Sustainable Technology

A number of metrics are important to the measurement and improvement of green data center performance.  PUE measures the efficient use of energy, while other metrics take a more-specific or holistic approach to measurement.  …

…   “CUE is a ratio of the total carbon emissions due to the energy consumption of the data center (the same one used for the PUE of it) compared to the energy consumption of the data center’s servers … “   …

via GigaOm: 7 Green Data Center Metrics.

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.

using ambient cooling system.

SAP data center is certified an energy efficient.

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.

Cooling

Custom Mechanical Systems and Critchfield Mechanical collaborate to create advanced in-row cooling technology installation for Brocade’s green data center in San Jose.  …

…   “The Brocade San Jose-based data center incorporates technology from CMS and CMI that provides a cutting-edge in-row cooling system with water-side economizer to minimize fan usage and maximize efficiency, saving half a megawatt of energy at full build-out. 

The custom cooling system from CMS and CMI has played a key role in the Brocade data center, featuring fan efficiencies superior to all other cooling options available on the market today.  

Brocade’s data center and its use of custom in-row cooling units, coupled with a highly efficient chilled water plant inclusive of a water-side economizer, provides a mechanical system with a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of less than 1.3. 

Data centers of this size typically have a PUE of greater than 1.5. 

To ensure a fully-customizable and flexible product, multiple iterations of the design were produced in order to meet Brocade’s specifications; 

CMS also worked with the construction team to design features that will simplify maintenance and improve reliability. 

These features include:

• variable speed ECM motors, 
• fan redundancy, and a 
• low-cost maintenance design. ”   …

Via Custom Mechanical Systems: Brocade San Jose Data Center.

Custom Mechanical Systems.

Critchfield Mechanical.

Brocade integrates green technology into its new datacenter design in San Jose.  …

… “opted for in-row cooling technology, developed by Custom Mechanical Systems, along with water-side economizer technology to help minimize fan usage … ” …

Via ZDNet: Brocade Data Center.

Custom Mechanical Systems.

Discussion of economizers in data center cooling architectures.

Paul Tatum, Director of Systems Engineering, at Sun Microsystems presents Saving Energy and Maximizing the ROI in the Data Center.

HP delivers its roadmap of converged infrastructure that integrates power discovery to provide transparency into energy performance.  …

…   “HP Intelligent Power Discovery: Eliminates over-provisioning in the data center: Accurate and timely power usage data and control can save companies millions of dollars in data center energy costs.

HP Intelligent Power Discovery is an industry-first advancement for green data centers that creates an automated, energy-aware network between HP ProLiant servers third-party facility management tools and data center power grids.

Expanding on HP’s Data Center Smart Grid solutions, the software provides greater transparency and insight into power usage by creating a real-time, graphical map of energy usage across servers and facilities.

By accurately provisioning energy, clients can extend the lives of their data centers and save up to $5 million per every 1,000 servers in one year. “   …

Via HP: Converged Infrastructure.

Intelligent power discovery.

The San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego and CLUMEQ, a Canadian High Performance Computing consortium, will collaborate to design an ultra-efficient data center as part of a program to promote green IT initiatives.  …

… “Under the partnership, SDSC and CLUMEQ/McGill University researchers will design and build a business case and a conceptual design for a jointly-managed, ultra-efficient data center to be built in Quebec, which has an abundance of green hydroelectric power and an ideally suited cool climate that can provide free cooling to the data center’s high-performance computer systems for much of the year.

Hydro Quebec, Quebec’s state-owned utility, Rumsey Engineering of Oakland, California, and ClimateCHECK, an Ottawa-based firm specializing in green house gas ( GHG ) emission standards and measurement, are collaborating on the project. “   …

Via SDSC: Green Data Center (Link).

Modular cooling has can reduce energy consumption significantly while offering a coefficient of performance (COP) much higher than current approaches. …