18 October 2011
Solution Provider Offers IT Pros
Eight Tips for Energy Conservation in the Data
Center
Farmington Hills, MI, October 18,
2011 –
Despite the country’s growing concern about energy use and “going
green,” according to Logicalis, an international provider of
integrated information and communications technology (ICT)
solutions and services (http://www.us.logicalis.com), too many IT pros
are mired in the mindset that focusing on energy is difficult,
time-consuming and expensive.
“Companies are spending hundreds of thousands
of dollars on electricity costs in the data center, and they have
to become more energy efficient,” says Bob Mobach, practice
director, data centers, for Logicalis. Mobach says more than
3 percent of the world’s total energy cost is spent on running data
centers and that number is growing. “That’s one of the
biggest messages we keep preaching to our customers:
You canrun
a mission-critical data center that is energy efficient and
socially responsible.”
To jumpstart energy efficiency discussions,
Logicalis has identified eight key ways energy can be conserved in
the data center.
Tips for Conserving Energy in the Data
Center
- Cooling Containment: Since about half of the
energy spent in a data center revolves around cooling, it’s
critical to keep the cool air in! Any level of passive
containment is good – hot out or cold in containment. Passive
heat rejection cabinets are a great option; they can be installed
new or older cabinets can be retrofitted with chimneys and rear
cabinet enclosures can be added to existing environments, allowing
the temperature in the room to be raised safely to between 73 and
77 degrees, well below the new 80-degree ASHRAE standard.
- Pre-Cooling: Too often, you see data centers
in colder climates where the outside air temperature is 10 degrees
in the winter, yet the refrigeration systems are working hard to
cool the data center inside. Let the outside air help cool
the data center whenever possible – air side economization should
be intuitive in the Central and Northern hemispheres of the United
States. Bringing in the cooler outdoor air is not as easy as
it sounds since that air must be filtered to remove pollutants and
humidity, but there are advanced systems available today – like the
Kyoto autonomous air-to-air heat-exchange cooling solution in use
at BendBroadband, a cable/broadband provider in central
Oregon. BendBroadband’s Kyoto cooling
solution – the
largest installation of its kind in the U.S. – requires no water
and takes advantage of cool nights to contribute as much as 85
percent of the data center’s required cooling.
- 415 Volts: Consider this surprising fact:
The higher the voltage in the data center, the more electrically
efficient the data center will be. Since power already enters
the building at a higher voltage, running on 415 volts means less
power conversion is needed. And, data centers that run on
415-volt power require smaller power cables, which means less
copper, less cable and smaller cable trays. This is something
that is easiest to consider before building a data center rather
than as a retrofit. A retrofit is, of course, possible but
would require a substantial amount of work, changing panels from
the street to the UPS to the delivery mechanisms.
- Solar Panels: Using a solar panel array on a
data center rooftop can dramatically offset energy costs inside the
data center as well. While the savings can provide a
significant return on investment, other important reasons to
consider sun power include a reduced carbon footprint, a serious
issue for responsible corporate stewardship and one reason
the North County Transit District in San Diego built the first
mass transit LEED green certified data center in the country.
- Energy-Saving Programs: Many states have programs –
Blue Sky is an example – that allow companies to use 100 percent
alternative or renewable energy sources like hydro and wind
power. Typically, these programs can cost a few kilowatt
cents per hour more but the energy savings give the data center a
near zero carbon footprint and have the added bonus of helping to
support the growth and expansion of alternative power programs for
the next generation.
- Go White: In the data center, going with
white cabinets, walls, floors and ceilings helps reflect heat and
bring the hot air back into the return more easily. An
all-white data center is also very IT friendly – less light is
needed to look inside cabinets; no more using a flashlight to screw
a server into a rack! With all white cabinetry, there is very
little need for additional lighting, a quick-fix during a
renovation and most certainly something to consider when building a
new data center.
- LED Lighting: Consider LEDs instead of
standard T5 lighting for the data
center. LED lighting is brighter, uses less energy, and it
produces less heat so it is an all-around solid lighting
solution.
- Recycled Materials: To be a truly socially
conscious organization, use recycled materials whenever
possible. Mobach says Logicalis has created data centers with
everything from recycled cork and bamboo to a LEED-certified data
center using recycled blue jeans as insulation in the walls.
Want to know
more?
About Logicalis
Logicalis is an international provider of
integrated information and communications technology (ICT)
solutions and services founded on a superior breadth of knowledge
and expertise in communications & collaboration, data center,
and cloud computing and managed services.
Logicalis Group employs nearly 2,500 people
worldwide, including highly trained service specialists who design,
specify, deploy and manage complex ICT infrastructures to meet the
needs of over 6,000 corporate and public sector customers. To
achieve this, Logicalis maintains strong partnerships with
technology leaders such as Cisco, HP, IBM and Microsoft.
The Logicalis Group has annualized revenues of
over $1 billion, from operations in the UK, US, Germany, South
America and Asia Pacific, and is fast establishing itself as one of
the leading IT and Communications solution integrators,
specializing in the areas of advanced technologies and
services.
The Logicalis Group is a division of Datatec
Limited, listed on the Johannesburg and London AIM Stock Exchanges,
with revenues of approximately $5 billion.
For more information, visit http://www.us.logicalis.com.