Template:FAQ on data centres

From Lauraibm

Full article: An FAQ about green data centres (3-Sep-07)

As the cost of electricity continues to increase it becomes more important to care about having a “green” data centre. The most important step is to find a way to measure the efficiency in your facility, this can be achieved through an analysis; by knowing which areas are inefficient these can be addressed to try and help reduce power consumption, thus reducing the cost of energy.

It is also useful to increase the efficiency of IT equipment within the data centre, the biggest savings in this area come from server consolidation using virtualisation technology.

The largest potential savings with regards to cooling and mechanical systems within the data centre come from airflow optimisation. Airflow blockages have been found to cause substantial losses in the data centre, this problem can be addressed by utilising initiatives such as hot aisle/cold aisle designs, and variable speed fans.

Combined these initiatives outline some of the main areas that can help in saving energy in the data centre.