Sustainable Technology

eBay’s strategic infrastructure project pursues reliable, continuous power delivery in the data center with reduced energy usage.  Triple redundancy is built into the PLC system where a voting algorithm monitors the state of devices.  …

As a result of the design and construction efforts and the subsequent power usage savings, the Topaz facility achieved a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold rating in 2010.

The Quad PAC solution features Smart Redundancy, an algorithm that continually calculates the relative system availability in real time and delivers predictive analysis on key process input variables. A quad redundancy control system has a Master Controller and three synchronized backup controllers.

It leverages Ethernet-based I/O devices that can seamlessly arbitrate its control from one of the four controllers in the system. If the Master Controller, or any of the system components fail, the system identifies the best backup controller to take over and provides the system with the most capability to withstand the next sequence of multiple or cascaded system failures.

via GE: GE Quad PAC Redundancy Control Solution.

CIO decisions can benefit the business when the energy impact is understood.  Best practices and design considerations can almost halve energy consumption in the data center.  …

…   “After the energy consumed directly by the servers, routers and switches within a data center, power distribution and cooling provide the largest opportunities to save energy.”   …

via Environmental Leader: Data Center Design.

Telus is investing $65 million into a Tier III Intelligent Internet Data Centre in Rimouski, Quebec.  The facility will integrate green design to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification.

Skanska will build the green data center with a target rating Power Usage Effectiveness, or PUE,  of 1.15.  …

…   “Rimouski is an ideal location for TELUS’ Intelligent Internet Data Centre because of the city’s highly skilled and dynamic workforce. By choosing to build the facility in Rimouski, TELUS can also benefit from one of Quebec’s unique advantages, its hydroelectric power — an abundant source of green energy.

Rimouski’s moderate climate also contributes to lower energy requirements for the building’s cooling and heating systems. Furthermore, locating the facility more than 250 kilometres from large city centres offers TELUS’ business clients the benefits of greater geographic diversity and improved business continuity.”   …

Telus.

Cisco and NetApp are experiencing growth in their Flexpod data center designs with 150 customer implementations and 120 qualified channel partners worldwide.  The design has recently been updated to enable SAP applications in the cloud.  …

…   “Integrated networking, computing and storage components that can be centrally managed. These components are optimized for a virtual data center environments and enable central management of an entire infrastructure (storage, compute, network, and hypervisor);”   …

Flexpod for SAP (PDF).

Microsoft Sharepoint on Flexpod using VMWare.

HP introduces a new consulting service for managing the design and construction of data centers, which are complex and risky projects. The companies experts are brought to bear on clients’ datacenter challenges. …

… “The HP Trusted Advisor service offers HP consulting experts who work closely with clients to consider all aspects of business operations, IT infrastructure and facilities, as well as the enablement of technologies, such as cloud and green computing. As a result, clients can establish an aligned data center and IT strategy that meets business goals and objectives. ” …

HP data center services.

Facebook’s Prineville data center has reduced its energy consumption by 38 percent and delivers the same work as the company’s existing facilities.

Facebook is sharing its achievements through the Open Compute Project to collaborate with the technology industry on sustainable practices in the green data center.  …

…   “As a first step, we are publishing specifications and mechanical designs for the hardware used in our data center, including motherboards, power supply, server chassis, server rack, and battery cabinets.

In addition, we’re sharing our data center electrical and mechanical construction specifications.

This technology enabled the Prineville data center to achieve an initial power usage effectiveness (PUE) ratio of 1.07, compared with an average of 1.5 for our existing facilities.”   …

Via Facebook: Efficient Data Centers.

The DCcE, data center compute efficiency, metric has been proposed by the Green Grid to enable users to management their continuous improvement programs.  This metric is not recommended for use as benchmark comparisons of data center to datacenter.  The DCcE does not show the productivity of the data center.  A proxy for the amount of work the datacenter performs is necessary to understand productivity.  …

…   “DCcE is designed to allow server and data center operators to discover where inefficiencies lie within a specific data center and then to address them to increase efficiency over time. “   …

Via The Green Grid: Data Center Metrics, DCcE (PDF).

The Data center industry is challenged to define performance-based metrics that will guide energy efficiency. Henry Wong, from Intel, discusses measurement of energy efficiency in the datacenter and offers insight into market trends, challenges, and solutions.  Intel insights on Energy Efficiency Metrics, video chat.

Intel looks to reduce its own internal consumption of energy and apply meaningful metrics to guide its actions.  Intel IT uses EDA MIPS, an electronic design automation meaningful indicator of performance, to support the management of server refresh (Intel on Server Power Measurement, PDF).  In addition, the company contributes to the enhancing the performance of the technology industry.  For eample, Intel is a collaborator in the development of best practices for data centers in India, in support of that country’s focus on design standards (Intel on Increasing Data Center Efficiency, PDF).

HP will provide services in the data center market, that include design, implementation and management of projects. …

… “With HP, clients have access to industry-recognized experience based on a track record of delivering successful customer projects around data center planning and design-build. These projects include the world’s first LEED-certified data center, the first LEED GOLD-certified data center, India’s first Uptime Institute Tier III-rated data center as well as more than 60 greenfield sites, including 100-megawatt facilities … ” …

Via HP: Data Center Facility Implementation.

UMass Medical is recognized by State of Massachusetts for its sustainability achievements.  …

…   “Opening a new green data center that uses 40 percent less energy than the old system. … “   …

Via Worcester Business Journal: Sustainability Recognition.

The green data center design includes use of ambient air for cooling.  …

…   “Additional reductions in energy consumption will be achieved by employing air-side economizing technology, which uses outdoor air for cooling the indoor space. Thus, chilled water for air conditioning will be required only during 25 percent of the year. “   …

Via UMass Med: Data Center Energy Efficiency.

Yahoo’s new green data center design goes into operations in NY.  The datacenter will leverage ambient air for cooling and is reported to achieve a PUE rating of 1.08.  …

…   “The Yahoo Computing Coop design earned a $9.9 million sustainability grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. An average of less than 1 cent of every dollar spent on electricity will go toward cooling “   …

Via AP: Yahoo NY Data Center.