cloud computing, e-commerce, services aimed at social networks, and big data. Such architectures demand high availability, reliability, and performance at satisfactory service levels; requirements are often neglected at the expense of high costs. In addition, the use of techniques capable of promoting greater environmental sustainability is most often forgotten in the design phase of such architectures. Approaches to perform an integrated assessment of dependability attributes for DCs, in general, are not trivial. Thus, this work presents the dependability attributes (availability and reliability), performability, and sustainability parameters that need special attention in implementing a cooling subsystem in DCs. That is one of the most cost generators for these infrastructures. In this study, we use the hypothetical-deductive method through a quantitative and qualitative approach; as for the procedure, it is bibliographical research through the review of scientific studies, and the research objectives are exploratory in nature. The results show that among all the papers selected and analyzed in this systematic literature review (SLR), none have jointly addressed performability, dependability, and sustainability in cooling systems for DCs. The main results of this work are presented through research questions, as they bring evidence of gaps to be addressed in the area. The four research questions point out challenges in implementing cooling systems in DCs and present the techniques and/or methods most used to propose or analyze data center cooling infrastructures; addressing the essential sustainability requirements for cooling subsystems, and finally, presenting open questions that can be investigated in the area of sustainable cooling in DCs regarding the data center’s cooling and the difficulty of incorporating dependability attributes in the environmental context. In addition to these results, the present study actively contributes to the concept of a “green data center” for the companies, which ranges from the choice of renewable energy sources to more efficient information technology equipment. Hence, we show the relevance and originality of this SLR and its results.