Achieving Energy Proportionality in Data Centers

[account_disabled]

In a recent article titled Power, Pollution and the Internet, The New York Times investigated a well-known and persistent problem: “Most data centers, by design, consume vast amounts of energy in an incongruously wasteful manner, interviews and documents show. Online companies typically run their facilities at maximum capacity around the clock, whatever the demand. As a result, data centers can waste 90 percent or more of the electricity they pull off the grid, The Times found.”Such waste came under scrutiny nearly a decade ago, and most organizations have taken at least some steps to improve energy efficiency in their data centers. But very few have achieved what should be the ultimate goal: energy proportionality. That is, the energy being consumed is directly proportional to the work being performed by the servers in the data center. There are many steps organizations can (and should) be taking to achieve energy proportionality, and the four that deliver the best results are highlighted here.

Step 1: Consolidate and Virtualize the Servers



Dedicated servers have a typical utilization rate of only around 10 percent, representing what is perhaps the most egregious waste of energy in data centers today. Most organizations B2B Email List have, therefore, consolidated and virtualized most of their servers already. The motivation may or may not have involved energy savings, as virtualization is also an excellent way to increase utilization by using some of that 90 percent “idle” capacity in dedicated servers.



Nevertheless, taking the step to consolidate and virtualize servers does improve energy proportionality by increasing utilization to between 20 and 50 percent in most data centers. And with the cost to power a server over its useful life now exceeding the cost to purchase it, the energy savings contributes significantly to the overall cost savings afforded by virtualization.







Ahold USA announced LEED certification for six new supermarkets: Stop & Shop stores in Cranston, R.I., Roslindale, Mass., Arverne, N.Y., and Oceanside, N.Y.; a Giant-Landover location in Burtonsville, Md.; and a Giant-Carlisle location in Trexlertown, Pa. Features include white roofs, skylights, LED lighting, closed-door refrigerated cases and smaller cooling systems to improve refrigeration efficiency, Supermarket News reported.



Shaw Industries has achieved LEED Silver designation for New Construction for its 35,397 sq ft Reclaim to Energy process building, which converts carpet to steam energy for two adjacent carpet manufacturing facilities, the company said. The Dalton, Ga., facility uses low-emitting materials and more than 28 percent recycled content, employs water-efficient landscaping, and achieves over 20 percent cost savings compared with buildings that only comply with Georgia’s energy code.

[TBustah!]

Data centers? Like the one you're working in?

Tell the party official breathing down your neck I said hello.