10 Factors That Define an Energy-Efficient Data Center

10 Factors That Define an Energy-Efficient Data Center
Published: Feb 13, 2008
Updated: Feb 2, 2021
2 minute read
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10 Factors That Define an Energy-Efficient Data Center


10 Factors That Define an Energy-Efficient Data Center – 1

A “green” data center is one in which the lighting/cooling, mechanical, electrical and computer systems are designed for maximum energy efficiency and minimum environmental impact.


10 Factors That Define an Energy-Efficient Data Center – 2

A green data center can run on 50 to 80 percent less power-


10 Factors That Define an Energy-Efficient Data Center – 3

An energy-efficient data center will power down its servers, lighting and cooling as often as possible when demand is low. Software is available to automate this task.


10 Factors That Define an Energy-Efficient Data Center – 4

Energy-efficient data centers use adjunct wind and solar power sources in correlation with main power sources.


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10 Factors That Define an Energy-Efficient Data Center – 5

The size of a green data center is as small as possible, to maximize cooling efficiency. Construction is near-airtight; gaps that can leak large amounts of cool air are plugged.


10 Factors That Define an Energy-Efficient Data Center – 6

Catalytic converters are installed on backup generators to reduce CO2 emissions; alternative energy technologies, such as photovoltaic electrical heat pumps and evaporative cooling, are used whenever possible.


10 Factors That Define an Energy-Efficient Data Center – 7

Water cooling of servers provides long-term benefits. Chilled, circulated water or other liquid can provide 10 times the cooling that air conditioning offers.


10 Factors That Define an Energy-Efficient Data Center – 8

Location is a major consideration for a green data center. The most efficient centers are located near abundant hydroelectric power-


10 Factors That Define an Energy-Efficient Data Center – 9

Power converters are newer, adjustable units such as those made by Emerson, APC and Eaton, which are much more efficient than older, conventional models. These components take outside AC power and convert it to DC power with a minimum loss of power through excess heat.


10 Factors That Define an Energy-Efficient Data Center – 10

An energy-efficient data center will have backup power generators (uninterrupted power supplies) that are tested at least monthly, will start immediately in an emergency, and will be able to carry the load for one to three days in the event of a prolonged outage. These generators should be powered by natural gas.

Chris Preimesberger

Chris J. Preimesberger is Editor Emeritus of eWEEK. In his 16 years and more than 5,000 articles at eWEEK, he distinguished himself in reporting and analysis of the business use of new-gen IT in a variety of sectors, including cloud computing, data center systems, storage, edge systems, security and others. In February 2017 and September 2018, Chris was named among the 250 most influential business journalists in the world (https://richtopia.com/inspirational-people/top-250-business-journalists/) by Richtopia, a UK research firm that used analytics to compile the ranking. He has won several national and regional awards for his work, including a 2011 Folio Award for a profile (https://www.eweek.com/cloud/marc-benioff-trend-seer-and-business-socialist/) of Salesforce founder/CEO Marc Benioff--the only time he has entered the competition. Previously, Chris was a founding editor of both IT Manager's Journal and DevX.com and was managing editor of Software Development magazine. He has been a stringer for the Associated Press since 1983 and resides in Silicon Valley.

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