Green Data Center and Best Practices Recommendations - Case Study Example

GREEN DATA CENTER AND FIVE BEST PRACTICES RECOMMENDED BY GOOGLE Student’s Name Course Professor’s Name University City Date Abstract The Green Data Center relates to the efficiency of data utilization and ensuring no or minimal environmental impact. The data center and server rooms concentrate in storage, management, and dissemination of data. The nature of the energy utilized in the data center and server rooms is supposed to be maximally utilized in an efficient manner. The paper focuses on five best practices that are recommended by Google in energy conservation and sustainability. These practices include power usage effectiveness, management of airflow, free cooling, adjusting the thermostat and optimizing power distribution. The study focuses on these best practices of the green data center, motivation, contribution, related research, methodology, and finally the conclusion parts. Green Data Center and Best Practices Recommended by Google Introduction The Green Data Center focuses on maximum energy efficiency with minimum environmental impact in storage, management, and data disseminations through the computer systems, electrical, mechanical and lightening. Strategic advanced technologies are designed in the construction and operation of the green data center. In most cases, building and certification of the green data center might be expensive at the beginning, but it is a long-term cost savings project. Furthermore, the green data center provides the employees with a favorable working environment that is comfortable and healthy. The green data center contributes to the creation and maintenance of technologies that are ecologically responsible. This study concentrates on best practices recommended by Google on building a green data center, the motivation behind building the green data center, contribution, significance, and methodology. Therefore, the study elaborates the five best practices recommended by Google in building a green data center. Five Best Practices of the Green Data Center Recommended by Google The five best practices of green data center recommended by Google include (12 Ways to Save Energy in Data Centers, n.d); Measure Power Usage Effectiveness In managing the green data center, it is essential to consider power usage effectiveness. Measuring energy helps in reducing the non-computing energies such as cooling and power distribution. The effectiveness of power usage is based on the energy data captured focusing on the variation of seasonal weather. Therefore, Google considers the power usage in reducing non-computing energies for effectiveness and achieving green data requirements. Managing Airflow Proper management of the air flow ensures achievement of the efficient data center operations. It is fundamental in minimizing hotness through mixing cold air within a well-designed container or chamber. Elimination of the hot spots is conducted through the use of the blanking plates to take care of the un-populated slots found in the rack. The use of the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) is essential in optimizing the air flow without experiencing disruptive reorganizations in the computing room. Google relies on the managing airflow to ensure the cooling system to IT equipment approach is energy proportional to the size of the cooling load. Adjusting the Thermostat If the cold aisle is raised, it helps in reducing the facility energy application. It is not advisable to run the cold aisle at an average temperature of 70F rather it is supposed to be set at a temperature of 80F or higher as recommended by the equipment manufacturers (Ohara, 2012, para. 5). Facilities with the economizers and running cold aisle temperature ensure more days of free cooling and hence helping in saving more energy. Using Free Cooling Practice The notion by free cooling indicates removing heat using chiller from the facility. Low-temperature, ambient air, large thermal reservoir or even the evaporating water is essential in free cooling practices. Chiller tends to use the component of cooling infrastructure and hence dominant energy. Minimizing the energy through the use of chiller provides the greatest opportunity in energy saving. Water and air-side economizers are the recommendable free coolers and are proven and readily available to use. Optimizing Power Distribution In achieving optimal power distribution, it is done by eliminating a lot of power through conversion steps as possible. Realizing conversion steps require specifying power distribution unit with efficient equipment transformers. The largest losses experienced in the data center distribution of power relate to uninterruptible power supply. This is combined with specifying high-efficiency model. It is also essential in keeping high voltage close relating to the feasible reduction in energy losses. Motivation The practices recommended by Google for the Green Data Center focus on the general overview of the common strategies for energy efficiency. In the data centers as well as server rooms, have to focus on the implementation of best practices and strategies on saving energy. Other considerations are the risks involved in the achievement and implementation of the best practices in green data center. In conservation of the energy, it is important to consider finding the additional information for the IT professional in ensuring sustainability and coordination of the identities and opportunities existing in the server rooms and data centers. The IT opportunities focus on the server virtualization, the management of the data storage and decommissioning of the unused servers. Other issues to consider are the consolidation of the lightly utilized servers and seeking efficient energy servers, UPS and PDU. The green data center practices focus on conservation of the energy and controlling the power usage. It is the IT professionalism whereby the knowledge and information to conserve the energy and ensuring efficiency and effectiveness are achieved. Focusing on the air flow management strategies, the server rooms and data center are supposed to ensure variable speed fan drives are introduced (Ohara, 2012, para. 5). Other variable resources for ensuring airflow strategies are achieved layout of both hot and cold aisles and proper deployment of airflow management devices. Airflow management contributes maintaining the required temperature in the data center and server rooms. Adjustment of the HVAC is undertaken through ensuring installation of the Air-Side and Water-Side Economizers. These technologies are essential for adjusting the inlet temperature and humidity in the data center and server room. As the technologies in the data center utilize the energy, it is essential for the IT professional to focus on the appropriate mechanisms to control the energy and power utilization. The level of temperature and humidity are essential to prevent conserve the energy and controlling