Data Center Energy Efficiency Opportunities What Managers Should Know

February 2015

Mike Walker President, AlterAction Inc.

(An ENERGY STAR Technical Support Contractor)

Who are we?

• Work on behalf of EPA’s ENERGY STAR program as “technical support contractors”

• 3 core areas of expertise: – Large scale “human behavior change” – IT management & consulting – Energy efficiency, sustainability

• Vendor/product/solution neutral • Our services are free -- we get paid by EPA

State Electronics Challenge

• Promotes lifecycle stewardship of computers & imaging equipment — Buying green — Operating efficiently

• Power management • Extending product life • Reducing paper usage

— Managing responsibly • Maximizing reuse & using certified recyclers

SEC Best Practices Use

• Establish & promote policy/directive for power management & paper use reduction

• Ensure ENERGY STAR “sleep” function enabled on all computers & monitors – Power down features imaging equipment

• Extend life of equipment

• Ensure double-sided printing features used on 75% of printers, copiers, & multifunction devices

We are here today because data centers...

1. Consume a lot of energy – Energy consumption grew:

• 200% from 2000-5 • 36% from 2006-10

– 2% of electricity in US 2. Can be made far more

efficient – Efficient data centers can

use up to 80% less power

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Server rooms/closets in commercial buildings

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Typical office building:

23% of annual energy costs

High efficiency office building:

40-50% of annual energy costs

Major opportunity!

Savings remain untapped…

Split incentives Risk aversion Some solutions require new

expertise

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But YOU can overcome this, with a little help

Presentation Goals

1. Identify drivers of energy costs 2. Provide non-technical overview of measures 3. Empower managers to spot opportunities 4. Next steps & helpful (free!) resources

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Server rack vs. barbecue grill

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• Industrial Light & Magic deployed 84 blade servers/rack. Just 1 rack… – Uses 28 kW – Requires 8 tons of cooling per rack – Heat equivalent to 4 Weber Spirit gas grills

vs.

280 burgers/hour!

Where does all the energy go?

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Source: “Best Practices Guide for Energy-Efficient Data Center Design”, DOE, revised March 2011, prepared by Rumsey Engineering

PUE = 2.6 PUE = 1.6

Data center energy savings: 3 areas of opportunity

1. IT equipment 2. Airflow management 3. HVAC adjustments

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The “cascade” effect

12 Source: The Green Grid, Emerson

1 W saved at the processor saves ~ 2.84 W total

Eliminating unused servers & systems

• Opportunity: – 8-10% of servers performing no

useful function

• Why? – Good at provisioning, not so much

at decommissioning

• Solution? – Take inventory – Identify, remove comatose servers

• Eliminating one server can save $2500/year in energy, software licensing, & maintenance costs

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“Bring out your dead!”

Consolidating lightly utilized servers

• Due to traditional one workload, one box approach – More than 90% of all x86 servers run at <12% utilization – Typical server runs at < 6% utilization

• Four smarter approaches: – Combine apps onto a single server/operating system instance – Reduce redundancy by clustering servers – Downsize application portfolio – Virtualize servers

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What is a “virtual machine?”

• Software that simulates server hardware & OS

• Allows for multiple concurrent OS instances on a single “box”

• Improves scalability, reduces downtime, and enables faster deployments

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Virtualization, cont.

• Cuts energy consumption by 10-40%

• Ubiquitous: – 92% of large data

centers – 37% of small data

centers

• BUT…not all systems are good candidates

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Virtualization reduces total cost of ownership

• SWIC had 35 physical servers

• Virtualization effort led to 35 virtual machines on 4 virtual hosts (physical servers)

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Right-size new servers

• Are you fully utilizing what’s already deployed? • Avoid “oversizing”

– Don’t buy a tour bus when the workload calls for golf cart

• Avoid the one-spec procurement trap

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Data storage – more efficient technology

• Lower speed disk drives, smaller drive platters

• Massive array of idle disks (MAID) – Only those disk drives in active use are

spinning at any given time • Solid state storage (SSDs)

– No mechanical parts – Startup (OS) disks are good candidates

• Tape

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MAID

Right-size new storage hardware!

Data Storage Resource Management (SRM) tools

• Deduplication removes duplicate files • Automated provisioning improves storage utilization • Thin provisioning provides just-enough, just-in-time storage • Tiered Storage matches storage technology to access

requirements

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What is a Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) system?

