energy costs

Cost of operating data centers rises

Judi Hasson — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:21:43 -0400

The energy costs of operating data centers are high, and on the rise. IDC forecasts that IT spending required just to cool and power spinning disk drives will reach $1.8 billion by the end of this year, and over $2 billion in 2009. IDC also estimated that more than 49 million hard disk drives in external storage arrays were in use by businesses around the world last year, with corporate customers boosting storage capacity by an aggregate rate of 50 percent a year. One solution to this vexing problem may be NAND flash-based solid-state storage that offers a power-saving substitute over physical spinning drives. Hewlett-Packard Co., Sun Microsystems Inc. and EMC Corp. all have plans to add solid-state across their server portfolios.

For more on this new option:
- check out this Computerworld.com article

Fujitsu develops "zero watt" display

Mehan Jayasuriya — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:08:16 -0400

The larger the organization, the more employees. The more employees, the more PCs. And the more PCs, the higher the energy costs. There's no denying that desktop PCs are power hungry beasts, though it's quite often the display, rather than the PC itself, that wastes the most energy in standby mode. Looking to tackle this problem, Fujitsu has developed an LCD display that uses no energy when in standby mode. How does it work? Simply enough, the display contains a switch that completely shuts it off when a signal from the PC's video card is absent. Then, when a signal is detected, it turns the display back on. Best of all, the display goes on sale this summer, "for the price of a conventional monitor."

For more on the "zero-watt" display:
- see this Treehugger article

Are you green enough yet?

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:59:56 -0400

Pressure is growing for IT executives to figure out how to save energy. It's not just about the philosophy of going 'green,' it's about a growing mandate among more and more companies to save money. A panel at ComputerWorld's Storage Networking World Conference said that energy costs and the importance of consolidating IT infrastructure will force business managers to figure out how much power every device in their data center consumes.

Andrew Fanara, team leader for the Energy Star Product Specifications Development Group at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told the conference, "Organizations and customers are now starting to pay real attention. There will be more pressure and scrutiny to drive products toward efficiency. They are looking at every way they use energy and see the data center as a great opportunity because it's highly centralized and can help reduce risk."

Is your IT shop green enough? What have you been doing to save money and turn energy excesses into efficiencies?

For more on going 'green':
- See this ComputerWorld article

Take the Leed in green

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 06:59:57 -0500

Digital Realty, which manages technology-related worldwide, announced that it's the first company to receive LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification for a datacenter facility. It was an amazing accomplishment since the Chicago-based facility was originally constructed in 1917 as a printing plant. Where are CIOs on this subject? It is an issue that is becoming a major one as energy costs soar and global warming grows. "This project shatters the myth that LEED certification can only be achieved within newer facilities," says Jim Smith, vice president of engineering at Digital Realty. It's one more issue that a CIO must know and work toward achieving. The facility features 20,000 square feet of raised-floor space with 4,000 kW of available IT load. It also includes tools for measuring energy consumption. It is one way to cut a CIO's IT costs, and it's an issue that is here to stay.

For more on this environmental issue:
- read the article from InfoWorld

Green catching on in the IT department

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 06:59:59 -0400

It might not be easy being green… but IT departments appear to be giving it the old college try. Attendees at this week's Computerworld Infrastructure Management World (IMW) conference indicate that the trend may be as much about good business as it is about good citizenship. Energy costs require IT to take a good, hard look at green technologies, says Jed Scaramella, an analyst with IDC. Ten years ago, 17 cents out of every dollar spent on a new server went to power and cooling. Today, that's up to 48 cents, and if things don't change, that number will eventually grow to 78 cents.

Even big players in corporate America are pursuing green strategies. Home mortgage giant, Fannie Mae, built the first data center in the U.S. to be certified by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). According to Brian Cobb, senior vice president for enterprise systems management and IT at Fannie Mae, the Urbana, Maryland data center recycles water, accommodates bicycles and electric vehicles, and has an air-quality system that removes harmful chemicals. Separately, Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, is planning to invest $10 million to speed up the production of plug-in hybrid vehicles.

For all the details on green computing:
- read the article in ComputerWorld

To learn more about green tech in the enterprise:
- check out the green section at DailyTechRag

How green is your data center?

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 20:01:38 -0400

If altruism doesn't motivate you, surging power demands might convince you that it's time to make your data center a green one. Green data centers don't just save energy, they also reduce the need for expensive infrastructure upgrades to deal with increased power and cooling demands. To start reducing power consumption in existing data centers without making a huge investment, start by consolidating servers. Companies can save up to $1,200 in energy costs for each physical server decommissioned each year. The next step is moving as many server-based applications as is feasible into virtual machines. That allows IT to substantially reduce the number of physical servers required while increasing the utilization levels of remaining servers. Most physical servers today run at about 10 to 15 percent utilization. Since an idle server can consume as much as 30 percent of the energy it requires at peak utilization, you get more bang for your energy dollar by increasing utilization levels. Also, use power management tools, which can further increase savings. And consider upgrading to energy-efficient servers, which use much less power and offer greater performance. Other suggestions include going with high-efficiency power supplies, making IT organizations accountable for energy efficiency and following standards for power consumption and energy efficiency.

Learn more about the greening of the data center:
- read the article at ComputerWorld

ALSO:
- read this on going green in the data center
- and this on the importance of green technology

Going Green in the Data Center

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 20:01:39 -0400

Between growing demand for hybrid vehicles and the barrage of bad news about global warming, it should come as no surprise that saving energy is shaping up to be an imperative that CIOs cannot ignore either. These days, shareholders and board members are putting pressure on their companies to go green. Many CIOs are looking at data centers as potential areas where energy costs can be shaved to boost the bottom line, in order to comply with greener mandates. Analysts at IDC estimate that companies spent $26.1 billion to power and cool servers worldwide in 2005. In fact, data centers account for between 1.5 and 3 percent of all electricity consumed in the United States.

For more on going green in the data center:
- see this article in DailyTechRag

To learn how the CIO of VistaPrint is cutting hosting costs:
- see this article in CIO Magazine

Virtualization can save big bucks

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:01:36 -0500

Virtualization might be the buzzword du jour, but cut through the hype: when used properly, it can save your company plenty. Virtualization of servers and storage can make your entire company more efficient by consolidating IT assets and data centers. And by consolidating data centers, you're cutting energy costs. Virtualization also saves on storage costs by increasing utilization rates.

Read more about the benefits of virtualization:
- read the article at CIO Insight

ALSO:
- read this on the benefits of virtualization
- and this on virtualization requiring due diligence

Containing increasing utility costs

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 20:01:35 -0400

Given rising operational costs, electricity and power consumption aren't small budget items. It's time to get a grip on this issue, say experts, as the power usage and related costs are jumping each year. According to an association for data center professionals, Afcom, data center power requirements are spiking an average of 8 percent per year. By taking a good hard look at server room setups and hardware configurations, however, IT leaders can lower energy costs while keeping everything at full power. A good first project is to review the computing equipment and consider investing in more efficient hardware. Then it's time to make sure the server uptime is providing as much value as possible.

For more on efficient IT utility operations:
- read this article at CIO