RADiCe: A Risk Analysis Framework for Data Centers

Datacenter service providers face engineering and operational challenges involving numerous risk aspects. Bad decisions can result in financial penalties, competitive disadvantage, and unsustainable environmental impact. Risk management is an integral aspect of the design and operation of modern datacenters, but frameworks that allow users to consider various risk trade-offs conveniently are missing. We propose RADiCe, an open-source framework that enables data-driven analysis of IT-related operational risks in sustainable datacenters. RADiCe uses monitoring and environmental data and, via discrete event simulation, assists datacenter experts through systematic evaluation of risk scenarios, visualization, and optimization of risks. Our analyses highlight the increasing risk datacenter operators face due to price surges in electricity and sustainability and demonstrate how RADiCe can evaluate and control such risks by optimizing the topology and operational settings of the datacenter. Eventually, RADiCe can evaluate risk scenarios by a factor 70x–330x faster than others, opening possibilities for interactive risk exploration.