Towards a More Energy-Efficient Data Center

We recently saw the European Commission recognize 27 IBM Data Centers for energy efficiency. The commission, the executive body of the European Union, was going by the EU’s Code of Conduct for Data Centers, and we’re not 100 percent sure what requirements that entails, but we do know it’s A Good Thing.

In fact, as IBM officials said in a press statement, the honor represents “the largest portfolio of data centers from a single company to receive the recognition.”The idea is to reduce energy consumption “in a cost-effective manner without decreasing mission critical data center functions,” IBM officials said, using certain established best practices.

Great. What might those be?

Speaking broadly, IBM officials rattled off a list of general areas where one can find energy efficiencies in contact centers — energy-efficient hardware, free cooling, cold aisle containment and the like.

A bit more specifically, IBM officials said, one factor that weighed heavily in their winning the EU award is that many of their data centers support cloud computing. This isn’t only to save energy, of course, as the cloud is in high demand these days for its efficiencies, flexibility and profitability and other good common-sense business reasons.

Analytics are a huge part of IBM’s energy-saving success. The company uses Mobile Measurement Technology, an in-house product of IBM Research, using “thousands of sensors to record and analyze temperatures and air flow to detect hot and cold spots,” company officials explain, to get energy flow insight leading to the intelligence that lets IBM “efficiently cool data centers with a high measure of security and reliability and significant reduction in cost.”

The company believes in replacing older hardware equipment with more energy efficient servers, consolidating servers: fewer and more efficient servers = lower energy usage.

So that’s Big Blue’s overall approach. Solid, basic principles at work: Use the most energy-efficient servers you can find because they’ll save you money in the long run; consolidate your server needs; use analytics to find where you can cut down on costs within the data center itself; and take advantage of cloud computing where possible.

Bully for IBM. Does anybody else use a different approach?

The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) issued a white paper titled “Best Practices Guide For Energy-Efficient Data Center Design” in March 2011. It addresses energy efficiency across the enterprise, breaking down its recommendations in seven areas.

Information Technology (IT) Systems

This is a good place to start because “IT equipment loads can account for over half of the entire facility’s energy use.” The white paper identifies rack servers as a major culprit, saying they account for “the largest portion of the IT energy load in a typical data center,” taking up lots of space, and drawing full power even when running at 20 percent use or lower, which according to the paper is, in fact, most of the time.

The FEMP recommends looking for servers with variable speed fans, as they can adjust to how much power is needed to actually cool the server. Throttle-down devices are helpful as well, reducing energy consumption on idle processors via “power management.” Use multi-core processor chips where possible, and consolidate your IT system redundancies — “consider one power supply per server rack,” instead of power supplies for each server.

Grouping equipment with similar heat load densities and temperature requirements means you can cool them more efficiently, the paper says, pointing to virtualization as another way to find efficiency.

Environmental Conditions

Yes, these matter. The FEMP cites the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers and Network Equipment Building System, which has published recommendations for “environmental envelopes” for inlet air for IT equipment. Done correctly, it can help reduce overall energy consumption, and the recommendations are presented in the paper with cool charts and graphs we really can’t do justice to here.

But bear in mind that variable speed fans in servers are guided by internal server temperature, so if your data center’s using inlet air conditions higher than what’s recommended, well, the fans aren’t going to do the best job they can saving you money.

Air Management

Another important yet frequently overlooked area. Basically, what this refers to is the way you configure the center to get rid of as much air mixing between cool and hot as possible. You have lower operating costs if the hot air being expelled from the equipment isn’t recirculated to the machines again. The cooling air needs to be delivered to the servers as efficiently as possible.

No, it’s not a horribly sexy aspect of data center efficiency, but the money you save is.

The paper talks about cable congestion reducing total air flow, and allowing hot spots to develop. It recommends greater under-floor clearance, of at least two feet for raised-floor installations, and having a “cable management strategy” to minimize air flow obstructions, with possibly a cable mining program, involving the removal of abandoned or inoperable cables. Aisle separation’s a good idea too, with cool air aisles on one side of a row of servers and hot on the other. Those flexible plastic strips you see at supermarket refrigeration sections can really help here.

