TOP 12 WAYS
TO DECREASE THE ENERGY
ENERGY STAR CONSUMPTION OF YOUR DATA CENTER
Server and data center energy consumption is projected to nearly double from 2006 to 2011 nationally,
contributing to electricity costs in excess of $7.4 billion. U.S. EPA encourages you to improve your data
center's energy efficiency and help your organization limit its energy consumption growth while also
contributing to a cleaner environment.
UPGRADE AND CONSOLIDATE YOUR TECHNOLOGY
1.	Virtualize your servers—
By consolidating multiple,
independent servers to a single
physical server, those servers
can operate more efficiently
and reduce energy costs by
10% to 40%.
2.	Decommission your comatose
servers—15% to 30% of the
equipment running in your data
center consumes electricity
without doing any computing.
3.	Consolidate your lightly used
servers- Atypical server's
utilization is about 5% to 15%,
yet it draws full power.
Oracls
Application Servers Email
4. Organize and improve your stored data- Storage utilization
averages oniy around 30%. It is common for organizations to have
20 or more copies of the same data—wasting storage space.
5 Invest in technologies that use energy more efficiently—An
ENERGY STAR qualified server uses 30% iess energy than a
conventional server.

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GO WITH THE FLOW - MANAGE DATA CENTER AIR FLOW
6. Take advantage of the
"Hot Aisle/Cold Aisle"
layout- If your server
racks are currently
arranged this way...
64F°/10C°
Rack
Row 1
—

—

—

	
V)

3
—
CO
f~*
—
X
05
—


O
	
co

CO
	

	

73F0/ 23 C°
Rack
Row 2
82F0/ 28 C°
Rack
Row 3
Rack
Row 4
"CRAC" stands for computer room air conditioner
7. Contain or enclose your server
racks—To further reduce mixing the
cold supply air with the hot exhaust
air (e.g., using flexible strip curtains
or rigid enclosures).
...Try arranging them so that the
fronts of the server racks face each
other and, therefore, the backs of the
server racks face each other. This
arrangement reduces mixing of hot
and cold airto improve efficiency.

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GO WITH THE FLOW - MANAGE DATA CENTER AIR FLOW
8. Review general airflow
improvement tips—Install
blanking panels to decrease
server inlet air temperatures
and increase the
temperature of air returning
to the CRAC, both of
which improve operational
efficiency.
90°F |32"C(
80°F (27°Q
95°F (Mt!
83°F (28"c)
72°F I22°ci —JV.
70°F
Server Inlet Temp
c\t\e
—~
79°F (26°C)
—~
73°F (23*q
—>
73°F (23°c)


—~
73°F (23°c)
—~
72°F (22°c)

70°F ..u«c)

Server Inlet Temp






	Pt (\0	





Blanking Panal
4^
















Unstructured and Structured
Use structured cabling to
avoid restricting air flow to
your servers.
install grommets to seal areas where cables
enter and exit plenums (such as a raised floor).
Less leakage helps direct more cold airto the
equipment that needs cooling.
A professional air flow assessment can help identify ways to improve cooling efficiency.
IPhoto courtesy of 42U.com!

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ADJUST AND IMPROVE YOUR HVAC SYSTEM
9.	Adjust the temperature and humidity in your data center- In 2008, the
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers
(ASHRAE) established new recommended temperature and humidity ranges
at the inlet of the server. However, many data centers set their temperatures
as low as 55°F (when the recommended range is 65°F to 80°F) and keep very
tight controls on humidity. Data centers can save 4% to 5% in energy costs for
every 1°F increase in server inlet temperature.
10.	Retrofit your air conditioning with variable speed fan drives- Retrofit kits for your CRACs have a
two year payback by being able to adjust fan speed to accommodate changing cooling loads in your
data center.
11.	Install an air-side economizer- Bring outside
cooling air into a building. Because data centers
must be cooled 24/7,365 days per year, air-
side economizers may even make sense in hot
climates, where they can take advantage of
cooler evenings and winter air temperatures to
save 60% on cooling.
12.	Install a water-side economizer- Use the
evaporative cooling capacity of a cooling tower to
produce chilled water during the winter months. During water-side economizer operation, costs of a chilled
water plant are reduced by up to 70%.
8(
6C

Airflow	Information flow
Outdoor
temperature
sensor 	
Heating coil
Cooling coil
Return-air
damper
Linkage
Assess the Energy Efficiency of Your Data Center
Measuring and tracking the energy consumption of your data center is an important means for effective manage-
ment. ENERGY STAR's free Portfolio Manager Tool, www.energystar.gov/benchmark, enables you to assess your
energy performance relative to your peers using a 1-100 scoring system, as well as track changes in use over time.
Please visit http://www.energystar.gov/datacenterenergyefficiencyfor more details.
ENERGY STAR® is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program helping
businesses and individuals fight climate change through superior energy efficiency.

ENERGYSTAR

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