What is a green data center?
A green data center It is the one that can operate with maximum energy efficiency and minimum environmental impact. This includes mechanical, lighting, electrical, and IT equipment (servers, storage, network, etc.). Within companies, the focus of the green data center This is primarily due to a desire to reduce the enormous electricity costs associated with operating a data center. In other words, going green is recognized as a way to significantly reduce IT infrastructure operating expenses.
Interest in the green data centers It is also being promoted by the U.S. federal government. In 2006, Congress passed Public Law 109-431 asking the EPA to: “analyze the rapid growth and energy consumption of data centers by the Federal Government and private companies.”.
In response, the EPA developed a comprehensive report analyzing current trends in energy use and energy costs for data centers and servers in the U.S. and highlighted existing and emerging opportunities for improving energy efficiency. Recommendations were also made for leveraging these energy efficiency opportunities nationwide through information and incentive-based programs.
According to the EPA report, the two largest electricity consumers in the data center are the following:
• Support infrastructure - 50% of the total
• General servers – 34% of the total
Since then, significant progress has been made in improving server efficiency. High-density and blade storage servers now offer much more computing power per watt of energy. Server virtualization is enabling organizations to reduce the total number of servers they support, and the introduction of Energy Star servers has combined to offer many options for both the public and private sectors to reduce the overall electricity consumption of servers.
Of course, the greatest opportunity for additional savings lies in the supporting infrastructure of the data center facility itself. According to the EPA, most data centers consume 1,001 to 3,001 TP3T of additional energy for the support systems they use for their core IT operations. Through a combination of best practices and migrating to facility upgrades with a rapid return on investment (such as ultrasonic humidification and airflow control), this overhead can be reduced to 301 TP3T of the IT load.