Data Center Credentials for a Green Environment

November 13, 2012 By

Knowing the importance of taking measurements in your Data Center, what elements are useful to measure to evaluate how green a room is and to quantify the impact of various upgrades? The sections that follow address this question.

Energy Usage

The single-most important resource for you to measure in your Data Center is energy. How much power the facility has and how much power is consumed by both IT equipment and supporting infrastructure such as cooling systems and lighting.

It’s vital to measure energy for several reasons:

Power is a Data Center’s most precious resource: The small form factor and big energy demands of today’s high performance servers mean most Data Centers will run out of power well before cabinet space or cooling. Even if you aren’t interested in green considerations, measuring energy usage is critical to understand the true capacity of the room.

Power is the common element among disparate Data Center subsystems: Air handlers, servers, and overhead lighting are all different infrastructure of a Data Center — so different that they’re each installed and maintained by personnel that are trained in separate disciplines — yet they all need power to function. Measuring energy consumption creates a common standard by which you can tell how much they’re each drawing upon your overall Data Center capacity.

Power consumption largely defines a Data Center’s environmental impact: The amount of power that a Data Center uses on a day-to-day basis determines how much irreplaceable fossil fuels it consumes and the quantity of carbon emissions it is responsible for.

Because of these conditions, green Data Center improvements that conserve energy provide some of the largest benefits to your business. Measuring power in your Data Center is, therefore, also the best way to appraise that value and understand the real impact of those green improvements.

Carbon Footprint

Another benchmark of a Data Center’s environmental impact is its carbon footprint — the amount of carbon dioxide produced as part of the ongoing operation of the facility.

Carbon dioxide is one of a handful of substances dubbed greenhouse gases that trap heat from the sun and warm the Earth. (Water vapor is the most common greenhouse gas, followed by carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and chlorofluorocarbons.)

That warming effect is necessary to a certain degree. Without it, the Earth’s mean surface temperature would be –2 degrees Fahrenheit (–19 degrees Celsius) rather than today’s 57 degrees Fahrenheit (14 degrees Celsius).

Many scientists and environmentalists today are concerned that human activity is causing such problems, prompting them and various government agencies worldwide to call for reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. Although carbon dioxide occurs naturally — people, animals, and plants all produce it; volcanoes and hot springs emit it as well — carbon is also a byproduct of burning fossil fuels.

More than 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, for example, are energy-related carbon dioxide — originating from the combustion of petroleum, coal, and natural gas — according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The links from energy production to carbon dioxide to climate change mean that the less energy your Data Center uses, the smaller its impact upon the environment.

The other factor in a server environment’s carbon footprint is the makeup of the electricity powering the facility. Several sources of energy are used to create electricity, and each generates a different amount of carbon dioxide. Turning coal into electricity produces more carbon dioxide than natural gas, for instance, so your Data Center will have a larger carbon footprint if your regional power company provides electricity derived from coal rather than natural gas. Cleaner energy sources, such as nuclear or hydroelectric power, create minimal amounts of carbon dioxide, so any Data Center powered by those sources, either directly or by way of a utility provider, will have an even smaller carbon footprint.

Carbon Offsets

One strategy for dealing with carbon emissions is to employ carbon offsets, measures that reduce carbon dioxide. In simple terms, you compensate for the amount of carbon that you (or in this case, your Data Center) generate by sponsoring a project that prevents an equal amount from being created.

Examples of carbon offsets include

Providing a source of renewable energy, such as biofuels, hydroelectric, solar, or wind power

Planting trees, which serve as natural carbon sinks

Capturing and eliminating more potent greenhouse gases, such as methane produced by landfills or pollutants (that is, hydrofluorocarbons or perfluorocarbons) created during industrial processes

Although it’s possible to directly introduce carbon-offsetting measures at your Data Center facility — building a wind farm on land that you own, for example — the more common approach is to pay an environmental organization to do the activity.

Other Data Center Elements

Energy usage and carbon footprint are the features most commonly discussed and measured to determine how green a data center is is; however, other elements warrant attention as well. Other green details to consider include the following:

Generator emissions: Standby generators, used to keep a Data Center running when commercial power fails, consume fuel when in operation and can emit a range of pollutants including nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and particulate matter.

