Thinking about physical data centres makes one remember the long line of servers arranged in rows and columns in a ventilated room. Although most organizations have gone up to the clouds for data storage, the importance of physical server rooms in the office is still unavoidable. It something like a necessary evil. You want and not want it at the same time. You need it to store data, but the electricity and maintenance bill it gives the company makes the leaders pull some hairs in frustration.
It is because of this unprecedented pause; many organizations think about the sustainable solutions. Going green is definitely one of them. But going green with data centre is also not that easy. It involves multiple considerations by itself.
Pressure To Go Green
In 2020, data centres alone consumed some 200-250 TWh of electricity, accounting to about one percent of global electricity. Over the last decade, the internet traffic has gone up by 30 percent and will reach more than 50 percent in the next decade. Why? Increase in e-commerce, gaming, streaming services, shift to online work culture, and many other reasons.
The amount of carbon footprint from all the increase is not small, when considering the global scale. Turning the data centre go green is a job that needs due considerations. But worry not, for we have some for you. There are a couple of points that you can note to make your data centre sustainable. They are:
- Consolidate servers
- Upgrade servers
- Monitor power usage
- Air management
- Optimal environment
Let’s learn more.
Consolidate Servers
Optimal usage of the available servers can help you reduce the number of servers working online and offline. You can determine which servers should work and which should not. Certain software requires complete set of servers while some only require partial storage spaces. You can shift the usages to partial servers and think of emptying some and turning them off if not in use.
Server Upgrades
As technology advances, the server quality will also upgrade. Replace any or all existential servers that can work with minimum electricity and low maintenance. If the hardware is energy efficient, then it can reduce a huge chunk from the maintenance bills. It can also remove the inefficiencies related to the AC/DC conversions.
Power Usage
Power usage of the servers can depend on the functions the servers are set to do. Continuously monitor the power usage of the servers to understand what level of power the equipment uses and try to standardize it. Optimizing the power usage can reduce the consumption greatly.
Air Management
Hardware like servers tend to heat up a lot when working in full mode continuously. It not only increases the room temperatures, but also can lead to fire and wear and tears. Air management should be a primary concern to all organizations with servers. Optimal air flow to the devices can increase the hardware sustainability. Also, find sources of natural cooling to reduce some burden to the air conditioning systems in the room if possible.
Environment
The environment of the server room can also affect the performance of the hardware. If possible, locate the servers in a place with natural cool temperature, good airflow, low humidity, and a light source. Underground rooms, for example, is a good location to place the servers if you can manage to provide good, energy-efficient airflow systems.
What’s Ahead
Making the data centres sustainable has many advantages, including:
- Saves energy
- Saves expenses
- Waste reduction
- Efficient hardware utilization
- Sustainable IT practice
- Positive impact on the environment
Many emerging trends in the new decade is related to data centre sustainability. Advanced technologies like AI, machine learning, and RPA can help organizations to optimize the usage of servers automatically. You can always look around and make your organization energy efficient.
