Five issues affecting data center efficiency

Weighing variables and achieving energy cost savings, you need to know what's wrong with the efficiency of your data center. This article has five tips on determining the efficiency of your data center and how to make it maximum energy efficient.

Issues affecting Data Center efficiency: 1. Know Your Data center

Neil Rasmussen said: "First of all, a dedicated person should evaluate the energy efficiency of the datacenter." "Neil Rasmussen is a supplier of power and cooling equipment for data centers in the United States, http://www.aliyun.com/zixun/aggregation/5343.html of the American Power Conversion company APC" > Chief Technical Officer (CTO). This service is available from IBM, EYP Burritos unacknowledged, Syska Winery, APC and HP.

"HP recently added a hot zone mapping to its assessment service," said Brian Brouillette, vice president of HP's key business network and education services. Hot-Zone Mapping Service (HP thermal Zone Mapping), which is part of the data Center comprehensive Thermal Assessment service. The service uses thermal sensors, mapping analysis and mapping software to create a three-dimensional model that accurately displays the heat and heat dissipation areas of the data center's air-conditioning. To identify the problem areas in the datacenter and to help you make adjustments as needed. For example, the analysis focuses on equipment racks, how dense the equipment is assembled on board, and the flow of space hot air and cold air in different areas. It is very important to place the air conditioner vent in a suitable position so that the cool airflow keeps the equipment running properly and does not waste energy. The customer can control and manage the air conditioner to achieve the optimal heat dissipation effect, so as to improve the energy efficiency and reduce the cost.

Problems affecting the efficiency of the data center: 2, the management of air-conditioning principles: neither too cold, nor too hot, to be suitable

Energy efficiency often begins in the cooling system. "In the data center, air conditioners are the most power-hungry things in addition to the IT devices themselves," says Neil Rasmussen. "If your datacenter is running at 30% efficiency, it means that only about a watt of power goes into the server, and two watts of electricity is wasted on transmission, cooling systems and other ancillary equipment." To reduce wasted energy, one of the simplest and most important things to do is turn on the air-conditioning saver, which acts as a temperature sensor in the data center. A 80% saver is not used, just as IT administrators often turn off the power management features in their computers. It is also important to monitor the interaction of multiple air-conditioning systems in the data center. Sometimes two air-conditioning systems are "calibrated", one sensor is too humid, and the other is too low to compete with each other, like playing cool tennis, which wastes energy.

Richard Siedzick, director of computer and telecommunications services at Bryant University, said he took advantage of this feature at the data center where he worked. "If the temperature rises to a certain extent, the air-conditioning on this rack will increase, and when the temperature falls, the air conditioner will drop." "The result is that few people are accustomed to the climate of the datacenter. His data center encountered a "Arctic cold" not at the door. People say his data center is too warm, Siedzick said. This is not the case: the air-conditioning saver helps him stay in places where they are needed, rather than staying where they are not needed. This means increasing efficiency and saving money. "We estimate that we have seen 30% of the energy reduction rate (partly due to more effective cooling) and converted to 20000 dollar savings," Siedzick said. "Other precision controls, such as humidity sensors, are often used in data centers," he said.

Problems affecting data center efficiency: 3. Put the device in the right place

Most data center floors are elevated and tiled. The tiles should be located in the air inlet of the IT equipment, not near the exhaust port. Because the exhaust area (where the air comes out) operates at a higher temperature than the inlet, ensure that the tile (providing ventilation) is in the correct position so that the air-conditioning device can operate more efficiently. Also, make sure you have the correct number of vents in your data center. If the vent is too much or too little, the efficiency will drop.

Problems affecting the efficiency of data centers: 4, attention to gaps, eliminate corners and gaps

In the data center, many racks contain gaps which are the result of additional space or equipment that has been moved. Whatever the reason, it makes the airflow abnormal, which is not conducive to increased efficiency. Rasmussen said: "The exhaust gas is inhaled through the air inlet of the device, which makes you have to make the air-conditioner run colder." The answer to improving them is: the bezel. Installing these panels into the server rack cabinet is one way to make the data center air flow more efficient.

Many people forget to install the bezel, even if the server original Equipment manufacturer manual requires it. However, Rasmussen says they are cheap and easy to install.

Problems affecting data center efficiency: 5. Can you make the temperature here higher?

Once you have completed all of the above listed methods, please check to see if you can run the air-conditioner at a higher temperature. Rasmussen said that most units are set at 55 degrees Fahrenheit, some low to 45 degrees Fahrenheit. The lower the temperature, the lower the efficiency of the data center. You should keep the air conditioner running as hot as possible without overheating the server. 68 degrees Fahrenheit is a good goal, but unless you're running a brand new, state-of-the-art data center, you're not going to be able to reach that number.

This article on the impact of data center efficiency of the analysis of five problems, I hope this article for everyone or a little help.

(Responsible editor: Lu Guang)