ISS Technology Update, Volume 7 Number 5 - Newsletter

ISS Technology Update Volume 7, Number 5
5
Figure 2-1. Behavioral changes
Businesses can take some immediate steps to reduce energy use:
• Low-power processors – The somewhat higher cost of low-power processors has discouraged some customers from requesting
them in their servers. However, customers who understand that the operating cost over the lifetime of a server is much higher
than its acquisition cost tend to use low-power processors to improve overall return on investment.
• Energy-efficient power supplies – Recently, there has been dramatic improvement in power supply efficiency. Only 3 years
ago, power supply efficiency was between 65 to 75 percent efficient, depending on the load. Today, HP power supplies can
be more than 90% efficient at 50 percent load.
• Power distribution racks – A power distribution rack is a rack-mounted breaker panel that does not use a transformer to step
down the voltage—it’s 208VAC in and 208VAC out. In contrast, transformer-based power distribution devices that step
down the voltage from 480VAC to 208VAC have energy losses. Changing to non-transformer-based power distribution can
reduce energy losses around 5 to 7 percent.
More importantly, businesses need to understand the HP holistic strategy. This strategy goes beyond the technologies inside
server or storage platforms. It involves factors that are centric to the room, for example, the air. First, air is a fluid, which means
that we can characterize its behavior in the room using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling. Then, CFD enables us to
find ways to control the air to get the most cooling from it. By controlling the air, businesses can begin to adopt next-generation,
high-density platforms to get more equipment in the room. This may not reduce energy use; however, it can reduce the rate of
increase in energy use as customers adopt new platforms.
In summary, if businesses holistically change their operating behaviors to reduce energy use—or reduce the rate of increase in
energy use—they can extend the life of their facilities. These behaviors include virtualization, consolidation, and automation.
Factoring in the lead time and cost required to build a new data center, businesses can save millions of dollars for every year
they extend the life of their existing facility.