Cooling Systems

Probably one of the first things you thought of when you thought of data center energy efficiency, but as we hope you’ve seen by now, other considerations play a considerable part. The most common type of system here for smaller data centers would be a direct expansion (DX) system, CRAC units readily available off the shelf. Rooftop units are not pricey and work well, too.

Central air handler systems provide better performance, the paper notes, observing that they can “improve efficiency by taking advantage of surplus and redundant capacity to improve efficiency.”

Chilled water systems are another option, with a high-efficiency VFD-equipped chiller with condenser water reset recommended by the FEMP as “the most efficient cooling option for large facilities.”

There’s much more in the paper about other options for cooling systems.

Electrical Systems

Keep in mind both initial and future loads here, the FEMP white paper warns, adding that efficiencies can range widely from manufacturer to manufacturer. Use uninterruptible power supply systems for backup power, and for maximum efficiency determine exactly what equipment actually needs UPS and which doesn’t.

Demand response is voluntarily lowering energy usage during peak demand, and your utility will probably offer you some incentive to sign up for a program like that. Many companies simply switch to backup power during peak times and pocket the savings from the lower rates.

Using DC power distribution will save conversions, but it’s expensive to install since it’s still not widely-used. And consider savings you can find with lighting — think about what space really needs to be illuminated all day and what space doesn’t. Zone occupancy sensors can really help you reduce your lighting costs and overall energy costs.

Other Energy-Efficient Design Opportunities

The FEMP paper provides a few more things to think about:

• On-Site Generation. With a constant electrical demand this option can make sense. They’re an alternative to grid power. Some places let you sell self-generated power back to the grid, which lowers capital expenses.
• Co-Generation Plants. This is using a power station or similar technology to help produce electricity, and its waste heat can run a chiller to provide cooling.
• Standby Losses. Reduce these, and use waste heat from the data center to minimize losses by block heaters. Here’s one place solar panels might make sense.
• Waste Heat. This can be used to provide cooling — nifty irony there, no? Done correctly, the FEMP says, using absorption or adsorption chillers, your chilled water plant energy costs can be cut by at least 50 percent. Adsorption chillers require less maintenance than absorption models, but are new to the U.S. market.

Data Center Metrics and Benchmarking

You do this to track performance and see where you can find improvements. The paper provides links to various benchmarks.

Measuring Power Usage Effectiveness and Data Center Infrastructure Efficiency is a good place to begin benchmarking, not that they represent the entire, overall efficiency of your whole data center, as the paper says, but rather the “efficiency of the supporting equipment within a data center.” Which is still quite a lot.

Energy Reuse Effectiveness is another area for productive benchmarking, as is the Rack Cooling Index and Return Temperature Index, your Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning System Effectiveness and the Airflow Efficiency, not to mention the Cooling System Efficiency.

On-Site Monitoring and Continuous Performance Measurement is an important area to benchmark, and the paper provides resources to assist with this as well.


Adopted from http://news.thomasnet.com

EU Code of Conduct for Data Centers, A Toothless Guard Dog?

The EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres, as a practical set of guidelines designed to improve energy efficiency within the data centre industry, bringing vendors and data centre operators together and developing good practices for reducing the energy consumption of data centres, has now made up 12 percent of data centre expenditure.

Few Adopters?

The code is voluntary, and has faced persistent criticism over the small number of organisations that have publicly embraced it. Some have argued that unless more people adopt it, it may have to be embodied in mandatory regulations.

However, according to, Zahl Limbuwala, the Chairman of BCS-Data Centre Specialist Group, the code’s best practices have had not just a significant impact in the EU but much further afield also.

"There are very few data centre people in the EU now that have not heard of the code and most speak positively of it’s goals and effect on the industry."

"Telecity group are one data centre operator that has proven implementing the code’s best practices has made and continues to make good business sense!"