overpowering. The conservation of the green energy also relates to the environmental friendly mechanism to achieve the technological growth n the data center and energy conservation. Therefore, the use of the air-side and water-side economizers helps in achieving the recommended practices by Google for HVAC adjustments. Contribution In this study, the main objective is developing an appropriate mechanism to build a green data center. It would be important to consider the energy and power conservation in the data center and server rooms. In building a green data center, IT professionals have to focus on the mechanism to control energy and technologies that would contribute to energy conservation. The achievement to focus on building the green data center depends on the innovative technologies that are connected to the energy conservation. The basic consideration is the environmentally friendly energy utilization and how the IT managers should relate the power and energy conservation within the data center and server room (Ohara, 2012, para. 6). The best five approaches and approved practices by Google are formulated with the interest of achieving green data center. Therefore, the technological innovation enhances the achievement of the green data center through ensuring maximum energy efficiency with no impact on the environment. Therefore, the source of clean energy utilization is the best formulation that would ensure the conservation of the environment and maximizing the energy efficiency. Related Works/Researches Google recognizes the challenges that are involved in the data center and IT management facing the energy conservation. The struggles in the rising costs and uncertainties in the energy in the data center and server rooms should be tamed and controlled. Achieving lean and green approach focuses on improving the energy efficiency and environmental conservation. Even if it is challenging to know the beginning point to greener migration, it is efficient operations that would result in data center conserving energy. The best practices recognized by Google focus on environmental sustainability basing on the data center operations. Changing environmental concern are also supposed to be considered when determining the best practices to suite the data center and server rooms energy conservation. The companies such as Google with large data center and server rooms would focus on the efficiency in the energy conservation. Major gains are made through a provision of the incentives and innovations to reduce the energy consumption and to drive greater efficiencies in the entire data center. It is also related to the employment of the wide range of efficiency practices that would contribute to the significant gains. Effective practices in energy efficiency show the best element in Google operations and utilization of the resources available. Virtualization helps in improving the server room utilization through consideration and application of the proper mechanism in hardware. The main objective and goal is controlling the energy consumption to conserve and ensuring proper energy with no impact to the environment is used. The data center and server room are designed to offer optimal services and reduced energy utilizations. The equipment is supposed to be formulated in a manner to ensure the energy conservation in the data center aligns with the environmental conditions. Therefore, the green data center would work toward the realization of the energy consumption that does not have an impact on the environment. The storage, management, and dissemination of the data in the data center and server rooms are supposed to be conducted using equipment ensuring green energy achievement. Significance The expected achievements in using innovative approaches toward realizing green data center are realized through the introduction of energy conservation mechanism. The storage, management, and dissemination of the data is supposed to be conducted in a proper environment attractive mechanism. The connections of the operations within the data center and server rooms are supposed to prevent unnecessary energy utilization. The IT manager is supposed to initiate proper approaches that would relate to the environmentally friendly energy in the data center and servers room. The achievement of the strategic approach would be related to the enhanced layout of the hardware and software in the data center to allow free flow of air within the systems. Furthermore, control of the energy would also provide high utilization and effectiveness to enhance high performance. Methodology In achieving the green data center initiative, the IT manager has to consider the various steps to the data center and server room to enhance effective energy utilization. These steps relate to the storage, management, and dissemination of the data in various destinations. The first step concerns the source of energy and whether is environmentally friendly. The IT manager has to consider using environmentally friendly energy that would not have an impact on the environment. The second step concerns the software and hardware recommendation and compatibility to the green energy required in the data center and server room. These equipments are supposed to relate to the effectiveness and efficiency of the data storage, management, and dissemination. Thirdly, the systems essential for energy conservations such as water-sided or air-sided economizers are supposed to be properly fitted and arranged. This helps in ensuring the data center and server rooms are maintained within the required energy level. Therefore, the methodology is supposed to be implemented by an IT professional to ensure the sustainable energy. Conclusion The five best practices recommended by Google in building the Green Data Center include power usage effectiveness, management f airflow, free cooling, adjusting the thermostat and optimizing power distribution enhances the performance and clean energy sustainability. These practices play a major role in ensuring the Green Data Center contributes to effectiveness and efficiency in its operations. The IT professional has to relate these practices to ensure the data center and server rooms are maintained in improving performance. Furthermore, the energy conservation is another aspect that is considered to ensure no negative impact on the environment. Therefore, in building data center, it is important to focus on the five best practices to ensure energy conservation and sustainability are achieved. Bibliography 12 Ways to Save Energy in Data Centers and Server Rooms | Products | ENERGY STAR. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.energystar.gov/products/low_carbon_it_campaign/12_ways_save_energy_data_center Ohara, D. (2012). Retrieved from www.greenm3.com/gdcblog/2012/8/24/which-do-you-like-googles-5-data-center-best-practices-or-mi.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+GreenDataCenterBlog+%28Green+Data+Center+Blog%29 Read More