Are data centers running efficiently?

Are all the datacenter servers out there running efficiently? How much does it approximately cost to run applications on web servers within the IT infrastructure? That’s a difficult question to answer. There are diverse responses to this, as we can’t directly jump to any conclusion and determine data center cost. However, experts claim that most data centers function inefficiently and they need to optimize their performance.

Data center managers must look out for different available options to optimize efficiency, rather than settling down with a standard solution. Certain data centers consume considerably higher amount of power that is challenging for CIOs to deal with. While the data volumes and storage requirements are skyrocketing, power consumption is increasing as well. In an attempt to curb carbon emission and offer cost-effectives solutions, usage of the required electricity becomes impossible. Despite the restrictions put, existing data centers are still unable to perform productively. This mainly happens because most of the servers in a data center run idle, which is commonly known as zombie servers.

Zombie servers lie within the infrastructure, eat up energy and other resources, but do nothing that adds up to the IT costs. So before moving out for adding new servers to the rack space, consider putting the existing servers to some good use.

Opportunities to promote efficiency

So what are the scopes for data centers to improving energy efficiency? There are several potential opportunities available for reducing inefficiency. Here are few steps that can help to achieve the desired result:

• Control cooling unit energy consumption

The cooling unit mostly uses the energy supplied to the data center, while the other IT equipment gets only a chunk of it. The energy wasted on cooling units can be recovered by reducing cooling inefficiencies and upgrading the system to using more outside air. Consider implementing techniques that works to streamline cooling units and eliminate energy wastage.

• Consolidation and Virtualization

A dynamic virtualization strategy can boost utilization to as much as 10% percent. Proper integration of virtualization and consolidation can free up stranded power and rack space.

• Maintain transparency between IT and facility managers

To achieve maximum results, you need to monitor power consumption, resource utilization, environmental aspects and weather conditions, comprehensively. Maintaining transparency between the two sources can help avoid unwanted IT expenditure.

• Smart Grid Utility

IT infrastructure will continue to remain power-hungry, but data center service providers can use the smart grid technology that will assure energy efficiency. Smart grid deals with balancing power, efficiency, and dynamically overhauling to provide energy at cheap rates without compromising quality.

Aside from these, you’ll find a host of other solutions that can contribute to reduce energy wastage and improve competence. Power issues will always remain a prominent concern for data centers and thus, data center managers need to figure out measures that can bring changes to the environment. Not massive though, but simple yet effective.