Category Archives: Industry News

Go Green and Energy Efficient in Data Centers

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Creating sustainable, energy efficient data centers can be challenging especially when demand is growing at such a rapid rate.  However, this past January the federal government is doing its’ share in setting goals to reduce federal agency data center usage by passing the Energy Efficient Government Technology Act (HR 306). The hope is by the year 2020 more than $5 billion will be saved in energy costs.  The Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 2016 report finds that close to 2% of energy usage is consumed by data centers. They intend to evaluate what IT best practices the federal government is adopting as well as considering additional “green” initiatives that, no doubt, would be good for the planet.

Best practices for agencies to meet the goals of the Energy Efficient Government Technology Act such as seen below will set the stage for them to be on par with the public sector.

  • Move activities to the public cloud if possible
  • Incorporate infrastructure components that help increase density and reduce power (helium storage & SMR drives)
  • Utilize technology that measures energy usage and limits power until needed
  • Move away from hierarchical leaf and spine switches to optical switches
  • Deploy object storage solutions for massive-scale data

In addition to the changes of federal government agencies, there are other go green initiatives that can be considered for energy conservation within all data centers.  For instance, installing variable-frequency drives (VFDs) on air-cooled chillers, employing cold/hot aisle containment and use rack blanking panels can make a huge difference.  Even things such as updating PCs, efficient lighting, shutting down compressors on cool days and use the outside air for circulation can add up to big savings in the long run.  Read full article here.

 

 

 

 

 

Water War for Google’s Expanding Data Center

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Google has filed a groundwater withdrawal application in South Carolina as a means of cooling their expanding data center facility creating a war for water in counties around Charleston.  In an effort to help with cooling the data center servers, Google wants 1.5 million gallons of water to be drawn from an aquifer, a body of permeable rock that contains or transmits groundwater.    This request is not sitting well with the region’s residents, conservationists, and local water utility leaders as it is unclear how much water can be drawn from these reservoirs without exhausting the groundwater supplies and how long it will take for the reservoirs to fill back up.  Groundwater is currently being pumped by public, industrial and private wells in the area at a rate of 11 million gallons per day and with the uncertainty of the water supplies in the aquifers, freshwater reserve tanks could be effected in other parts of the Southeast US as well.

Data Centers across the country consume billions of gallons of water daily to cool their facilities and that number is expected to rise as the industry expands.  Tech companies are doing their part by investing in research on the environmental effects of groundwater withdrawal and Google has examined various options.  However, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is expected to decide on Google’s permit in May while opponents of the request want state officials to wait on making the decision until a study by the  U.S. Geological Survey on groundwater supply is completed in 2019 which would put an end to the sustainability guess work of how much water can be drawn from the aquifer.  Read full article here.

 

Water War for Google's Expanding Data Center

Posted on by

Google has filed a groundwater withdrawal application in South Carolina as a means of cooling their expanding data center facility creating a war for water in counties around Charleston.  In an effort to help with cooling the data center servers, Google wants 1.5 million gallons of water to be drawn from an aquifer, a body of permeable rock that contains or transmits groundwater.    This request is not sitting well with the region’s residents, conservationists, and local water utility leaders as it is unclear how much water can be drawn from these reservoirs without exhausting the groundwater supplies and how long it will take for the reservoirs to fill back up.  Groundwater is currently being pumped by public, industrial and private wells in the area at a rate of 11 million gallons per day and with the uncertainty of the water supplies in the aquifers, freshwater reserve tanks could be effected in other parts of the Southeast US as well.

Data Centers across the country consume billions of gallons of water daily to cool their facilities and that number is expected to rise as the industry expands.  Tech companies are doing their part by investing in research on the environmental effects of groundwater withdrawal and Google has examined various options.  However, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is expected to decide on Google’s permit in May while opponents of the request want state officials to wait on making the decision until a study by the  U.S. Geological Survey on groundwater supply is completed in 2019 which would put an end to the sustainability guess work of how much water can be drawn from the aquifer.  Read full article here.