The code was never about regulation or legislation or about forcing businesses to comply, it’s was about making an impact on the ever growing use of energy to ensure it gets used efficiently rather than wasted.

For more green data center training and technical seminars in Hong Kong, please visit http://www.stmedia-asia.com/trainings.html

The Data Center of Google in Hong Kong

Google has kicked off the construction of its first Asian data center in Hong Kong which is expected be up and running in early-2013.

In a statement released Thursday, the Internet giant said it will be investing US$300 million--which includes the cost of land, construction and technical equipment--to build the facility in Kowloon, Hong Kong, on a 2.7 hectare site. Once completed, users in Asia can expect "faster and more reliable" access to Google's online tools and services, said Simon Chang, Google's head of Asia-Pacific hardware operations.

Even with Hong Kong's warm weather, Chang said the "innovative design" of the facility will make it one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly in Asia. "One way we'll achieve region-leading efficiency [in Hong Kong] is by custom designing each element to operate at optimal efficiency," he said.

Beside custom designs, he noted that the Hong Kong facility will make use of efforts used across its global data center network to increase efficiency. These include, for example, maximizing the use of free cooling instead of chillers, running equipment at a much hotter temperature than typical data center, and measuing and adjusting power usage to achieve peak efficiency, said the Google executive.

Once fully operational, the Hong Kong data center will hire about 25 full-time staff and a number of part- and full-time contractors for various roles such as computer technicians, electrical and mechanical engineers, and catering and security staff.

Hong Kong will not be the only Asian data center for Google. In September, the Internet giant announced it had purchased 2.45 hectares of land in Singapore to build a data center, although it was unable to confirm when construction for the site would begin.

Adopted from www.zdnetasia.com

Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance

Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance in Hong Kong Enchances the Energy Efficiency in Buildings

The Building Energy Efficiency Ordinance (Cap. 610) will come into full operation on 21 September 2012. The purpose of this ordinance is to enchance the energy efficiency in buildings by means of regulating the building services installations including lighting, electrical, air-conditioning and lift & escalator installations of prescribed buildings in new construction and in major retrofitting works to comply with the minimum energy efficiency standards and requirements specified in Building Energy Code (BEC). Moreover, the Ordinance also requires the central building services installation in commercial building and in a portion of a composite building that is for commercial use to conduct the energy audit in accordance with Energy Audit Code (EAC) in Hong Kong.

Data centers consume large amounts of energy and require many investments of significant financial resources to continue operations. To facilitate data center professionals fulfill the requirements of the Ordinance, Strategic Media Asia (SMA) has recently launch a series of technical seminar in Energy Efficient Data center and Green Data Center Design which cover general data center design standards, TIA-942 and Tier, Facilities Management (E&M) System, EU Green Data Center Design Standard, Data Center Cost and Energy Management. For more training and event detail, please visit www.stmedia-asia.com/events.html

 

Direct Current (DC) for Data Center: You can save more

It was also the year that direct current (DC) took a back seat to alternating current (AC) after Niagara Falls Power Company chose AC transmission for its power plant. Although we live in an AC-dominated world, DC seems poised for a comeback, particularly in data centers. Facebook adopted a DC architecture in its Prineville, Ore., data center. SAP spent $128,000 retrofitting a data center at its offices in Palo Alto, Calif., to rely on DC power. In 2010 it cut SAP’s energy bills by $24,000 per year.

ABB, the Swiss-Swedish conglomerate, bought a controlling interest last year in Validus DC Systems, which specializes in DC data center equipment. ABB also opened a factory in North Carolina to produce HVDC (high voltage DC) equipment for delivering power from solar and offshore wind farms to the grid. The Tres Amigas “superstation” will rely heavily on HVDC.

General Electric, meanwhile, bought Lineage Power, which produces DC equipment, and it has talked about using DC to power mining shovels and other heavy-duty equipment.

Nextek Power Systems and the EMmerge Alliance are also promoting DC as a way to cut power in buildings.

