TrendPoint Announces Four Steps Toward Green Data Centers
The company is rolling out a four-point plan to reduce overall data center energy use and environmental impact through managing heating and cooling costs as well as other green IT steps; Trendpoint suggests that taking only one of the four steps could save up to 30 percent of energy usage.
In 2010, the Western Climate Initiative will take effect, establishing a cap for greenhouse gas emissions and allowing companies and regions that reduce their emissions below a target level to realize some financial benefit from trading their unused allotments.
According to TrendPoint, a San Ramon, Calif.-based data center management firm, companies that follow a four point plan to reduce their facilities' energy usage could get out in front of WCI regulations as well as other areas of the world that currently have or are considering implementing climate laws.
TrendPoint estimates that simply implementing one of its four steps, managing costs associated with cooling the data center, could result in savings of 30 percent or more.
Overall, the four-point plan is designed to help companies easily and effectively monitor and manage energy use in data centers, develop energy budgets to reach energy-reduction goals, and comply with legislation proposed to curb GHG emissions.
The last point especially is a new twist on data center energy-efficiency pitches developed by IBM, AT&T, Accenture, Microsoft and almost every other major IT player: the economic and reputational benefits of moving toward compliance with climate legislation proposed for U.S. and Canadian companies.
The four points of TrendPoints plan are:
Set an energy budget. Companies that look at their energy use holistically and by departments, facilities and users are better able to respond to and adjust usage to meet those budgets; as the adage goes, what gets measured get managed, and setting targets for energy efficiency can translate an otherwise hazy concept into a tried-and-true business formula.
Virtualize servers. Rather than using larger numbers of older and less-optimized servers (which are generally less energy efficient than newer machines), by virtualizing their data centers companies can achieve instant energy and cooling savings by running a smaller number of physical servers in a virtual environment.
Equalize heat and cooling balance. Because many data center managers are over-cooling their facilities, TrendPoint suggests that huge reductions can occur by focusing cooling needs on individual racks or even servers rather than measuring the temperature of the data center as a whole.
Manage to the metrics. Similar to developing an overall energy budget, by developing relevant and efficient metrics for how a data center should perform, IT managers can tune their facilities to meet those needs, and achieve a greener IT platform by maximizing efficiency along the lines of the Green Grid's Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) metric, as well as other performance standards.
More details about TrendPoint's four-point plan for green IT is available online at TrendPoint.com.
According to TrendPoint, a San Ramon, Calif.-based data center management firm, companies that follow a four point plan to reduce their facilities' energy usage could get out in front of WCI regulations as well as other areas of the world that currently have or are considering implementing climate laws.
TrendPoint estimates that simply implementing one of its four steps, managing costs associated with cooling the data center, could result in savings of 30 percent or more.
Overall, the four-point plan is designed to help companies easily and effectively monitor and manage energy use in data centers, develop energy budgets to reach energy-reduction goals, and comply with legislation proposed to curb GHG emissions.
The last point especially is a new twist on data center energy-efficiency pitches developed by IBM, AT&T, Accenture, Microsoft and almost every other major IT player: the economic and reputational benefits of moving toward compliance with climate legislation proposed for U.S. and Canadian companies.
The four points of TrendPoints plan are:
Set an energy budget. Companies that look at their energy use holistically and by departments, facilities and users are better able to respond to and adjust usage to meet those budgets; as the adage goes, what gets measured get managed, and setting targets for energy efficiency can translate an otherwise hazy concept into a tried-and-true business formula.
Virtualize servers. Rather than using larger numbers of older and less-optimized servers (which are generally less energy efficient than newer machines), by virtualizing their data centers companies can achieve instant energy and cooling savings by running a smaller number of physical servers in a virtual environment.
Equalize heat and cooling balance. Because many data center managers are over-cooling their facilities, TrendPoint suggests that huge reductions can occur by focusing cooling needs on individual racks or even servers rather than measuring the temperature of the data center as a whole.
Manage to the metrics. Similar to developing an overall energy budget, by developing relevant and efficient metrics for how a data center should perform, IT managers can tune their facilities to meet those needs, and achieve a greener IT platform by maximizing efficiency along the lines of the Green Grid's Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) metric, as well as other performance standards.
More details about TrendPoint's four-point plan for green IT is available online at TrendPoint.com.