Water consumption: Major Data Centers consume millions of gallons/liters of water per month through standard cooling processes as hot water is vaporized from a Data Center’s cooling tower and has to be replaced. (Water used to replace what has evaporated is known as makeup water.) Although this consumption hasn’t received the same level of attention from governments and the public in recent years as energy use and carbon emissions, removing such large amounts of water from local supplies is a tremendous environmental impact.

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Data center efficiency-Is it size dependent?

November 9, 2012 By

Data centers for a long time have taken their own stand when questioned about the efficiency of operations. Some data centers follow the conventional methods of strategy implementation while the others take a different route. For example, Google has adopted custom built servers and batteries, Facebook uses a unique evaporative cooling method to save power, and Yahoo has adopted an outdoor cooling design.

Data centers can be generally divided into two primary classes based on size that is the large data centers and the small data centers. Large data centers have an inherent advantage in implementing energy efficient strategies as they can shift operations to another facility as and when the situation demands. It could be a failure in the data center or an expansion plan adhering to all energy saving norms.

“Large centers can operate at a higher risk of failure with the offset, but smaller data centers can’t do that as easily,” said Fluegeman, who specializes in facilities, power and cooling, and is also the principal engineer with PlanNet Consulting.

“It’s following the sun or the moon, because they can very easily shift their traffic to different locations depending on whether it’s night or day in a particular location,” he said. “Especially if you’re using outside air and free cooling or air-side economy as it’s called, this is a concept that’s used to some degree by larger companies with data centers worldwide, where they shift traffic.”

In the case of smaller data centers (data centers that lack the infrastructure and resources of its larger counterparts) energy efficiency strategy implementation along with reducing costs is a difficult task.

So how does one cope with such a scenario?

According to Fluegeman, three quintessential parameters to be followed by a small data center are-

Design of the IT structure: it is essential to design the data center in a way that it helps in consolidation of the files. For example using file duplication or compression. This would automatically reduce the amount of space required for the storage of files. Enterprises can modify or make alterations to the network configurations from their own data centers as well as allowing the users to access data from anywhere at any time.

“There are ways to architect your system to deal with duplication and keep things lean and mean and trim with good housekeeping,” he said. “This allows data centers to be smaller and greener by using as little power as possible.”

Tiered storage can be used as another remedial measure: with this files are stored in servers, and the servers run on sleep mode. The files can be pulled up or retrieved only when necessary, thus saving a lot of power.

Restructuring the cooling method: It is imperative that small scale enterprise data centers make use of hot and cold aisle containment for data center cooling. This is to ensure that hot air is isolated from the cold air. But the crucial aspect of this design is to keep the hot air from nixing with the cold air. This would create a 30 degree difference in the temperature of the data center, says Fleugeman.

One way is to line up the servers such that the front faces one direction and the exhaust side faces the back. This forms the hot aisle and the cold aisle. Another way of doing this, in case of parallel arrangement of servers is to stack servers with alternate hot and cold aisles. Front faces of two servers face each other while the back faces the front of another line of servers

Use uninterrupted power supply to reduce excessive power costs: The use of the UPS is a radical transformation in the deployment of energy efficient measures. UPS is normally used when there is a power outage, but this can be prove to be an advantage for data centers as UPS wakes up from the sleep mode only when the power fails.

The difference in power drop and the UPS turning back on is so minimal that the equipments fail to pick up the drop in power and continue to operate continuously.

Switching to higher voltage equipments can result in a lot of power savings since it is more efficient and the physical conductors are smaller.

“If you look at power lines on big poles on the hill side, those wires are small- they’re far apart, but the power voltage is very high,” he said. “This is being applied to data centers now. Higher voltage is slightly more dangerous and in the U.S we have a lot more attorneys. That’s what keeps voltage lower, in my personal opinion.”

 

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ECO-FRIENDLY WEB HOSTING

October 31, 2012 By

With the increased use of internet these days, small and large scale businesses and entrepreneurs have realized the importance of marketing through the web. Internet has become a publicity tool for everyone who needs to make their presence felt. Every nook and corner of the world has access to the internet, and to the services available over it. Hence it becomes important for initial startup firms to have a website of their own, and create a definite position in the big fat web world. After creation of a website with the right content and design, the next step is to choose a source to host this website. This is the most strenuous and laborious task.