Behind the DC drive

What’s driving it? Although AC became the standard for electronic transmission, DC didn’t disappear. It just hid. Servers, large numbers of electric motors, batteries, even ships and airplanes run on DC. Solar panels produce DC power. Wind turbines can produce AC or DC power, but the extreme variability of wind power means that electricity generated by turbines has to pass through battery banks before it gets to the grid. As a result, wind farms are effectively DC.

The landline telephone system runs on DC too, notes Brian Fortenberry, a program manager at the Electric Power Research Institute.

To solve the mismatch, a whole industry of AC-DC converters has been developed. National Semiconductor sells billions of dollars’ worth of chips to convert power. Inverters in the solar industry exist to convert DC from solar panels to AC that can run on the wires in your home.

In data centers, the AC-DC gymnastics top the charts. Typically, AC from the grid has to be stepped down in voltage so it can be routed safely in building equipment. Lower-voltage AC then gets converted to DC so it can go to an uninterruptable power supply (UPS). DC power from the UPS then gets converted to AC so it can go over the wires in the building. Then it gets converted back to DC. Usually five conversions, or steps, downward take place.

By converting grid AC at the door of a data center to medium-voltage DC or converting stepped-down AC to DC at the last possible moment, a data center can cut utility bills by 10 to 20 percent or more, according to Trent Waterhouse, the VP of marketing for power electronics at General Electric.

Validus and others have also eliminated some of the technological hurdles involved in transmitting via DC, namely the monster-sized copper cables.

The same dynamics work in buildings. In a retail establishment, DC power from solar panels could go directly to DC-powered LED lights with not-intermediate conversions that sap energy, according to Nextek. Perhaps not coincidentally, Redwood Systems, the lighting networking company, touts that its technology is actually an example of DC networking.

More savings comes in real estate. DC data centers require 25 percent to 40 percent less square footage than their AC counterparts, largely because computer equipment can connect directly to backup batteries.

In a hypothetical example, a 2.5-megawatt data center power module in the AC world might need 7,295 square feet, Ronald Ranaldi, the VP of sales at Validus, told me last year. An equivalent DC power module might occupy only 5,102 square feet, a savings of 2,193 square feet. What’s more, a single data center might consist of several 2.5-megawatt modules.

“Real estate is often greater than the energy savings,” says Ranaldi. “In large, green field data centers, you are literally eliminating buildings.”

DC won’t take over the world. And not everyone is sold. Google is not taking DC for its data centers in part because of the cost that would be involved in retrofitting their existing architecture. But it seems that an idea that was current when Grover Cleveland was in the White House and Japan was just adopting the Gregorian calendar could make a comeback.


Adopted from http://gigaom.com/cleantech/

Many Paths to the Green Data Center

The economics of data center power and cooling are hard to ignore.

According to triplepundit.com's Jeff Rangel, data center power consumption stands at 1.3 percent of worldwide use, nearly three times what it was in 2000. That represents nearly 80 metric megatons of carbon emissions per year and is on pace to more than quadruple by 2020. In dollar terms, Gartner reports that the cost to cool a 25,000-square-foot data center now tops out at $4.1 million per year.

Clearly, something has to give to both the economic and political pressures that high-energy consumption entails. That's probably why we're seeing such a wide range of ever-more exotic solutions to the data center's green problem.

Facebook, for example, wanted to go big with its latest European facility, a set of three 300,000-square-foot behemoths that would have been a nightmare to cool in the warm, humid south. Instead, the company chose Lulea, Sweden, less than 100 km from the Arctic Circle. The site features ample supplies of hydropower and a climate that rarely exceeds 80 degrees F even at the height of summer. When opened in 2014, the center will consume about 120 MW in order to handle the traffic needs of users across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The Facebook facility is only one of a number of new constructs that were built with energy efficiency in mind. Apple claims that its new site in Cupertino will house its own power-generation system, relying on the grid for backup only, and that the abundance of trees on the property will actually make it carbon negative. At the same time, Google is investing heavily in wind energy production, a move that it hopes will eventually cut energy costs below today's largely coal-based infrastructure.

