| IT departments are under increasing | | | | 3. Design a best practice floor plan |
| scrutiny and pressure to deliver | | | | Adopting an alternating hot aisle/cold |
| environmentally-sound solutions. Large | | | | aisle layout is optimal and can correct |
| data centres are one of the most | | | | many cooling problems in a typical data |
| significant energy consumers in an | | | | centre. By implementing a hot/cold aisle |
| organisation's IT infrastructure, so any | | | | layout, equipment is spared from having |
| measures that you can take to reduce | | | | hot air recirculated and thereby |
| this consumption (and therefore also | | | | eliminating risk of an outage through |
| carbon dioxide emissions) will have a | | | | device failure. Also, by having a |
| positive impact on your organisation's | | | | common hot aisle, you have the ability |
| environmental footprint. | | | | to contain areas where heat density is |
| The construction and operation of a | | | | high, such as racks with blade servers, |
| green data centre involve advanced | | | | and deal with the heat in a specific |
| technologies and strategies, for example | | | | manner. This allows for multiple heat |
| - Reducing the power consumption of the | | | | rejection methods to be in use within |
| data centre | | | | one data centre. |
| - Minimising the footprints of the | | | | 4. Use appropriate technology |
| buildings | | | | In taking a green approach to your data |
| - Maximising cooling efficiency | | | | centre, your evaluation of products is |
| - Using low-emission building materials, | | | | no longer just a price versus |
| carpets and paints | | | | performance comparison. It is important |
| - Installing catalytic converters on | | | | to incorporate the total costs of the |
| backup generators | | | | environment into the calculation, which |
| - Using alternative energy technologies | | | | then also includes costs for energy |
| such as photovoltaic electrical heat | | | | consumption. |
| pumps and evaporative cooling | | | | 5. Take a green perspective on ILM |
| The consumption of energy is considered | | | | Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) |
| the dominant - and often the only - | | | | is the optimum allocation of storage |
| factor in defining whether or not a | | | | resources that support a business. Every |
| facility is green. IT executives | | | | element of information in an |
| therefore need to start investigating | | | | organisation has a useful lifespan, and |
| alternative ways of building | | | | this can range from a voice conversation |
| energy-efficient data centres. | | | | to certain legal and medical records. By |
| By following these seven simple steps, | | | | implementing an ILM strategy, you have |
| IT executives can come closer to | | | | the ability to create greater |
| achieving their vision of a green data | | | | efficiencies in data storage, which in |
| centre: | | | | turn lead to greater efficiencies in |
| Seven Simple Steps | | | | elements such as power consumption. |
| 1. Think green | | | | 6. Investigate liquid cooling |
| Environmental concerns are front of mind | | | | To meet the challenges of blade servers |
| throughout society today, and you can | | | | and high-density computing, more |
| also take a 'green' attitude towards | | | | organisations are realising the need for |
| your data centre, both in terms of | | | | effective cooling and heat management |
| current state and also future planning. | | | | solutions. Many are welcoming liquid |
| Also, many data centre vendors and | | | | cooling systems into their |
| service providers are providing green | | | | infrastructures to achieve better |
| alternatives - factor these options in | | | | cooling efficiency, while others may |
| when negotiating new contracts and | | | | find it difficult to fathom pipes of |
| planning upgrades. | | | | running water snaking through the |
| Incorporate the green vision in your | | | | plenums of their data centres. |
| planning - your future will be impacted | | | | 7. Utilize greener energy sources |
| by legislation, standards and market | | | | Many energy utilities are now offering |
| demands in this area. | | | | greener options for customers, with |
| 2. Virtualise and consolidate | | | | power from sustainable sources. For |
| A virtualisation and consolidation | | | | example, in the United States, the U.S. |
| project is often a step in the right | | | | Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) |
| direction towards green computing. | | | | has formed the Green Power Partnership, |
| Research indicates that a server often | | | | which encourages and assists |
| only utilises between 5 and 15% of its | | | | organizations to buy green power and |
| capacity to service one application. | | | | reduce their impact on the environment. |
| With appropriate analysis and | | | | Major economies in Asia have accepted |
| consolidation, many of these low | | | | the Kyoto Protocol to control carbon |
| utilisation devices can be combined into | | | | emission however only Japan has |
| a single physical server, consuming only | | | | committed to a reduction by 2012. The |
| a fraction of the power of the original | | | | awareness on social responsibility and |
| devices and saving on costs, as well as | | | | opportunity to save operational cost has |
| taking a step towards a more | | | | raised the bar on awareness and |
| environmentally-friendly data centre | | | | willingness to adopt a more green |
| environment. | | | | approach towards utilities. |