Google and some of the other leading technology companies that depend on large amounts of power are working hard to ensure they are minimizing their power consumptions.In order to cut down costs of electricity and ensure that systems are running in optimal conditions, many data center's are turning to alternative energy to power their high end systems. Google has fitted the Googleplex to be carbon neutral by investing in renewable energy sources, maximizing efficiency, and by purchasing carbon offsets for the emissions they cannot directly reduce.
ComputerWorld has put together a list targeted at IT professionals that list the top seven tips that will help minimize power consumption, heat, waste and chaos in this time of surging power demands, and extreme environmental awareness.
- Typically between 10%-30% of servers can potentially be turned off.
- Power management tools are available, but not many administrators don't use them.
- Invest in energy efficient servers.
- Inefficient power supplies can potentially waste half of the power before it actually gets to the equipment.
- Most IT companies are not accountable for efficiency because it gets tucked into the facilities tab, tracking energy directly from the source can help in determining what should change.
- Adopt energy efficient standards. Think EnergyStar specifications.
- Demand energy efficient IT products. Manufacturers won't design it, if customers don't ask for it.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-26-2007 @ 12:34AM
Colin said...
To add to #1 (especially in the public sector):
8. Virtualize. Many services running on high-end hardware don't require a separate box to host them. I'd bet 2/3 of the servers at my employer are utilizing 20% CPU max most of the time.
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