A web host has to be selected depending on the user’s requirements. There are a wide variety of web hosting options to choose from with each one trying to grab the attention of potential clients. One can opt for shared hosting, dedicated hosting, or meet the two in the form of VP (virtual private) server hosting. As if this was not enough, there is another hosting option available on the block called ‘Green Hosting’. This is one sustainable trend of hosting that has taken the internet world by a storm.

To define in layman’s terms, all the internet stuff that reaches every desktop, laptops, Tablets, and phones does not exist in outer space. It is getting processed in servers that have been housed in the facilities of the hosting firms. The only obstacle is that these servers are the consumers of a large amount of electricity and resources. The amount of fossil fuels used to power the servers in order to meet the ever growing demands of the internet is infinite. Some data centers and data storage facilities have come under the scanner for their excessive usage of power and other exhaustible resources. Hence some companies are deploying stringent procedures to facilitate eco friendly operations in their centers. Here is a check list that might garner some interest-

Virgin technology: It is a known fact that as server technology improves, operational efficiency also increases. Some companies have adopted a new strategy of using only the new servers. This has been a great move to reduce carbon footprint. Brain Host has been one such company and it states that newer technologies help reduce hot spots, and enable operation of efficient and less polluting servers.

Wind energy- The savior

Some companies have followed and are following a different track. They have not completely abandoned the concept of newer technologies, but have tried to offset their carbon footprint by purchasing wind credits. Green Geeks is one such company.

Companies do not like to run all their servers on wind power alone. Wind energy is one form of energy that largely depends on the geographical conditions of a region. It is a little too inconsistent. Inconsistent energy is not the right choice for centers that house enormous amounts of data. Companies have made a choice by combining the use of both fossil fuels and wind energy. Web hosting companies make use of energy from the existing grids, and then purchase wind credits to offset the fossil fuel energy that they used.

Location at its best: Some companies just take the credit for being situated in the best designed location. All that these companies had to do was to find the right location that best suits their current requirements, and future prospects. Iceland is one such location. The available geothermal and hydroelectric energy accounts for about 100% of all the electricity used.

Of course, green energy is not cheap, but it is definitely a good start towards being eco friendly.

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FREE-AIR COOLING OPTIMIZED SERVERS

October 23, 2012 By

Depending upon the choice of processors, the new Supermicro Fat Twin 4U server  can operate at temperatures up to 117 F (47 C), allowing the servers to take advantage of free air cooling solutions in a wide range of environments.

Air cooling is a very primitive method employed in cooling systems. The use of this technology dates back to the invention of the fins used in modern day vehicles. They transfer heat to free air. The transfer of heat here occurs by radiation form of heat transfer, where the medium of transfer for heat is air. Generally when heat transfer occurs through radiation principle it involves electromagnetic rays hence the direction of absorbed heat can be altered by using mirrors

The new Fat Twin is a high-density, eight node server solution, the design goals focused on delivering a highly capable server while improving Total Cost Ownership by focusing on power efficiency. Both performance per watt and performance per dollar considerations were applied throughout the design process. This resulted in changes to mother board designs, minimized power distribution losses, and minimization of parasitic issues, such as the power necessary to drive the server fans. Properly implemented, the Fat Twin is capable of reaching a PUE of below 1.1, according to Supermicro.

The Fat Twin systems are highly configurable, fitting in a standard 10” rackmount. While there are standard configurations that optimize the PUE, energy efficiency, and density of the servers, the configuration options allow the customer to customize the fat twin to meet their specific needs.

The system nodes are all hot-swappable, can support up to 512 GB of memory, are available with both hardware and software RAID solutions, have built-in management capabilities via an onboard dedicated LAN port that supports IPMI 2.0, and a pair of GbE ports with an Intel i350 controller.

The standardized form factor and optimized components of the Fat Twin provide additional flexibility for datacenter operators, especially smaller facilities that are not interested in or appropriate for other high-0density solutions such as blade servers. Having some basic information about the efficiency potential of your servers simplifies energy efficiency planning for potential customers.