• Provides power until emergency generators come on line

• Corrects for power surges, voltage drops, and frequency distortions

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Exelon: UPS Change Improves Efficiency & Redundancy

• Increasing “load factor” boosts efficiency

• Example: Exelon – Before: two 1000 kVA

UPSs in parallel run at low load

– After: four smaller (750 kVA) UPSs run at higher load

– Protection from component AND system failure (increased redundancy)

ENERGY STAR certified data center products

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Large network equipment

Storage

Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS)

Servers

New ES servers can consume 54% less power

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ENERGY STAR qualified servers

• Eligible servers: – Blade, multi-node, rack-mounted, and pedestal – ≤ 4 processor sockets per server (or blade/node)

• Requires: – Efficient power supplies – Low power draws when server is at “idle” – Advanced power management features – Server Efficiency Rating Tool (SERT) test results – Capabilities to measure real time power use,

processor utilization, and air temperature

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ES servers made by leading manufacturers

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ENERGY STAR certified data storage requirements

• Efficient power supplies and variable speed fans

• Making available thin provisioning, data de-duplication, lossless compression, and delta snapshots

• Reporting on energy consumption under different operating conditions

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Save energy with ENERGY STAR qualified UPSs

• ES qualified UPSs cut energy losses by 33 - 55%

• Different UPS types available: – Modular UPSs (pictured)

maximize the “load factor” – Traditional “double

conversion” UPSs – Multi-mode UPSs

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Data center energy savings: 3 areas of opportunity

1. IT equipment 2. Airflow management 3. HVAC adjustments

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Raised floor environment helps separate cold & hot air

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(Photos courtesy of Tate and NIH)

Proper hot aisle/cold aisle orientation can save 5-12%

(Photo courtesy of 42U.com)

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Cold aisle containment further reduces mixing

(Photos courtesy of 42U.com) 32

• Some hot air is still mixing with cold air

• Containment can save: – ~20% to 25%

in fan energy – ~20% at the

chiller

Airflow management strategies

Sources: LBNL, Keyzone Computer Products, Ltd.

Properly located and sized vented tiles & diffusers

Grommets minimize air leaks in raised floor systems

Variable Speed fan Drives (VSDs)

in CRACs

Adequately sized return plenum or ceiling height

Adequately sized supply

Appropriate pressure in underfloor supply plenums; no obstructions

Rigid enclosures (“containment”) eliminate mixing

Hot aisle / cold aisle layout

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Airflow management devices: blanking panels

• Maintain the separation of hot and cold air in a rack

• A single 12” blanking panel can yield 1-2% energy savings per server rack

34 (Photos courtesy of PlenaForm Systems, EDP Europe, and 42U.com.)

Airflow management devices: floor grommets

• Improve cooling efficiency by sealing areas where cables enter & exit plenums (e.g., a raised floor)

• Less leakage helps direct more cold air to the equipment that needs cooling

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(Photos courtesy of PlenaForm Systems, EDP Europe, and 42U.com.)

Airflow management devices: structured cabling

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Vs.

QTS conducted an extensive air flow assessment

• Removed obstructions to vented tiles, (e.g., cabling)

• Closed vented tiles that were not in use • Installed self–sealing grommets • Used vinyl covers to seal gaps in doors, pipes

and windows

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Saved $60,000 over a 2-month period

Variable Speed Drives (VSDs)

• CRAC fans use 5-10% total data center energy

• Fan/pump power varies with the cube of speed

• Translation: 1/2 the speed uses 1/8 the power

• Other EE measures need VSDs to reach full potential

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Source: UR Energy

VSD considerations

• Reduced fan speed in retrofits can cause condensation and freezing on the coils – New CRACs with VSDs have digital compressors that slow

down with fan speed

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• VSDs can affect power quality w/ harmonics – eBay needed 16

225-KVA harmonic mitigating transformers

(Photo courtesy National Instruments )

eBay installed VSDs on 83 CRAH units

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Data center energy savings: 3 areas of opportunity

1. IT equipment 2. Airflow management 3. HVAC adjustments

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Turn up the heat!

• Server inlet temps as low as 55°F??? That’s old school!

• In 2008, ASHRAE recommended 64 to 81°F

• Save 3% to 5% in energy costs for every 1°F increase in server inlet temp

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(Drawing courtesy of Raritan )

Today’s servers can stand the heat. Safe operating ranges:

• Sun Blade (40° to 90°F)

• Dell Blade (50° to 95°F)

• IBM Blade (50° to 95°F)

• NetAppStorage (50° to 104°F)

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Raising server inlet temps: considerations

• Can produce hot spots if not monitored properly

• Internal server fans may automatically turn on, raising energy costs

• Data centers with VSDs benefit the most

• Uncomfortable working conditions?

