Four Guidelines for the Green Data Center of 2015 - by Doug Mohney

Views and Opinions on Green IT (Dec 2 2010)

1. 

   Trying to imagine what the green data center of 2015 will look like is hard in some respects, easy in others.   The very term "green" has been misused to mean just about whatever the marketing people want it to be.  In addition, one size of data center will not fit all;  Google/Microsoft/Facebook mega-centers are a far different breed than the lean-and-mean facilities which will be built in Africa over the next five years to support call centers and mobile services.

   All that said, I think there are five guidelines any IT planner can follow in looking at a green data center-- and should, if he wants to be green rather than greenwash.  The rewards for thinking green should translate to more green (dollars) and less black (carbon and pollution), since efficiently managing resources is as much a CAPEX and OPEX game as it is to improve the quality of life.

   1) The best green data center is the data center never built

   Building a new facility should be the last resort of all companies, not the first one.  Businesses and federal and local governments realize they have too much real estate and too many server firms, so consolidation is the watch word to consolidate operations and eliminate hardware.   Less hardware means less energy and fewer service contracts, so there's not only cost savings but management savings too.

   2) If you need new capacity, the best green data center is the data center never built

   If feasible, outsourcing to the "cloud" -- whatever that means today -- makes a lot of sense.  It's quicker and for small projects, it's as simple as a credit card and as fast as 5 minutes on a portal to get a virtual or dedicated server turned up -- so not only are you gaining "green" creds by not buying hardware, implementation is faster.  Many organizations will find this a non-starter due to security and regulatory issues, but don't be deterred at the first sign of trouble -- larger enterprises are moving to cloud-based solutions for e-commerce because of cyclical demand (think Cyber Monday holiday shopping).

   3) Renovate/remediate before breaking ground on new facilities

   Existing space can be reworked with a variety of techniques, ranging from simple hot/cold aisles and curtains to introducing real-time power monitoring and putting in a more efficient HVAC plant. It's tempting to start from a clean sheet of paper, but you can baseline existing data center space for power and water consumption and add improvements on an incremental basis -- the approach also allows you to hold vendors accountable for savings claims in a "before/after" fashion.

   4) After optimizing power consumption, optimize power

   If Kohl's Department Stores -- and we're talking a "value-oriented" chain, not high-end designer -- can manage to buy 100 percent green power, you should be red-faced if you call your business "green" and aren't either buying credits or generating your own carbon-free electricity for a good part of your load.   If you have large tracts of flat bland space -- such as your roof or parking lot -- take a look at a leasing deal for solar panels.   And if you can get cheap natural gas, you may want to look at getting onto the waiting list for a Bloom Energy Server;  it won't make you carbon-free, but it will reduce the amount of CO2 as compared to conventional power plant usage.

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