About Supermicro

Super Micro Computer, Inc. or Supermicro® (NASDAQ: SMCI), a global leader in high-performance, high-efficiency server technology and innovation is a premier provider of end-to-end green computing solutions for Enterprise IT, Datacenter, Cloud Computing, HPC and Embedded Systems worldwide. Supermicro’s advanced server Building Block Solutions® offers a vast array of modular, interoperable components for building energy-efficient, application-optimized, computing solutions. This broad line of products includes servers, blades, GPU systems, workstations, motherboards, chassis, power supplies, storage technologies, networking solutions and SuperRack® cabinets/accessories. Architecture innovations include Twin Architecture, SuperServer®, SuperBlade®, MicroCloud, Super Storage Bridge Bay (SBB), Double-Sided Storage™, Universal I/O (UIO) and WIO expansion technology all of which deliver unrivaled performance and value.

KEY TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS SUPERMICRO PROVIDES INCLUDE:

  • Application Optimized Server Solutions
  • Economical Power Efficiency and Thermal Management Systems
  • Flexible Expansion Capabilities – Universal I/O
  • Hybrid CPU + GPU Supercomputing SystemsData Center Talk updates its resources everyday. Visit us to know of the latest technology and standards from the data center world.Please leave your views and comments on DCT Forum
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CLEAN POWER AND DATA CENTERS

October 19, 2012 By

Over the last few years, North Carolina, USA has emerged as a growing hub for data center establishments. North Carolina seems to have sourced energy from coal and nuclear extracts, which is opposite to the desire of following greener sources. In spite of the use of exhaustive and non-renewable sources of energy, North Carolina has managed to grab the attention of Internet majors like Google, Facebook, Yahoo, eBay, Apple, and others.

Data centers which are huge energy guzzlers form a major chunk of the commercial power consumption. The environmental impacts caused by these data centers have become innumerable. The only question that arises is Will facilities such as North Carolina continue to attract the recent flag bearers of green energy? Or will the facilities that can provide more grid connected clean power oust the former facilities and win out?

Google when it first initiated the idea of constructing data centers at North Carolina, using clean green energy was never on the requirements list. Google’s officials exclaimed that the companies were to an extent ignorant about the green concept. They also said that Google has become more proactive and precautious.

After a few months, Facebook had considered the idea of constructing a data center at North Carolina. Similar to the condition of Google, Facebook too did not entertain any environment friendly activities in its campus. An article in the New York Times carried reports on the enormous amount of energy usage and wastage by data centers across the world. The data centers were infuriated looking at the negative tone and impact that this article was likely to cause. The Forbes magazine came out strong on these allegations, and in support with the data centers listed in the article. Google and Facebook seemed to be on top of the New York Times energy wastage hit list.

But by the time Apple had decided to set foot in the Carolina region, word about energy conservation had spread like wild fire. Apple was totally buoyed by the returns on using clean energy. It had started to set up solar farms, started using natural cooling, and eventually spread the awareness about clean power. Google plans to imbibe clean power into more than half of its data center facilities. Apple has taken a step further by planning to use 100% clean power either by direct consumption or clean power purchasing.

Data center operators look for low cost, reliable, and sustainable energy resources when choosing a site to establish a data center. Only when the operations start, do they realize the amount needed (which drastically rises with new service additions), and the energy saving norms that they need to adhere to. Data centers in the U.S. consume about 2% of the total country’s electricity consumption. This number will only increase with cloud and extra service additions.

Clean power like solar energy and wind are fairly reliable sources and a perfect fit for data centers according to the geographical conditions. Clean power has its own pros and cons. Solar energy can be used only when the sun shines, the devices used to store the converted energy are expensive, and need critical maintenance facilities. Another clean reliable source is the hydroelectric energy, which is available in abundance only in some parts of the state.

However, the Internet industry has made and is making some fastidious efforts in reducing their carbon emissions and carbon footprint. The objective of embracing green technologies, to an extent, has been achieved.

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DATA CENTERS AND POWER CONSUMPTION

October 18, 2012 By

An article in the New York Times carried reports on the enormous amount of energy usage and wastage by data centers across the world. The data centers were infuriated looking at the negative tone and impact that this article was likely to cause. The Forbes magazine came out strong on these allegations, and in support with the data centers listed in the article. Google and Facebook seemed to be on top of the New York Times energy wastage hit list.

