As an important first step in pursuing a North American initiative for energy-efficient data centers and servers, CEE convened a committee conference call on March 29.
During this call, the Data Centers and Servers Exploration Committee discussed the opportunity, examined current program options and looked at developing an overall strategy for addressing this sector.
Before going any further, let’s take a brief look at what we know about data centers and servers.
The opportunity is large. According to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientist Jonathan Koomey, data centers used about 45 billion kWh in 2005. The number of servers is expected to increase by 75 percent between 2005 and 2009.
There is great interest. Energy-efficiency organizations, manufacturers, information technology (IT) professionals, EPA and DOE, software developers and many others are not only interested, but highly motivated, to take action. The media has also created a “buzz” about the potential for saving energy in data centers, especially in light of the groundswell to reduce harmful emissions.
There are several factors to consider: energy consumption by the equipment, cooling and space requirements. All of these components are interrelated. For example, adding more servers takes up more space and increases energy consumption, which creates more heat, and thus requires additional cooling.
Thus there is ample motivation and widespread support – from industry, the energy-efficiency community and government – to develop programs that address data centers. There are also a number of hurdles that must be cleared before meaningful action can be taken.
Where to begin?
Data centers are complex, space is limited and there is pressure to keep the systems running. To holistically address enterprise data centers, which can include whole buildings larger than a football field, a strategic management approach is necessary.
The approach would account for all building systems and industry management processes, addressing equipment procurement and planning, building cooling and power supply systems, as well as communication patterns between IT specialists and facility managers.
A simpler approach, which CEE’s committee is seriously considering as an initial step, would involve improving the efficiency of the server itself. Servers account for about 50 percent of the energy usage in a data center, with cooling (closely related to electricity consumption) right behind at 35 percent.
A strategy that focuses on server efficiency might lend itself more readily to program design and could accelerate action.
Another option, “virtualization,” involves reducing the number of server units through advanced software applications. Currently, there are at least four available software packages that provide this service. Through virtualization technology, as many as 10 computer operating systems can be run through one server.
Many other efforts are underway, including projects undertaken by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, EPA’s ENERGY STAR, DOE, ASHRAE, Green Grid (a nonprofit IT industry consortium) and The Uptime Institute (an association that represents and advises Fortune 500 companies about data centers).
Server specifications
CEE may choose to focus on server efficiency as a starting point. There is no current, accepted definition of an efficient server, however. The Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC), a nonprofit corporation representing several dozen computer and information system manufacturers, is in the process of developing a benchmark metric for server efficiency.
A SPEC subcommittee – which includes representatives of Communigate Systems, HP, Intel, IBM and Sun Microsystems – is hoping to finalize the specification by the end of the year.
In addition, EPA is developing a specification for the in-box server power supply, which accounts for about 25 percent of the server’s energy usage.
Current efficiency programs
Pacific Gas & Electric is running the only known program for data centers. PG&E’s “High Tech Program” is offering financial incentives for local businesses to reduce energy consumption through virtualization, computer and data storage management, efficient power supplies and upgraded cooling systems.
PG&E is not providing incentives for server replacements until a viable specification is finalized.
Austin Energy is setting up the corporate infrastructure for a formal program by convening quarterly meetings that include technical experts, IT specialists and facility managers.
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