Description
With the cost of power rising dramatically and increased uncertainty of global power availability, all levels of
corporate management are now more focused than ever on managing and conserving energy.
Nowhere is this more critical than in the data center of the corporation, which can consume 25 percent of the total energy in a typical IT intensive organization (Raritan estimate based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “Report to Congress on Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency Public Law 109-431”). Due to increased reliance on computing to deliver mission-critical applications and the emergence of blade technology and virtualization, server density is dramatically increasing.
These increases mean that data centers are running hotter and HVAC systems are working overtime to keep the
center cool. This, in turn, is driving energy costs up – a growing concern for IT, given the potential for this expense to become an above-the-line IT charge.
Clearly, there’s a need to monitor data center power and temperatures – and adjust heating, cooling and airflow – to minimize power consumption while maintaining IT equipment uptime. But where should forward-thinking
corporations start? What tools are available to get the data needed to design a more efficient data center?
This white paper, the first in a series, takes a look at some of these thorny energy management issues and provides some relevant answers. You’ll learn the following three things:
- The flaws in what you thought you knew about power measurement
- What kind of measurement instrumentation you need to calculate your data center’s power efficiency
- How to set standards that bring your data center in alignment with Green Grid
