12 ways to save energy in your data center
TRANSCRIPT
12 Ways to Save Energy in Your Data Center
Business-wise, Future-driven.™
One of today’s biggest concerns for data center managers is the collision of two unsettling trends: rising energy costs and stagnating budgets. While there is plenty of industry chatter about efficiency, as a data center manager, you need proven, real-world best practices to help realize energy savings. The purpose of this ebook is to give you 12 tips and tricks that you can implement today, without much time, effort or expense.
Let’s call it the low-hanging fruit.
Power off unused equipment. Do you know how many of your servers are unused?
Seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how often this simple step is overlooked.
• Unused servers consume energy (which equals money), produce heat, require maintenance, take up space — you get the picture!
• Don’t ignore cooling — it too should adjust to varying loads in the data center
• Management software helps optimize energy consumption and eliminate waste
Why you should read this:
As a data center manager, you need proven, real-world best practices to help realize energy savings.
2 12 Ways to Save Energy in Your Data Center
Arrange racks to create hot-aisles and cold-aisles.
At this point in the history of the data center, this tip seems like a no-brainer. However, many data centers still do not employ hot-aisle or cold-aisle layout. Orient rows of racks so that the fronts of the servers (the “cold side”) face each other. Such a layout, if properly organized, can greatly reduce energy loss as well as prolong the life of the servers.
3 3 12 Ways to Save Energy in Your Data Center
Many data centers still do not employ hot-aisle or cold-aisle layout.
Tune redundant systems.
Leverage capacity management software tools.
Are you demanding efficiency from your back-up systems?
Redundant systems are typically used well below their rated capacity. Tune them for fractional-load efficiency and consider modular, scalable power and cooling architecture.
These tools can be your best friends by minimizing “stranded capacity” within the data center and maximizing the amount of IT equipment that can be installed. This optimization allows you to easily manage gross power and cooling capacity and push the system to the highest point on its efficiency curve. By maximizing the capacity of your equipment, you avoid purchasing unnecessary equipment and drive down energy costs by running what you have efficiently.
By maximizing the capacity of your equipment, you avoid purchasing unnecessary equipment and drive down energy costs by running what you have efficiently.
4 12 Ways to Save Energy in Your Data Center
Monitor energy consumption.There are many software tools out there to help you monitor and maintain optimal energy consumption. Use them. These programs can be configured to identify and warn you of current conditions and environments that are under-performing or threaten uptime, so you can avoid wasting time, energy, and money.
Energy Operation: The EnergyManagement Information SystemWatch the video below.
3 5 12 Ways to Save Energy in Your Data Center
Implement row-based cooling.Row-based cooling puts the cold air right where it needs to be — on the “cold side” of your servers. It also reduces the mixing of hot and cold air by delivering cold air directly to the loads that need it most. The result? Improved efficiency and more predictable air distribution.
Install adaptable power and cooling. Have you designed your data center to allow for scalable power and cooling?
This is especially useful for newer data centers. By designing a data center with scalable power and cooling, you “right-size” your data center and dramatically increase energy savings.
• Why have power and cooling systems operating at full capacity when your data center is operating at half or a quarter of capacity?
• By turning on power and cooling only as needed, you save on energy consumption and extend the life of your systems, which defers capital costs until needed.
6 12 Ways to Save Energy in Your Data Center
Energy Efficient Cooling for Data Centers: A Close-CoupledRow SolutionRead White Paper here.
Related to hot-aisle/cold-aisle arrangement, a hot-aisle containment system allows some aisles to have higher work temperatures, lowering the cost to cool other parts of the data center. This increases chilled water temperatures, allowing for an increase in economizer hours and significant electrical cost savings.
Economize with “free cooling.” Depending on your data center’s location and climate, “free cooling” may be an option.
Cooling economizer systems save energy by using outdoor air during colder months of the year. With Mother Nature’s chilling assistance, mechanical cooling systems like chillers and compressors can be shut off or operated at reduced capacity.
Implement hot-aisle containment.
3 7 12 Ways to Save Energy in Your Data Center
Watch the video below.
Hot-aisle containment systems vs.Cold-aisle containment systems
Install a high-efficiency UPS.In recent years, the efficiency of UPS systems has dramatically increased.
• Because UPS units are heavyweight energy consumers, high-efficiency UPS units can really put a dent in your energy bill.
• Even at 30 percent load, the newest UPS systems pick up over 10 percent in efficiency when compared to the average of currently installed UPS systems.
Many electric motor-driven devices in the data center operate at full speed even when the loads they’re supporting require less capacity. Variable frequency drives (VFD) help to match the fan output to the load.
The speed control mechanism in these devices helps maximize efficiency. Both management software and wired or wireless thermal sensors can help in the regulation or control of VFD drives.
Use variable frequency drives (VFD).
8 12 Ways to Save Energy in Your Data Center
In recent years, the efficiency of UPS systems has dramatically increased.
Start saving today!These 12 tips will help you reduce energy costs in data centers of all shapes and sizes. If implementing any or all of these seems overwhelming, consider an energy efficiency assessment for your data center so you can determine which changes will have the greatest impact on your energy bill. An energy assessment will also identify areas unique to your data center that can be optimized for energy efficiency.
Consider modular, containerized solutions to drive cost savings.
Why let your building limit your ability to be more energy efficient? Modular, containerized power and cooling modules use standard components and hit PUE targets specified in the design.
These facility modules are packaged, shipped, and installed all in one piece, and plug into your existing facility. The cost-effective, “plug-and-play” design dramatically speeds up build-out times, increases efficiency, and lets your data center grow with your business.
To learn more about our unbiased, on-site energy assessments, check out our services page.
Energy Assessment Services
3 9 12 Ways to Save Energy in Your Data Center
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