12 Ways to Save Energy in Your Data Center

2012 Edition

Why you should read this:

One of todays biggest concerns for data center managers is the collision of two plenty of chatter in the industry about efficiency, you as a data center manager, of this e-book is to give you 12 tips and tricks that you can implement today, without much time, effort or expense. Lets call it the low-hanging fruit. unsettling trends: rising energy costs and stagnating budgets. While there is need real-world best practices to help you realize energy savings. The purpose
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Power off unused equipment

Do you know how many of your servers are unused?
Seems obvious, but youd be surprised how often this simple step is overlooked. Unused servers consume energy (which equals money), produce heat, require maintenance, take up spaceyou get the picture! Dont ignore cooling it too should adjust to varying loads in the data center Management software helps optimize energy consumption and eliminate waste

Arrange racks to create hot aisles + cold aisles

At this point in the history of the data center, this one seems like a no-brainer. However, many data centers still do not employ hot aisle/cold aisle containment. Rows of racks should be oriented so that the fronts of the servers (the cold side) face each other. Such a layout, if properly organized, can greatly reduce energy losses as well as prolong the life of the servers.

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Tune redundant systems

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.

Leverage capacity management software tools

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.

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 underperforming, so you can minimize energy-wasting situations.

Schneider Electric

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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 as needed, you save on energy consumption, AND extend the life of your systems, deferring capital costs until needed.

Implement row-based cooling

Row-based cooling puts the cold air right where it needs to be on the cold side of your servers. Reduce the mixing of hot and cold air streams, and you improve the predictability of air distribution and energy efficiency by delivering cold air to the loads that need it most.

Schneider Electric

Implement hot aisle containment.

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 centers 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 Natures chilling assistance, mechanical cooling systems like chillers and compressors can be shut off or operated at reduced capacity.

Schneider Electric

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Use variable frequency drives (VFD)

Many electric motor-driven devices in the data center operate at full speed even when the loads theyre 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 and wireless thermal sensors can help in the regulation or control of VFD drives.

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Install a high-efficiency UPS

In recent years, the efficiency of UPS systems has dramatically increased. Because UPSs are heavyweight energy consumers, high efficiency UPSs can really help reduce your energy bill. Even at 30% load, the newest UPS systems pick up over 10% in efficiency when compared to the average of currently installed UPS systems.

Schneider Electric

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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. Packaged, shipped and installed as a container that plugs into an existing building, modular solutions rapidly increase efficiencies within existing data centers letting your data center grow quickly and cost-effectively as your business grows.

Conclusion
Our 12 tips for 2012 will help reduce energy costs in data centers of all shapes and sizes. If implementing all of these seems overwhelming, consider an energy efficiency audit for your data center so you can determine which changes will have the greatest impact on your energy bill. An energy audit will also identify areas unique to your data center that can be optimized for energy efficiency.

For more tips on improving energy efficiency and lowering total cost of ownership in your data center, read
Implementing Energy Efficient Data Centers
2012 Edition

Implementing Energy Efficient Data Centers

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