Energy conservation isn't just about new construction. Some organizations are learning how to use unwanted heat in productive ways. KPMG, for example, shuttles exhaust from a natural gas power plant in its New Jersey facility to a pair of giant absorption chillers that in turn feed cold air to equipment racks. This kind of co-generation system — both power and cooling from essentially the same source — is estimated to require 22 percent less fuel than a traditional electrical system and cuts carbon emissions by 2,200 tons per year.

Data centers, even green ones, will no doubt continue to consume significant amounts of energy for some time to come — that's just the nature of the technology. But as long as the industry can show continued improvement in energy conservation, both the economic and public relations dividends should be substantial.

Adopted from www.itbusinessedge.com

Modular Data Centers Make Business and Environmental Sense

Pre-engineered and prefabricated data centers now make environmental and economic sense, according a report by environmental IT research consortium The Green Grid.

According to Deploying and Using Containerized/Modular Data Center Facilities, this new modular approach to the construction and deployment of a data centers can be rapidly deployed, have lower operating and capital costs, and be equipped with higher density and energy-savings targets than those data centers built using traditional methods.

As such buildings are pre-designed with energy efficiency in mind they often come equipped with a host of energy and money saving features, the report says. For instance, pre-fabricated data centers often have their heat loads closer to their cooling coils and are designed to handle wider temperature and humidity bands than other data centers, according to the report.

As modular data centers can be constructed faster than traditional ones, upfront capital costs can be reduced as well. Rather than build a center designed to handle whatever capacity may be needed in the future, companies using prefabricated data centers can expand the facility as and when increased capacity is required, the report says.

In October, it emerged that Allianz Global Investors of America was using IO’s IO Anywhere modular data center system.

Allianz said that by using the system it hoped to avoid the upfront commitment of a multiple megawatt power plan, resulting in significant operating and capital expense savings.


Adopted from http://www.environmentalleader.com

Strategic Media Asia (SMA) provides any data centre and IT professionals with top level understanding of best practices in energy efficient data centre management from a series of accredited certificate courses and training seminars which focus on international green standard, financial and regulatory, facilities management, hardware management and software / system networks of Data Centre. For more informaiton, please visit the Program Page.

ISO 50001 and Data Centers

ISO 50001:2011, Energy management systems – Requirements with guidance for use, is a voluntary International Standard developed by ISO (International Organization for Standardization). ISO 50001 gives organizations the requirements for energy management systems (EnMS).ISO 50001 provides benefits for organizations large and small, in both public and private sectors, in manufacturing and services, in all regions of the world.ISO 50001 will establish a framework for industrial plants ; commercial, institutional, and governmental facilities ; and entire organizations to manage energy. Targeting broad applicability across national economic sectors, it is estimated that the standard could influence up to 60 % of the world’s energy use.

The ISO 50001 Energy Management System was established by the International Standards Organization (ISO) Energy Management Committee (ISO/PC242), and was announced in the second quarter of this year. The Fab 12 Phase 4 data center which completed certification provides data and control systems for factory automation, and supports both manufacturing and R&D. Adoption of the ISO 50001 Energy Management System is expected to reduce the data center’s power consumption by 8%, conserving 2.21 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and eliminating 1,350 tons of carbon emissions per year. In addition to upgrading existing data centers, TSMC also plans to apply ISO 50001 standards to future data centers and implement the most up-to-date energy-saving designs. TSMC estimates that the company can conserve 59.62 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and eliminate 36,490 tons of carbon emissions per year.

Adopted from http://www.greenm3.com

Increase in Power Bill Raise The Importance of Energy Efficient Data Center

In Hong Kong, China Light and Power (CLP) has asked the government for permission to raise the Power Bill by 9.2 percent next year in 2012, whereas Hongkong Electric (HKE) demanded a 2.64 to 6.08 percent fee hike. The increases requested by both power companies far exceed the rate of inflation. They will add considerably living expenses to residental customers and operation costs to businesses which require large amount of power and energy consumptions.