On the contrary, it is unfair to just blame the newspaper for the supposedly baseless allegations. Yes, it has missed out on some important facts like the energy efficiency programs imbued by these centers in their facilities. Without sidelining the facts revealed by the newspaper; it can definitely add some spotlight into the amount of resources that these data centers are quietly consuming.

Data centers require energy and power to provide the necessary online services to its end users and clients. It is a different story for the end user to understand when data centers talk about energy consumption. The contemptuous energy wastage by data centers is of least importance or rather hidden from the end user.

Data center operators look for low cost, reliable, and sustainable energy resources when choosing a site to establish a data center. Only when the operations start, do they realize the amount needed (which drastically rises with new service additions), and the energy saving norms that they need to adhere to. Data centers operate full time on full capacity irrespective of their needs. Some servers have found to be operating on a stand-by mode for several months in a row. Data center operators feel the constraint of not being able to fix the problem. This ultimately leads to significant energy wastage.

Operators carry preconceived notions of operating the facility at full blast to enhance their performance irrespective of the massive energy demands. Energy wastage is the only outcome of such audacity.

Air conditioning facilities at data centers are turned on for long hours to keep the servers at a much cooler temperature than needed. Lighting facilities are a major hindrance to the power saving objective.

Looking at these factors, it would in a way be right to say that NYT article has made a conscious effort in annihilating energy wastage.

The article was capable of bringing about some stunning revelations about the data center industry, and not to forget the radical changes in conservation. Facebook’s North Carolina data center has been on top of the list of energy efficient data centers. Microsoft has been touted to remove all the diesel generators used for lighting from its facilities, and replace them with natural lighting (during the day of course) or renewable energy coupled devices.

The top notch companies like Google, eBay, Go Daddy, Apple, Yahoo have pledged to forego exhaustive sources of energy and deploy energy efficient programs. Artificial air conditioning systems are being replaced with natural cooling from outside (keeping the demographic conditions of the region in mind) or some sort of indirect evaporative air handlers.

However, the Internet industry has made and is making some fastidious efforts in reducing their carbon emissions and carbon footprint. The objective of embracing green technologies, to an extent, has been achieved.

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Deutsche data centers to be nuclear free

October 16, 2012 By

The disaster at fukushima nuclear power plant sent a fear wave across the world on nuclear energy & its safety. Though it is a natural disaster, humans are still bewildered by the power of Mother Nature. The disaster at fukushima had thrown open a plethora of questions on the safety standards at nuclear plants. This forced many of the developed nations to look back at their energy policies and salvage alternative ideas to develop smarter energy solutions to not just power homes, but also commercial establishments.

Data centers which are huge energy guzzlers form a major chunk of the commercial power consumption. Hence it is important that when developed nations think of shutting down their nuclear plants they also keep in mind the energy demand that the alternative sources have to fulfill.

The first step towards eradicating nuclear power plants came from Germany. The country which is hailed to be the most technologically evolved made a major announcement, stating all nuclear plants in Germany would be shutdown by 2022. This announcement sent the world to tizzy. With developing nations like India, who have started investing in nuclear power very recently, were perplexed to see a country completely shutting down their dependence on nuclear plants. In the ASEAN region, developing nations like China, India have a serious energy crisis, with the economic constraints these countries have it is very difficult for them to invest on research to find alternative energy.

Nearly a quarter of Germany’s electricity comes from nuclear power so the question becomes: How do you make up the short-fall? The official commission which has studied the issue reckons that electricity use can be cut by 10% in the next decade through more efficient machinery and buildings. The intention is also to increase the share of wind energy. This, though, would mean re-jigging the electricity distribution system because much of the extra wind power would come from farms on the North Sea to replace atomic power stations in the south.

Protest groups are already vocal, forested centre of the country which, they fear, will become a north-south “energie autobahn” of pylons and high-voltage cables. Some independent analysts believe that coal power will benefit if the wind plans don’t deliver what is needed.

