Energy efficiency and being green has been a very hot topic.Data centers and labs account for 1.5% of total US electricity consumption. Electricity bill is a significant operating expense and companies are under increasing pressure to deliver more with less. Most data centers are running out of power and cooling capacity. With rack density increasing dramatically to upwards of 20KW per rack, data centers must optimize their existing power and cooling infrastructure. Various industry studies show that costs to power and cool servers are very close to surpassing the costs of new server acquisition. Government agencies are also taking notice of data centers and labs’ negative environmental impact. They are putting pressure on enterprise data center owners to reduce energy consumption and be more environmentally responsible. Energy efficiency and being green is more than lip service. It’s a necessity for operational efficiency, cost savings, and for continued up-time.
BenefitsBenefits for Energy Efficiency1. Saves money. An analyst at Gartner says “removing a single x86 server from a data center will result in savings of more than $400 a year in energy costs alone”. In the same report, it says that business could identify 5% to 20% of the overall server count that can be reduced. Research by the Pacific Research and Analysis says that on average: a. In a 1 year old data center, there are 10% idle/underutilized servers So based on this analysis, in a 3 year old data center with 2000 servers one could turn off 30% of idle/underutilized servers equaling 600 servers which equals to $240,000 of energy costs a year. How do you identify idle and underutilized servers? ASHRAE has expanded the recommended data center temperature to 18 degrees Celsius to 27 degrees (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit to 80.6 degrees) from 20 degrees to 25 degrees (68 degrees Fahrenheit to 77 degrees). CRAC and CRAH units don’t have to work as hard to maintain a certain temperature. 1% increase in temperature in the data center/lab decreases energy costs by 4%. How do you increase your CRAC/CRAH units set up point and conserve energy without jeopardizing your IT assets? 2. Prevent premature and unnecessary capital expenditures. Most of data centers believe that they are out of power and cooling capacity. But those data centers with PUE numbers of 2.5 and higher can see efficiency and capacity gains by implementing energy efficiency tools. By doing so, major capital expenditures can be delayed or completely avoided. 3. Prevents loss of downtime. The EPA estimates that 90% of companies will experience interruption of data center operations caused by power failure and limits on power availability. Being energy efficient can help ensure power availability and prevent unnecessary downtime and loss of revenue and productivity. 4. Avoid disruption to your data center operations and expensive retrofits caused by data center carbon emission regulations. Government pressure is starting to escalate on environmental regulations. In February 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission published a ruling on climate change that clarified reporting requirements it expects public companies to make regarding climate change legislation. The SEC says that there has already been significant federal and state regulation around climate change. One example is the Environmental Protection Agency's requirement starting this year that large producers of greenhouse gases must collect and report data on their greenhouse gas emissions. The ruling also indicates there will likely be more climate change legislation, such as a carbon cap-and-trade or tax program. In February 2010, CA Governor Arnold Swarzenegger issued an executive order calling for a 30% reduction in IT energy use by all state Agencies by 2012. In Europe, government has already mandated reductions in companies' carbon footprint. Be prepared now to avoid costly mandatory retrofits and technology refresh in the future. 5. Earn bragging rights. Have your data center rated by the EPA and awarded “Energy Star” status! ComponentsComponents of an Energy Efficient Data Center & Lab1. Modular data center 2. Properly sized power and cooling 3. Precision cooling a. Variable frequency drives 4. Hot/cold aisle containment 5. Intelligent cabinet power strips 6. Environmental monitoring 7. Blanking panels and floor grommets/pillows Customer Success StoryGlobal Enterprise Software Company Maximizes its Containment Solution Challenge: Customer wants to completely separate the hot aisle from the cold aisle. They already had a containment solution in place. However, there were gaps underneath the rack and in between the racks. These gaps caused the hot and cold air to continue to mix and it was not optimal. Solution: 1. For the gap underneath the racks, Mirapath suggested using a “skirt” to seal off the opening.
2. For the gap in between the racks, Mirapath suggested a “foam” that is flame resistant and static free to be inserted between the racks, so the hot and cold air would not mix.
Result: The solutions allowed the customer to fully gain the rewards of a hot and cold aisle containment solution. |
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Speak to one of our energy efficiency solution specialists today if you need help answering any of the following:
- How will all the regulations on data center and carbon emission affect my job and my company?
- I want to find out what my PUE is.
- Do I really need to add more cooling in my data center/lab?
- Is virtualization reducing my energy bills?
- I have been tasked with reducing the energy bill, what do I do?
- What do I do to get approved for rebates from my utilities company?
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Mirapath is sponsoring The Data Center Summit, which is a partnership between the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the California Energy Commission and the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. |
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