Adopted from South China Morning Post (SCMP)

Data centers, which come in different sizes and provide mission critical functions for most businesses, consume large amounts of energy and require many investments of significant financial resources to continue operations. Despite of the high demand of data centre in Hong Kong, many organizations are looking for new ways of doing more with less, reducing IT budgets or curtailing the incidental costs associated with data center operations and even expansion.

Saving Energy Consumption and Power Bill

Data center efficiencies can be attained through increasing compute densities, creating cold aisle containment systems or more effective use of outside air, but the key component over time is to have an easily understood metric to gauge data center efficiency, and how much improvement is taking place.

Strategic Media Asia (SMA), which is vendor independent and accredited by British computer Society (BCs), provides data centre and IT professionals with top level understanding of best practices in energy efficient data centre from a series of certificate courses and training seminars focusing on international green standard, financial and regulatory, facilities management, hardware management and software / system networks of Data Centre.
Completion of the accredited courses and examinations will be awarded 3 certificates granted by BCS:

Foundation Certificate in Green IT
Intermediate Certificate in EU Code of Conduct in Data Centre
Intermediate Certificate in Energy & Cost Management in Data Centre

The 3 certificates equips you and your team and data centre to apply for
Certified Energy Efficient Datacentre Award (CEEDA)

We aim at teaching several aspects: (1) Data Centre Utilization (2) Data Centre Facilities (3) Cooling (4) Power Equipment (5) Data Centre Cost Savings (6) Monitoring. Each unit is principally assessed by examinations that lead you through all the steps needed to arrive at a baseline of a modern green data centre and energy saving.

Furthermore, we bring you a unique opportunity to learn from our lecturers and apply the knowledge immediately to your own facility with assistance from our experts. An additional on-site audit services for your own data centre with full audit report can help you achieving the criteria of best practice design and energy efficient in data centre after the series of training programmes.


Target Audience

Data Centre and Facilities Managers
Data Centre Operators
Data Centre Design Consultants
Data Centre Technicians and Engineers
Sales Engineers from OEM Vendors
CSR / Environmental Champions in technology departments
IT Purchasers (Hardware & Software)
IT Architects and Solution Consultants

For more information, please contact (852) 3796 3026 or download our Training Event's Brochure.

Green Data Centre Cut UK Council’s Energy Costs

The Council of Dumfries and Galloway, a region of 148,030 inhabitants in the UK, is expecting to cut US$32,132 in energy costs per year through its recently completed data centre.

This new (Green) data centre will serve as the main storage for all information collected and stored by the Dumfries and Galloway Council. It was designed to meet the Council’s needs for the next ten years.

The Council spent £400,000 (US$642,640) on the project. The return of investment is expected to arrive in less than five years.
As part of Green IT project, the number of the Council’s servers across the region was scaled down to 75 from the previous 32. The Council’s hardware was virtualized, as well.

The new data centre was built inside a restored historical landmark in Dumfries. Its design and construction, lasting six months, was done in conjunction with IBM.

Graeme Mcllorum, Technology Services Manager of Dumfries and Galloway Council, said the main challenge in constructing the new data centre was safeguarding the condition of the historical landmark while installing the required facilities.

“In addition to a number of administrative applications, the data centre also has to run our call centre and other critical council systems, providing care to vulnerable people around the clock, as we upgraded the data centre,” said Mcllorum. To respond to these challenges, the project was designed to boost availability while reducing the risk of disruption.

The new data centre is equipped with a cooling system that uses outside air for cooling (‘Free Cooling’) the ICT machinery. The Dumfries and Galloway government will use this cutting edge cooling system for six months a year, slashing the council’s energy use and costs in air-conditioning down 25 to 30 per cent annually.

The new data centre room is 94 square metres wide, holding approximately 25 racks. It is rated at 144 kilowatts, with an average of four to five kilowatts per rack. The old data centre remains active for back up and recovery.

Adopted from http://www.futuregov.asia