Currently, data center energy costs are increasingly expensive. Many companies are trying to improve data center operational efficiency in various ways. This article will discuss how to increase operational efficiency in data centers.
Data Center Operational Efficiency Still Focusing on Energy Efficiency
The operational efficiency of a data center is one of the essential factors in its ability to support an organization’s core business. To increase operational efficiency, a holistic approach must be taken.
Increasing Power Effectiveness Usage
Currently, most server rooms use PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) to measure energy efficiency. PUE measures the ratio of total power usage by a data center versus the power required by IT equipment. The higher the PUE score, the less efficient a data center is in terms of energy usage. The current average PUE for operating data centers used by large enterprises is 2.5~3.0.
Besides, many enterprises are looking for new ways to decrease operating costs without sacrificing service levels. They want to cut down on the power and cooling they use without affecting the performance and availability of their systems or applications.
To achieve this goal, they need better data center designs that help them get rid of unnecessary hardware, deliver more performance with less hardware, and use existing hardware more efficiently.
Reducing Cooling Cost
Increasing Power Effectiveness UsageThousands of servers running in a data center can generate more than 500 kW of power. However, it is estimated that up to 40% of the server power is well-spent because of the efficient cooling infrastructure.
The most visible issue with the current cooling systems is the hot aisle/cold aisle design. The concept behind this configuration is to use the air from the cold aisle to cool the hot aisle.
This mechanism works well to cool down the hot aisle before it enters the server room, but this design has many risks and technical challenges. Because there are no mechanical barriers between two aisles, hot air can easily infiltrate the cold aisle and vice versa.
This allows hot air to move back into the cold aisle, which causes much energy to be lost without any benefit. The cold air from outside will also easily infiltrate into the data center through doors and gaps on the ground, making it hard for building operators to control the temperature in every specific location.
Virtualization
Virtualization has many benefits, including reducing energy costs, lowering the number of servers needed, reducing cooling costs, and reducing space requirements.
Virtualization reduces energy costs by powering down idle servers instead of shutting them down completely. Idle servers use much energy, significantly increasing server efficiency and reducing overall costs. It also allows for more efficient power usage because some services can run on multiple servers rather than just one.
It also allows for more efficient power usage because some services can run on multiple servers rather than just one. Virtualization lowers the number of servers needed by creating virtualized computing environments that mimic legacy physical environments but allow for more flexible usage of resources and scale-up or -down as necessary. This enables an organization to scale its technology resources quickly and avoid buying large quantities or over-provisioning to plan for future use.
Reduce Energy Usage through Data Center Design
When designing a data center, it is essential to look at the business’s long-term goals.
For example, suppose the business wishes to be able to support a large number of users at once or wishes to be able to handle high levels of demand for a service. In that case, it may be essential to design a facility with headroom (extra power and cooling), even if that means costs are higher than might otherwise be acceptable.
Likewise, if the business plans to expand within five years, it may be better off spending extra money now so that the building can support future needs. Data centers can also be designed to expand quickly within limits set by local building codes.
Read more about Cloud Data Center Reducing Cost for Every Business Scale.
Conclusion
Energy efficiency is important because your company pays for your electricity. Energy costs can add up if you’re running a lot of equipment, such as computers and servers, even if only for part of the day. If you have a lot of equipment running constantly and don’t think about ways to save energy, you might spend lots more on utility bills than necessary.