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| Green is a state of mind not a colour! |
David Gyngell, Solutions Architect
Whilst there is certainly a place for virtualisation and consolidation technologies in reducing power usage in data centres, and Getronics has worked with a number of companies to successfully complete such projects, there are other environmentally friendly changes that can be made to a computing environment, some of which do not even involve the servers themselves.
Organisations are often surprised that technologies that have been in existence for decades longer than virtualisation are still valid today and some are even enjoying a new lease of life with the focus on green. Water cooling is an example.
Air Cooling v. Water Cooling
Dropped by many data centres and hardware vendors in favour of air cooling as electronic components increasingly operated with lower heat output, the introduction of high density computing such as blade systems is resulting in a resurgence of water cooling as it can be much more efficient. IBM suggests that water can carry 3,500 times more heat than air, and can reduce heat by 70 percent before more fans (and power) is needed.
If the idea of plumbing your data centre does not appeal, then air cooling vendors are also reacting to the need to both increase cooling capacity and reduce power consumption. KyotoCooling® is one such organisation Getronics is closely looking at. Based on their revolutionary ‘heat wheel’ technology for air to air heat exchange customers have achieved greater than an 80% decrease in cooling costs.
Lights Out
Another long term objective for many companies has been to achieve a lights out environment within the production data centre. Whilst the benefits of this in relation not only to power and heat output should not be underestimated, it is also a very visible demonstration of commitment to thinking green. Presence sensors to switch lights on when someone enters a server room do not take that much out of the annual IT spend, but become even more effective when zones are defined through larger machine rooms and timers are used to switch off lights after a pre-determined time.
All the major hardware vendors now provide technology at the individual and multi server level (when it comes to virtualised and blade centre environments) to allow remote console access. Combined with the latest enterprise management toolsets and the use of image files on network storage to replace the need to load physical media, together with tape libraries to handle unattended media management, the need for on-site activities has never been less. It seems that the lights out environment dream is now becoming a reality.
Less travelling and save costs
All that means there fewer requirements to travel to and from data centres, presenting both direct cost savings to the company and staff if technical support and operations functions are located remotely, as well as a direct contribution to the environment through reduced carbon emissions from transport usage.
There are many other possibilities not touched on in this article, some quick and inexpensive, whilst others will require investment. For example, when you next perform a technical refresh, make sure the servers include automated power management which cycle down or up processors, fans, etc., based on demand. From the quick perspective, make sure your data centre air flow corridors are sealed as well as being focussed only on areas of need, and close the gaps between those floor tiles!
The experience of Getronics both within its own data centres, as well as that of its customers, has shown that thinking and ‘achieving green’ is very much a state of mind. If embedded in the culture of both operations and investment, an environmental friendly contribution and cost saving benefit can be found in most areas.
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