With tremendous challenges ahead for finding alternative sources of energy, how efficient data centers is still debatable. Technology has changed geographies in a quick span. The impact technology has made to mankind in the past 2 decades is unparallel. But with newer technology also comes new problems. Although eradicating nuclear plants is a novel thought, the technology that would replace it will face a tough challenge, as its not just efficiency but also being environmentally friendly they have to address. To find a sustainable alternative source, many design and equipment changes have to be also made. With Germany taking the first step by making their data centers nuclear independent, the dream of a greener, efficient data centers will soon become a reality.

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PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS IN DATA CENTERS

October 15, 2012 By

It is fairly impossible to sideline the fact that data centers are the major causes of energy wastage in IT sectors. They have been the recent targets of unscrupulous allegations by the flag bearers of green, eco-friendly environment. On the contrary, it is impossible to deny energy wastage by data centers.

Data centers have got to understand the importance of deploying energy saving measures and resources in their facilities. A number of alternative energy resources are available in abundance, just waiting to be used. One such resource is the photovoltaic cell or commonly called the solar cells.

What is a photovoltaic cell?

Photovoltaic cells or solar cells are devices that convert solar energy into electricity. These cells were earlier used to provide power to remote areas that were devoid of electricity. Recently these devices have been used to create integrated photovoltaic cells and photovoltaic power stations for grid connected applications.

These cells when exposed to sunlight, generate electricity without the help of any external voltage source. Hence these have unique aspects of achieving low cost energy efficiencies in solar harvesting. Statistics reveal that the power conversion efficiencies have increased from 3% to 5% with the use of these cells.

Usage of a solar cell

A number of photovoltaic cells assembled together are called solar modules. Multiple cells integrated to one another with a similar orientation, when exposed to sunlight generate electricity. These are called the photovoltaic panels. These are different from the solar hot water panel used for thermal purposes.

Photovoltaic modules consist of a semiconductor sheet sandwiched between two sheets of glass. Glass on the front side enables sunlight to penetrate and trigger the charge carriers on the semiconductor. These charge carriers are responsible for the conversion of light into electricity.

The electricity that is generated is fed into the electricity grid through inverters which enables efficient use of the electrical energy. When the electrical energy is to be used for future purposes, it is stored in batteries.

Benefits of a solar cell in a data center

Most important criteria for the use of an alternative energy source are the economic factors. When economic conditions are satisfied, half the battle is won. Solar cells are of very low price compared to the other resources. Efficiency of solar cells can be increased to reduce the cost of harvesting the solar energy. High efficiency cells also reduce the total space required for the set up. It would reduce the total plant cost although the individual cell costs are higher. Thin film technologies also reduce the amount of material required in framing the active material of the cell. There are different solar cells available in the market. Data centers can use these depending on their requirements and needs.

 Cadmium telluride solar cell

Dye sensitized solar cells

Quantum dot solar cells

Organic/polymer solar cells

Copper indium gallium selenide

Silicon thin films

The lifespan of these cells are really long, they last for about twenty to thirty years. This is another exciting factor for data centers to use solar cells.

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IMPACT OF DATA CENTERS ON THE ENVIRONMENT

September 28, 2012 By

Data centers over time, have proven to be very useful to the technologically upgraded world. They house a vast number of servers, computer storage devices and other equipments required by the IT sector. They have reduced

our commute times, lessened our reliance on physical copies of documents, and increased the speed of connectivity.

Technology comes with its own benefits and flaws. These data centers run full time and hence consume a lot of energy. Analysts have confirmed that out of all the energy that is supplied, about 90% is wasted.

Investigative reports by analysts on the top notch IT companies and web hosting providers confirm the wastage of energy. It has been seen that some of the servers in these data centers were not being used, hence consuming unnecessary energy. These companies have not taken any measures to overcome such problems.

Apart from the energy wastage, data centers also contribute to landfill contamination, green house gas emissions, air pollution, and accumulation of e-waste. The carbon foot-print created by these companies and their data centers has reached unimaginable limits.

Reports from the National Data Center Energy Efficiency Information Program (NDCEEIP) show that in the year 2006, data centers have consumed 61 billion kilowatt hour. This number nearly doubled the following year, and has only been increasing every year. This statistics is of the data centers in the U.S. alone. The world-wide data center energy consumption is definitely way beyond statistics.

