Green Notes

Google announced that they would open source the PowerMeter API that integrates home energy monitoring devices directly into Google’s Power meter . The Google meter is a free software tool that lets you monitor your personal energy consumption from  iGoogle homepage so that you can make more efficient use of power at home.

Using the open standards based Apps interface, developers can now customize the energy information available to customers while assuring privacy. Google also has provided resources for utility service providers and device makers in terms of samples and implementation guidelines to build their own Google meter compatible systems. For more info, check out Google’s official blog site: http://blog.google.org/search/label/PowerMeter.

For help with greening your IT strategy and choosing the right open source software to boost your energy efficiency, contact us at GreenRackSystems; sales@GreenRackSystems.com.

The market is flooded with energy efficient products and services that claim to optimize data centers and save on power. Data center power consumption has become out of control the past few years and companies have been clamoring to offer solutions for addressing not only the problem of green house gas emissions but also to make business sense by saving up some green.

Some of these tools are free such as American Power Consumption APC’s Efficiency Quotient online tool (http://www.apc.com/tools/calculator/efficiencyQuotient/) which helps IT managers determine the efficiency levels of their data center. It provides a fact-based rating of a data center’s current efficiency levels; recommends steps for improvement; gives access to related white papers, tools and information. More recently it has released another tool that will help managers make decisions regarding the physical requirements of a data centre after a virtualisation project. The Virtualisation Energy Cost Calculator can be downloaded from the APC site.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has also developed a data center efficiency tool, DC Pro that analyzes 12 months’ worth of a data center’s utility bills to answer specific questions about electricity distribution, airflow management and data center cooling. The tool provides suggestions for improving efficiency.

The Green Grid,  a global consortium of IT professionals dedicated to improve energy efficiency in data centers, has launched several new tools and reports to promote the cause of data center efficiency including a new power usage effectiveness (PUE) reporting tool and regional tools for calculating free cooling. It’s free online tool for data center managers records their power usage effectiveness (PUE) scores that will establish global consistency in reporting the split between energy flowing to IT equipment and facility operations.In addition to free cooling from outside air, the tool provides information about savings that could be obtained using water-side economizers.

Software firm CA  has introduced a program called ecoMeter in its new ecoSoftware products, which helps companies manage energy use from data centers, as well as other facilities. The program allows a company to know, at any given time, how much energy is being used by each element in the data center – be it a server, generator, cooling unit or backup power supply, reports Earth2Tech . Another new tool launched by Arch Rock Inc., called Energy Optimizer – Data Center Edition is a wireless monitoring system that allows IT managers to make knowledgeable decisions about their data center efficiency in real-time. It  judges a system’s efficiency against standards from the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers, estimating the actual dollars the data center is spending on electricity and its carbon footprint. It also identifies hot spots, such as short-cycling, missing blanking panels and sub-floor obstructions that cause energy waste. Others approach the problem from a completely different angle. For example, Milford, N.H.-based Degree Controls Inc., has developed active airflow management products that include airflow monitoring tools to control cooling. Then there is a new chip by Teridian Semiconductor  that does accurate energy measurement as a way of addressing this growing enterprise data center power consumption. Teridian’s chip enables manufacturers to integrate smart energy measurement tools into data center equipment including power supplies, and communications equipment, as well as servers.

We have barely scratched the surface in this blog of the zillions of options available with respect to freebies and other efficiency tools for sale. Free tools can be handy to give you a broad perspective of where you need to be looking at to solve the issue. A professional consultation service like Green Rack Systems would help you sort through the plethora of choices in the market today to identify the right suite of products to invest in tha meet your data center’s unique challenges.

Did you know that only about half of the energy used in a data centre goes to the IT loads? All the rest is lapped up by your hungry network-critical physical infrastructure (NCPI) equipments. It makes sense therefore to reassess and reprioritize the NCPI devices to maximize energy efficiency. Some of the common NCPI that you will find in Data Centers are transformers, UPS (uninterruptible Power supplies), wiring, fans, pumps, humidifiers, lighting, air conditioners and all other non-IT equipment that are required for the proper functioning of the IT components. You can increase efficiency of your NCPI by improving your basic design of the NCPI, picking the right size devices to match correctly with the IT equipment and using the right equipments. Sounds simple enough. But the reality is that the information provided by most manufacturers is not enough to put together an interconnecting infrastructure that works in total cohesion with the IT components to reduce power consumption.
One handy data center wisdom is that it is not always about the individual devices but how they all work in relation to each other that is the key. Here’s another one for you- the right sizing of the devices and not just the brand could help reduce as much as half of your energy bills. In fact most data centers have many “no load losses” based on the NCPI size be it your lighting, generators etc irrespective of the data center load. So size becomes extremely critical to prevent useless expenses so that you do not end up paying for something that was never in use. Also ill fitted infrastructure design could relentlessly deplete your power supply. Cooling systems for example are a classic victim of ill fitted design.There is a lot of talk about new and improved cooling equipments and methods. But a lot of wastage of power actually is due to poor design that inherently fails to separate the hot air from the cold, than the devices themselves. In such a scenario, alternative design solutions like correct positioning ,direction and containment of devices to segregate the hot segments from the cold can be applied. Then there are problems that sometimes arise because of multiple air conditioners that undermine each other’s performance. It is always beneficial to enlist the help of Power and cooling experts like the ones at Green Rack and leverage their technical expertise to weather the complications that arise from design nitty gritties which may escape the novice eye.

