Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/860140
THE DATA CENTER JOURNAL | 7 www.datacenterjournal.com wind: is means of energy genera- tion doesn't produce emissions, but similar to solar power, it depends on wind consistency and speed. ere- fore, it's not a viable resource in areas with little wind production, and the wind turbines that generate the power need large amounts of land. geothermal: is energy source relies on converting heat energy from the earth to generate electricity. It's ef- ficient and has minimal impact on the environment. e problem is that few geothermal fields are active enough to provide consistent viable energy. ose that are truly aer sustain- ability should colocate at a data center or build/purchase a data center that's powered by one of the above energy sources. As previously mentioned, do- ing so may limit the location options, but the environmental and financial impact is palpable. How dAtA center operAtors cAn increAse sustAinABility So, what's the number-one thing that companies should do to increase their efficiency and sustainability? Ditch the "server room in my office building" model. It's impossible for a business to be as efficient as a proven provider of data center services. Data center providers have years of experi- ence in being as efficient as possible and delivering optimal data center and colocation services, whereas a given company largely focuses on simply running its business. Here are several "inside the data center" practices that enable providers to boost your efficiency: Containment: e importance of hot- and cold-aisle containment is well documented. Basically, you want to make sure the hot and cold aisles aren't mixing. Some contain the hot air, others only the cold air, and some that contain both. Regardless, contain- ment is a crucial piece of the efficiency puzzle. Active plenum returns aid in the containment process by using chimney cabinets, or other contain- ment methods, that move the hot air directly to a plenum without passing across the cold air of the data room. Here are some important containment points: • Blanking panels: Typically, cold air flows into the front of the rack, then the servers push the hot air out the back of the rack, creating a cold aisle in the front of the rack and a hot aisle in the back. Since the hot and cold aisles should never mix, it's important to install blanking panels, as • Perf tiles: Ensure that you've installed perf tiles with the correct flow percentage in your raised floor appropriate to the heat load of each rack or cabinet. Regularly check the seal of non-perf-tile area to avoid cold-air leakage. • High-density racks: Air cooling racks only works to a certain power density before becoming unreliable and wasteful. Rejecting heat via chilled water or in-row gas systems is an efficient means of cooling high-density racks with minimal waste. • Advanced cooling systems: If you employ high-performance-comput- ing (HPC) systems in your data cen- ter, you'll need some extra "oomph" behind your cooling mechanisms to sustain operation. Some advanced cooling systems have a rear-door heat exchanger that neutralizes heat before it ever leaves the cabinet, meaning you avoid having to blow air by directing the heat transfer directly to the chilled-water return. is approach eliminates the need for traditional cooling systems to operate on the HPC environment. ese types of systems continuously monitor atmospheric variables to adjust conditions in real time, increasing data center efficiencies by as much as 90%. Design discipline: No matter what your data center design looks like, you must employ procedures that allow it to be successful. ings as small as turning off the lights when they're unneeded and installing motion sen- sors so they shut off automatically can make a huge difference in your data center's energy efficiency. Once the procedures are in place, acting on them is imperative. take inventory of building and equipment: In line with the above, make sure you firmly grasp the condi- tion of all crucial components in your data center (both building and equipment-specific). If your building has an old roof, you could improve its efficiency by installing a new roof that uses the most advanced insulation and white solar-reflective properties. Similarly, if any of your equipment is nearing the end of its life cycle, be sure to have a plan to replace it with the most efficient alternatives, well before the equipment reaches end-of-life. True sustainability takes effort! But with the right information, your data center can become much greener. Try implementing the above practices and see the difference for yourself— and, more importantly, for your customers. n about the author: Jeff Burges is President at DataSite. References 1 "Here's How Much Energy All US Data Centers Consume," Yevgeny Sverdlik, Data Center Knowl- edge, June 2016 2 "DCD Webscale: data center energy demands may rise," DatacenterDynamics, June 2017 3 U.S. Energy Information Administration, New York Energy Profile 4 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Idaho