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7X24MAGAZINE SPRING2014
SettingYourSightsona
PowerEfficientDataCenter
by JoePepas
Inthisdata-drivenbusinessenvironment,
companiesarekeepingawatchfuleyeon
the IT infrastructure—ensuringtheycan
effectivelysupportandgrowalongside
thebusiness. Butattainingfull
infrastructurereliabilityandavailability
isn’taneasyproposition. Itrequires
companiestotracknotonlycapital
expenditures,butalsocostsassociated
withpoweringthese infrastructures. And
asenergypricescontinuetorise,
harnessingpower-relatedcostshasnever
beenmoreessential. Now isthetimefor
companiestotakeacloser lookatthose
toolsspecificallyengineeredtoensure
datacentersmaximizetheirpowerneeds.
HOWBIG ISBIG?
Despitetheeconomicslowdown,one
areaofbusiness investmentthat
continuestopoststronggrowth—year in
andyearout—isdatacenter-related
hardwareandsoftware—which inevitably
increasesthe infrastructure’ssize.
Accordingtoanalystfirm IDC,datacenter
footprintscontinuetogrowsignificantly
andareexpectedtorisefrom611.4million
sq. ft. in2012tomorethan700millionsq.
ft. in2016.
Contributingtotheseenhanced
footprints isthesheervolumeof
informationgeneratedbybusinesses.
Considerthenormalamountofdataused
bycompaniesand individualsonadaily
basis: e-mails, financialdata,videosand
pictures. Oncecreated, this information
mustbestoredandmanaged.According
toarecentarticle inTheNewYorkTimes,
all thisdata iscreatedatarapidpace,
“Stupendousamountsofdataareset in
motioneachdayas,withan innocuous
clickortap,peopledownloadmovieson
iTunes,checkcreditcardbalances
throughVisa’sWebsite,andsendYahoo
e-mailwithfilesattached,buyproducts
fromAmazon,postonTwitter,orreach
newspapersonline.”
Otheranalystreportsnotethatthedata
center’sdemand isbeingdrivenbysuch
forcesasstorage,virtualization,and
cloud: “Thecloudholdsnearlyendless
possibilitiesforusers, includingtheability
tostore important informationfor
businesscontinuity,aswellasthe
accessibilitysought inthemobile
workforce. Asmoreorganizations
leveragethecloudforavarietyof
purposes, thisadoption iscreating
increaseddemands inthedatacenter
sector,aswellasaneedtoensurethat
systemssupportingthecloudfunction
properly.”
Thecoldreality isthat largerdatacenters
meangreatercosts, increasedpower
usage,andmoreresourcesnecessaryto
harnessthese infrastructures.
THEPOWER IS INYOURHANDS
While investments inhardwareand
softwarecontinuetorise, theystillaren’t
thebiggestcosts inthedatacenter.
Larger IT infrastructuresmeanmore
power—plainandsimple. Infact, the
analystsatGartnerGroupnoteenergy-
relatedcostsaccountforapproximately
12percentoftheoverall IT infrastructure
spend—andrepresentthefastest-rising
costs inthedatacenter.
Butthat’snotall. TheU.S.Departmentof
Energysaysenergypriceswillcontinueto
riseoverthenexttwodecades—asglobal
demand increasesbyastaggering57
percent.Asreflectedabove,asignificant
portionofthisdemand isdrivenby
bigger,energy-hungry IT infrastructures.
TheEnvironmentalProtectionAgency
evencalculatesdatacentersuse20times
moreenergypersquarefootthana
typicalofficebuilding. Andpowerused
torundatacenters isashighas60billion
kilowatthours—equal to1.5%ofallpower
used intheUnitedStates!
Energycostscertainlyhavethepotential
tooutstripanyefficiency-related
processesadministeredwithindata
centers. However, tohelpensure
efficienciestakehold,organizationsmust
getahandleonexpendituresearly—and
continuouslymonitorthemthroughout
themanagementprocess. Astrongfocus
onthepower infrastructure itself is
essential.
PROMOTING INEFFICIENCY?
Thedemandfor larger infrastructures—
coupledwithrisingenergycosts—could
spell financialdisasterforsome
companies. Thus,achievinghigh-
efficiencyenergyratingsforbothcurrent
andfutureequipment ismandatory.
Thetrouble is,mostdatacentersoperate
inawaythatpromotes inefficiency.
These inefficienciesmeanbigcosts. For