At Green Rack Systems, there is an expression that we use a lot and that we are very fond of - “Putting Green in your pocket”. We make it a point to stress to our customers that our primary concern remains saving money for them. It is just that we go about doing it by using green principles and green technology. When greener means using less resources and therefore less money, what is the wisdom in downloading huge amounts of cash in the name of sustainability? It often comes as a surprise to many of our clients who have had previous experiences with other green businesses that had them convinced that going green would entail excessive initial investments. They are even more taken aback when they see tangible savings within a reasonable amount of time after engaging our services. We put a lot of thought and knowhow to optimize the efficiency and cost of the solutions we offer. Our low powered CPUs combined with alternative cooling methods can guarantee a minimum of 30% reduction in your power requirements and a 50% decrease in heat emissions. If we say that we can guarantee, we are indeed that sure. Moreover our servers and storage devices are structured to be fully upgradable to avert the need to make additional future expenses in infrastructure. We also make sure we get extra change by working the tax rebates and sales rebates to our advantage. So green does make good business sense, especially the pocket kind…

So, is there a way of measuring the exact efficiency of a Data center, you may ask… Green Grid, an association of IT professionals committed to proposing ways to increase the efficiency of Data centers, have come up with a metric called PUE, Power Usage Effectiveness. It is derived from the following:

PUE=Total Facility Power/IT Equipment Power

Total facility power is the total power supplied to the data center in question and IT Equipment Power is the power used by the equipment dedicated to manage, process, store, or route data within the data center such as storage, and network equipment, KVM switches, monitors etc. An ideal PUE value would be a 1 indicating that all power supplied is absorbed solely for the IT equipment. According to Green Grid, most Data Centers have a PUE value of 3 or more. But with proper design a value of around 1.6 is achievable. A 2007 study conducted by analyst firm Gartner revealed that the intense power requirements needed to run and cool data centers account for almost a quarter of global carbon dioxide emissions from information and communications technology. It also identified the main causes of inefficiency as lack of floor space, a failure to house high-density servers, and increased power consumption and heat generation.

At Green Rack Systems, here’s how we address these issues. Our data centers use high density blade solutions and low power options to consolidate space. To reduce our power consumption we opt for high efficiency power supplies and low voltage processors. In addition, we go for passive cooling options whenever possible to reduce the massive cooling costs. We reduce heat further by using higher efficiency, low wattage CPUs. We even go a step further and provide an optional solar powered server co-location to lower dependency on fossil fuels. To make it even more environmentally friendly, we use only RoHS compliant components, which restricts the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment and try to incorporate recycled materials as much as possible. At Green Rack, there are two things we care about above all else-One is the quality of our technology, which our R & D team works diligently to constantly upgrade and the second is our tireless customer support to make sure you are nothing less than 100 percent satisfied. For further information, please contact us at sales@GreenRackSystems.com / 408-213-8144 .

At Green Rack Systems, we believe that there is now more than ever a pressing need to think about the way we run our Data Centers, if you have not already done so. There are two main reasons why:

• It is common knowledge that Data Centers have an insatiable appetite for energy. As the world we live in becomes more and more complicated and the information we demand more and more sophisticated, we have started demanding our servers to perform enormous, almost oppressive feats. The data centers in turn have begun to rebel by becoming more and more power hunger. This leads to an overall escalation of IT costs, accounting for about 25% of the total corporate IT budget resulting in significant decrease of profit margins. According to the McKinsey & Company/Uptime Institute report titled Revolutionizing Data Center Energy Efficiency released last year. According to the report, If data center power consumption continues to grow at the current rate, 10 new cola-fired or nuclear power plants will be needed by 2010 and 20 more (for a total of 30) by 2015. So there is no doubt that the beasts have to be brought in line. In the current state of the economy, investing in infrastructure might be the last priority of most office managers. But we should keep in mind that the benefits of saving energy and therefore costs in the longer run far outweigh the immediate expenses toward efficient management. Besides, you don’t want to be left behind when in a few years your competitors start reaping huge benefits from thinking quicker and taking more timely action. If there is one thing the current economic crisis has urged us, it is to avert a long term decline rather than to indulge in short term gains.
• Unless you’ve been living under a hole, I’m sure it would not have escaped your notice that most businesses are going green. Today’s customers possess a high degree of environmental consciousness and demand the same exalting standard from the companies that they lend their patronage to. More and more fore running companies are outbidding each other to become as perfectly green as possible. They in turn look for suppliers and partners who share their vision to enhance their green portfolio. So apart from the ethical benefits of reducing your carbon footprint, green business is smart business. Very soon we believe you will be left out, if you do not jump on the bandwagon right now. Moreover, environmental concerns have already driven many countries to impose regulations on businesses with data centers to monitor their carbon emissions. Some European governments have started to tax usage of fossil fuels to encourage companies to seek alternative resources. It is reasonable to deduct that it is only a matter of time before the United States follows suit. So it looks like green datacenters are here to stay!In the next blog we will talk of ways that Green Rack Systems can contribute toward a sustainable Data center in the most comprehensive, efficient manner by targeting specific problem areas in Data Center Power Management.