How To Optimise Your Data Centres Energy Consumption
How To Optimise Energy Consumption
Where all the data we enjoy is processed, stored, and communicated, data centres are often considered the unsung heroes of the online world. Whether you’re streaming on Netflix or YouTube or sending and storing emails, all the data needs to be stored somewhere.
As the internet grows, more data centres are needed and this is the same for when an organisation grows. Many people believe that the larger the data centre, the higher the energy consumption has to be; however, this doesn’t have to be the case. Optimising your data centre for energy consumption can improve your operational efficiency, save on energy bills, and reduce the risk of problems arising; but how do you do this?Monitoring Power
Before you can implement energy-efficient solutions you need to assess how much power you’re using. Monitoring power output gives you a clear picture of your data centre’s footprint, allowing you to review your energy tariffs. You can’t make a change blindly, measuring your data centre’s power usage allows you to make evidence-driven decisions
Your data centre’s footprint can be a large outlay for your organisation. Identifying rack power consumption at the outlet, inlet, and circuit breaker level gives you access to mission-critical information. Analysing this data allows you to make smart decisions as you understand power usage and availability at the rack, as well as specific devices or servers. Any heavily loaded circuits are also highlighted early to reduce the risk of unplanned downtime occurring.
Identifying Idle Servers
Intelligent rack PDUs are not only useful for monitoring power consumption; they help you determine underutilised and ineffective servers. Outlet level metering also enables you to understand the way specific servers and devices operate, especially how their power usage levels. Idle servers are a big example of aspects of your data centre that are using power without performing their function, so they’re both not efficient and expensive.
Consuming power without providing a function, idle servers can cause big losses for your organisation. Idle servers are not performing computing services or delivering information, however, they need to have not functioned for at least 6 months, otherwise, the server is only considered to be experiencing downtime. Utilising intelligent rack PDUs allows you to reboot idle servers wherever your location is.
Intelligent PDUs enable you to modify power loads, shifting how much power a server is using to create a more energy-efficient data centre. It’s simple. You want all your servers in your data centre to be operating at maximum capacity and any others that are unneeded to be switched off to reduce power usage rather than being left idle.
Make Use of Environmental Sensors
Environmental sensors have become progressively more significant for data centres because of the rise in energy consumption. These monitoring systems measure rack air temperatures, airflow, vibrations, humidity, and smoke, as well as water and air pressure. Various environmental factors affect how energy is used and your data centre’s footprint. Receiving instant updates when a change in the environment occurs, allows you to take quick preventative measures to reduce the risk of problems occurring.
Prolong the lifespan of your data centre and increase energy efficiency with environmental monitoring systems.
Optimise Airflow
PUE is the ratio of the amount of power used by a data centre to the power supplied to computing equipment. There are three levels to PUE measurements. At the basic level, the IT load is calculated from the UPS outputs, at the intermediate level the PDU outputs are measured, and at the advanced level, the IT equipment input is assessed. How you cool all the equipment in your data centre is a massive factor in your data centre’s PUE.
The lower the PUE level, the lower your energy consumption is. Ensuring optimal airflow in your data centre is essential to optimise it for maximum energy efficiency. Overheating servers are not only prone to more issues but use more power; costing you more money and decreasing operational efficiency. Continuous environmental monitoring allows you to assess the airflow and ventilation around specific pieces of equipment. This gives you the precise information you can utilise to create a more energy-efficient data centre.
Infiniti Data Centres
As a data centre provider offering both consultancy and construction services, Infiniti can help offer
guidance and support on the best options for your business.
Have any questions or comments, or would like to know more about the
article and how we can help please contact us on 01993 774444 or email us enquiries@infiniti-it.co.uk
