Your Data Center’s Operations

There is an increasing need to improve Data center operations because of the significant impact on power consumption and efficiency. While most locations operate based on strategic company-wide initiatives, there are always new ways to modernize and update procedures. There have been many tips and best practices over the years to help with energy-efficient practice, and we have developed a short list of things to consider as you look into more efficient data center operations:

3 Ways to Improve Energy Efficiency

1. Virtualize
One easy way to be more efficient is to run multiple virtual machines in a server, better utilizing available capacity. Data center traffic is expected to quadruple to 6.6 zettabytes by 2016, which is enough to supply 2.5 hours of HD video to everyone on Earth every day, according to Fedtech Magazine. By virtualizing 100 servers, the amount of energy data centers can save will be equivalent to taking 89 cars off the street. Virtualization can also replace old technology with faster hardware to improve efficiency with better capabilities.

2. Utilize Hot and Cold
Strategizing the layout of your data center is also integral to the facility’s sustainability. Using hot and cold aisle containment concepts, the data center can better optimize server performance and realize cost savings. Keeping cold aisles separate from the hot discharge at the back of each rack will direct a path for air conditioning units to provide support, according to facilitiesnet. This way, locations can use less energy to keep servers under ideal conditions.

3. Avoid Underutilized Space
Many servers have excess space that is chronically underutilized. This means that the machines are taking up space and using too much power to truly be of use in its current state.

Consolidating the machines can not only help data centers get more return on investment for the hardware, but it will also cut some of the energy costs. Better utilization will also free up more floor space for IT to handle hardware more efficiently, further improving overall data center operations.

“Limited or no insight as to where and how storage is being used, not knowing where orphaned or unallocated storage is stranded, and buying storage based on low cost per capacity also contribute to low storage space capacity utilization,” according to IT consultant Greg Schulz.

Data centers, by nature of what they are expected to do, use a lot of energy. With more global efficiency initiatives beginning, data centers may have to strategize new ways to better utilize their space and hardware. With virtualization, modern cooling techniques and better using the space, data centers can see significant energy savings and work toward providing more efficient solutions.