Network Communications News (NCN) June 2016 | Page 20

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Green spaces
Hiren Parekh of OVH outlines five ways to put green IT into action.

E

nergy efficiency continues to be
a hot topic in the data centre
arena. The cloud is more in
demand than ever before and in
turn energy consumption is rising.
With power often being the
biggest drain on funds, efficiency
should be at the top of every data centre
business’s agenda.
While most data centre operators
would agree that sustainability is crucial,
the prospect of ‘going green’ can seem
daunting, expensive and complicated.
However, with the frequent emergence
of legislation calling companies to
become more responsible with energy
usage, this is a topic that cannot be
avoided and data centres must be
proactive in reducing wastage.
So, how can data centres go about
improving their energy efficiency?

Location, location, location
Research suggests that by 2020, US
electric energy consumption alone will
increase to 140 billion kilowatt-hours,
translating to around $13bn.
A large proportion of that energy is
attributed to running cooling systems.
One way of reducing this is to build new
data centres above the 45th parallel (the
halfway point between the equator and
the North Pole). This avoids areas with hot
summers, thereby reducing the need for
cooling. A temperate climate, even during
summer months, can offer cool air that
could cut 30 per cent of the heat of the
servers’ components such as hard drives.
When planning, make sure you
factor in time and resources to research
locations. It may not be as simple as
building a data centre at the North Pole.
Although it could reduce your cooling
bill dramatically, getting power to it may
be costly or impractical.

Knowledge is power
(literally)
How well do you know your data
centre? Now, this may seem like a silly
question, however, I often encounter
managers who are unable to get into
the nitty-gritty.

To improve efficiency you must
thoroughly assess where you currently
stand. Do you know your data centre
inside out? What is your current power
usage effectiveness? How much are you
spending on energy?
Do an inventory, a thorough sweep
of the equipment you have and measure
efficiency levels. Get rid of anything that
is no longer efficient.
It’s also important to be clued-up
on the industry as a whole. What are
competitors doing? What equipment
or method is becoming obsolete?
What new innovative developments
are in the pipeline? Having a
comprehensive understanding of the
industry and equipment is essential
before looking at the practicalities of
energy efficient initiatives.

The battle of the elements
Last year the world’s data centres
consumed around 416.2 terawatt hours
of electricity and cooling is often the
biggest portion of that. Many data
centres have ineffective air conditioning
units that are expensive to purchase, run
and maintain.
A technique we use is watercooling. Liquid cooling runs through
the data centre, over the servers,
to cool the processors. The liquid is
carried by heat exchangers positioned
on top of processors and other
components that emit a lot of heat.
This means the liquid, which has a
much higher heat transfer capacity
than air, can remove 70 per cent of
heat generated by servers.
By only using variable frequency fans
and water pumps, data centres can cut
electricity usage in half.

Powerful partnerships
Another and perhaps simpler way to
‘go green’ is through partnerships. Not
everyone has the capacity to harness a
source of renewable energy, but you can
team up with someone who does.
Our Montreal-based data centre
Beauharnois is located around 300 yards
from a hydroelectric dam so we are able

to cut costs by using renewable energy
generated there.
A recent Telegraph article revealed
there are over 300 operational wind
farms and thousands more wind
turbines under construction all over
the UK – offering a great opportunity
for data centre operators to access
sustainable energy.

DIY
For my last suggestion to improve
efficiency we need to look at the
hardware manufacturing stage.
Many providers use the ‘plug-andplay’ approach, buying ready-made
components from other companies to
avoid spending extra money and time
building their own.
The average life of a data centre is
between 10-15 years. However, during that
time, parts will be replaced, so why not
make sure they last as long as possible?
Look to source high quality
material and build hardware inhouse where possible. You can
design and build your own servers,
control all components and enhance
performance. When built with better
quality material, hardware can survive
more years of wear-and-tear, so it’s well
worth the investment.
Furthermore, when your hardware is
on its last legs, you can recycle many of
the parts! If you settle for the cheapest
option, re-using parts is difficult, and
this could prove costly over time. If
sustainability and efficiency are topping
your agenda, investment is unavoidable.
You may be reading this and thinking
‘we’ve already built our data centres!’
Don’t worry - all is not lost. Existing data
centres can be retrofitted and managers
are putting parameters in place to
ensure that future data centres make
both cost reduction and protecting the
planet priorities.
These are only a few of the many
options you can consider. Technology
is always evolving and new efficiency
initiatives are produced constantly. It’s
time to be proactive in your search, bold
with your intention and keep efficiency at
the forefront of your mind.

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