For most businesses, the simplest methods for eliminating a problem often go unnoticed. With emerging technologies taxing IT infrastructures and deployment, older technologies are often not taken into account when pursuing a solution. Power consumption can fall into this category as a simple, yet overlooked area of improvement.
The fact is, "energy conservation" has become an industry phrase and there are some very simple, easy-to-implement strategies that can result in instant savings for any business. None of these methods relies on any new technology introductions. Here are five simple strategies for reducing power consumption in the data center.
1. Hot aisle/Cold aisle If your computer equipment in the data center is not properly configured in a hot aisle/cold aisle layout, it should be. This layout of the machinery promotes proper flow of hot and cold air resulting in less work required by the HVAC cooling system and the computer equipment. In virtually all layouts, server racks are set up facing each other in pairs, with the back of one server facing the back of another server in the next pair of server racks in the data center. Data center computer equipment is constructed to bring in cool air at the front of the machine and expel the heated air out the back of the machine. Setting up the racks facing each other in pairs promotes the flow of cooler air at the front of both server racks and the flow of warmer air between the rear of two server racks, resulting in alternating "cold" aisles and "hot" aisles. Note: All data centers use similar principles in rack layout, yet some vary in degrees of exactly where computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units are located. To maximize the flow of heated air to HVAC return ducts, the servers should be placed at 90-degree angles to the CRAC units. Placing the machinery in this manner allows the warmer air to flow unobstructed to the return ducts. Be sure to not force warm air from the hot aisle to travel over cold aisles, as this will result in heating the cold aisles. Also, note there is technology available to simulate airflow into and out of data centers that can be used prior to actually installing your equipment. The hot aisle/cold aisle layout takes advantage of the properties of the cooler and warmer air to reduce work required by other mechanisms that rely on power consumption to get the job done. Any time warm and cold air is allowed to intermingle, more work is required by power-consuming CRAC units and internal computer cooling mechanisms. Computer equipment not designed to take in cool air from the front and expel it at the rear should be placed away from racks that do promote the airflow inherent in a hot aisle/cold aisle layout. These noncompliant devices should be set up in a way that directs warm air exhaust toward a hot aisle, or they should be placed in cabinets capable of redirecting top or side-ventilated exhaust to the rear of the rack.