Five Ways To Boost Energy Efficiency And Reduce Datacenter Cost
Datacenters are mushrooming all over. Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube consume an immense amount of internet resources. It comes as no surprise that datacenters are rapidly increasing all over the virtual space. The need for computational power, storage, data networks and other related equipment is galloping. What’s more pertinent is the extreme level of competition to provide datacenter services to customers. The stress on margins is therefore high. To become more competitive you have to find ways to boost your energy efficiency and thereby reduce datacenter cost. Here are five critical aspects to look into.
Use Energy Efficient Equipment
Did you know that a laptops, Desktops and Workstations can save as much as 130 kWh of electricity and prevent up to 200 lbs of greenhouse gas emissions annually, if they are Energy Star compliant?
According to a Dell report , you can save an enormous amount of energy by using Energy Star complaint equipment. If this is the case for a single computing unit, you can imagine the massive amount of power saving in data centers where thousands of servers are installed. Energy Star compliance is not restricted to servers but to a whole lot of equipment used in Data centers. Power converters, cooling and humidity control equipment, generators – every piece of machinery can be optimized for power consumption.
Since most of the expenses in running a data center are related to electricity consumption, you can straightaway save millions by using better energy compliant machinery and components.
Improve Efficiency of Cooling
You must have noticed that your laptop or desktop has a fan which releases hot air. This is due to the heat generated by the components inside your PC. All machines emit heat while operating. This heat can damage server components like memory and CPU. Each server in a data center has to be protected against damage due to heat. Elaborate cooling arrangement is made to dissipate heat. Obviously the cooling system requires electricity. It is estimated that a huge proportion of energy or electricity is consumed by cooling systems. You must ensure that your entire cooling system, including equipment, piping and coolant distribution is energy efficient.
Improve Efficiency of Dehumidifiers
Why should you bother about humidity in the air? Condensation occurs when you pass cool air into servers where it comes in contact with components which generate heat. Water droplets are formed which can instantly damage your servers. Therefore there should not be any water particle in the air. For this purpose dehumidifiers are used which consume electricity. There are many ways to improve efficiency of these humidity control equipment and save electricity.
Improve Design of Datacenters
Research in improving data center design is necessary to provide better energy efficiency and also limit greenhouse emissions. Servers which go into sleep mode while not in use, use of heat absorbent construction material, designing low heat emission components etc. form part of data center design.
Location of Datacenters
The location of data centers is critical in deciding operational costs. Data centers can be situated in countries which provide low cost electricity. Some locations have low ambient temperatures most of the year. This leads to lower cooling cost. Some places, like deserts, have low humidity. If you locate your data center facility in such places, the cost of dehumidifiers can be reduced.
You must remember that data centers must be located near to the consumer base. You can’t go to the Sahara desert to install a data center, just to benefit from low humidity. Availability of trained manpower, good and reliable source of electricity and proximity to customers are factors which are essential for choosing data center loaction.