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(Photo courtesy Infrared Imaging Services, LLC)

Hot spot (viewed from front of server rack)

Humidity control in the past

• Tight relative humidity (RH) tolerances leads to: – CRAC #1 reads RH as too high:

• Over-cools air to remove moisture and then reheats to bring temp back up

– Results in CRAC #2 reading RH as too low:

• Adds moisture by generating steam and cools air to bring temp back down

• Termed “CRAC fighting”

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Solving humidity issues

• Use dew point (DP) instead of RH to measure humidity

• Maintain broader ASHRAE recommended humidity range (42 to 59 degrees °F DP)

• Use adiabatic humidification technologies – Misters, foggers, ultrasonic – Required in new CA DCs

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eBay: ½ year payback with ultrasonic humidification

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Consideration: ultrasonic humidifiers require de-ionized water

Free cooling with a water-side economizer • Evaporative cooling

of tower produces chilled water

• Heat exchanger used to bypass mechanical chiller

• Downside: high capital costs

• Added security

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Free cooling with an air-side economizer

Exhaust Air 85°F

Outside Air 65°F

In milder climates, outside air can be used for most of the year (SFO: all but ~10 days annually!)

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Hours of air-side economizer use per year

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Info available on energystar.gov/lowcarbonit

• Non-technical descriptions

• Impartial information about – Costs – Savings – Implementation

considerations

Top 12 Data Center Opportunities

1. Virtualization of Servers 2. Decommissioning of Unused

Servers 3. Consolidation of Lightly Utilized

Servers 4. Data Storage Opportunities 5. Efficient Equipment Purchase 6. Hot Aisle/Cold Aisle Arrangement 7. Containment/Enclosures 8. Variable Speed Drives 9. Housekeeping: Blanking Panels,

Cabling and Gaps 10. Server Inlet Temperature and

Humidity Adjustments 11. Air Side Economizer 12. Water Side Economizer

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Utilities often help pay for energy saving measures

Note: "C" indicates a customized measure, and "P" indicates a prescriptive measure. Some programs also incentivize the removal of existing servers through a customized approach. (Data current as of April 2012). Source: Utility websites and personal communications with utility energy efficiency program managers and industry groups, April 2012.

Utility Programs

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Powe

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Water

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Pump

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HVAC

/ CRA

C

DC Po

wer

Arizona Public Service Company (APS) C C C C/P C P P C P PAustin Energy C C C C C P P C/P

AVISTA Utilities C P P C/PBritish Colombia Hydro (BC Hydro) C C C C C C C C C C C CCommonwealth Edison C C C C C C C C P CDuke Energy (NC, SC, OH) C C C/P C C C C/P C C P P CEfficiency Vermont C C C P C C P PEnergy Trust of Oregon P C C C C C C/PFocus on Energy (WI) C/P C C P C C C P C C P CIdaho Power P P PNevada Power P PNew York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) C C C C C C/P C C C/P C/P CPacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) C C C C C C P C C P P CPuget Sound Energy (PSE) C C C C CSacrament Municipal Utility District (SMUD) C C/P C C/P C C P C/PSalt River Project P P PSan Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) C P P PSeattle City Light P C/P C C C C C P C C C C CSilicon Valley Power C C C P C C P PSnohomish County Public Utility District C C C CSouthern California Edison (SCE) C C C C C C C C C C C

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ENERGY STAR rating for data centers

• Rewards data centers in the top 25 % of their peers in energy efficiency

• Uses Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) • Allows you to compare your data center to others across

the U.S. • Limited to stand-alone data centers or buildings that

house large data centers

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NetApp Data Center in Research Triangle Park, NC

Suggested next steps

1. Schedule a walk-thru to look for potential savings opportunities

2. Counter technical concerns/questions with… – “You might be right: why don’t we ask an expert?” – Schedule a (free) conference call with a vendor-neutral

ENERGY STAR technical advisor

3. Estimate project ROI – Emphasize increased reliability and redundancy as direct

benefits – Don’t forget $ from utility incentive programs

4. Build a coalition for change – Share opportunities with friends in Finance, Facilities

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Questions & Answers

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Contact information

• Additional information at: www.energystar.gov/lowcarbonit

• Contacts: – Mike Walker, AlterAction Inc. (EPA Technical Support

Contractor): 617-921-8445, mwalker@alteractionconsulting.com – Steve Ryan, US EPA ENERGY STAR Program Manager: 202-

343-9123, Ryan.Steven@epamail.epa.gov

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