These data centers have also acquired farmlands in the rural areas, which is otherwise used for agriculture. For e.g. Microsoft recently announced the opening of their new data center in Quincy, Washington. The facility is over 450,000 square feet in size and has cost Microsoft a whopping $550 million. This digital farm of Microsoft sits on a potato farming area which was the main profession of about 6000 people. This area earlier was the center of food processing and packing industries. This particular data center has left all these people unemployed.

According to a local survey, this data center consumes about 48 megawatt of power, enough to power about 40,000 homes. It also said that these tech farms rake in about 30% more energy than all of the houses and industries combined.

This is not the case with only Microsoft. Even companies like Yahoo, Amazon, and Facebook have caused serious damages. People and communities who are not benefited by these developments bear the brunt of the damages. These companies promise to improve infrastructure in the community, but the real question is if the economic benefits these areas receive really worth the cost.

The solution to these problems is not new and is unimpeachable. There are creative ways of increasing the efficiency and reliability of data centers. Constructing green data centers is definitely expensive, but should be the primary focus. It would reduce operating and maintenance expenses and be environmentally responsible. Usage of alternative energy could alleviate the problem. At the end of the day, it is worth all the efforts to develop a green data center.

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Joyent Tools’ New Strategy to Cut Down Power Consumption in their Data Centers

September 21, 2012 By

Data centers have been for long used as a cost-effective and energy efficient method to store massive chunks of information; however, the power usage of these centers has been so enormous that new tools are being used in the battle of reducing power consumption and cooling costs. With companies designing new ways of reducing the power usage effectiveness rating (PUE) i.e. the amount of electricity drawn to get a unit of computing done, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and Microsoft are vying to get to the least possible PUE. Most of the older companies reach a PUE of 1.9-2.0, with all the extra power used for cooling, lights and other ancillary units.

Average PUE rating at 2.0, Google manages 1.22 or 1.16 at its new data centers, Yahoo on the second line, operates on a 1.07 PUE. FACEBOOK leads with a least PUE of 1.06.

“Operating for efficiency and failing will get you yelled at. Operating for availability and failing will get you fired,” summed up Steve Hassell, president of the Avocent business unit of Emerson Network Power, which specializes in producing power management devices. When availability in the data center is of prime importance, surplus power usage needs to be reduced by analyzing the device’s real time needs. Jason Hoffman, CEO of a San Francisco-based company- ‘Joyent’, which provides infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) from a dozen data centers understands that if the power consumption is reduced, his infrastructure will be amongst the big names of the market and an added feature on the server racks that it ships to other cloud computing enterprises.

In an interview, Hoffmann described an appliance that can amass and perform analytics on the data received from data centers, just like the microcontrollers, and the service processors on the motherboard. The Avocent Universal Management Gateway accepts information spewed out by such components and sends it to the network gateway. Same work is carried on by the network interface cards, and switches on the servers, and other data centers.

After EMERSON acquired AVOCENT, Information from the gateway is delivered to Emerson’s Trellis data center management software, from where it accomplishes different goals including power consumption.

The four modules are-

Inventory Manager: It is a device mapping system that detects communication between devices and tracks their location to build an essential blue-print of the data center.

Site Manager: reports about the health of the data center, the temperature and voltage fluctuations if any, and the cooling status of the data center. It has the ability to collect information from every single device in order to report on the health of the data center.

Change Planner: enables capturing device additions, moves, or decommissions and keeps the inventory manager informed on every bit of fresh information.

Energy Insight: calculates total data center energy consumption and electricity costs, as well as individual device consumption. According to Hassel, energy insight can also be used to calculate the PUE of the data center.

Trellis software and the Universal Management Gateway provide “big data and big data analytics for the data center,” said Hoffman.

Joyent has gained enough experience after its acquisition of AVOCENT that it’s become a secondary business to its IaaS, offered as a feature on a server rack of Joyent infrastructure destined for installation on a customer’s premises

Emerson says in information on its website that the Gateway-Trellis combination can save 25% of a data center’s energy consumption. Hoffman claims that savings is borne out by Joyent’s own experience. “We think we can do better than that,” he added.

 

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