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With increasing demands for energy-intensive computing power and internet communications, commercial data centers have become significant consumers of electricity and companies are recognizing the need for efficiency in data centers and server equipment. But increased use of IT also has the potential to reduce energy expenditures in other sectors; for example teleconferencing may reduce some need for travel and decreased reliance on paper as a medium for data storage and communication reduces energy demands, and online shopping could reduce commerce-related driving.
Efficient Servers and Data Centers
Commercial data centers are rapidly multiplying in number and size to meet modern computing demands. The EPA has estimated that data centers' and servers' energy consumption represented 1.5 percent of US electricity consumption in 2006, having doubled from consumption in 2000 and expected to double again by 2012.1 The energy demands of servers and the data centers that house them, particularly the required cooling equipment, represents a significant cost to the companies operating these centers and equipment.
Yet recent advances in server and data center-related energy efficiency technologies and strategies can dramatically cut energy consumption and the costs to companies. Advances in semiconductor technology have drastically reduced the energy consumed for a given computing power. Advanced data center design can cut the energy consumption of the high-power cooling units often needed to handle the heat generated by large numbers of servers. Combining multiple smaller server systems into single larger systems running as 'virtual servers' reduces overall energy consumption by handling data more efficiently and reducing idle time while so-called 'cloud computing' moves many computing applications off of individual machines and onto centralized servers, again reducing idle time and presenting energy-saving opportunities.
Establishing common metrics for measuring data center efficiency remains difficult. Several different metrics exist, each with different means of measuring computing power, facility infrastructure consumption, and consumption from the actual computing equipment itself.
ENERGY STAR® for servers and data centers
The ENERGY STAR program recently released requirements for ENERGY STAR-labeled servers and is in the process of developing standards for the labeling of efficient data center buildings. Certain utilities may offer incentives to customers managing data centers to encourage integration of ENERGY STAR equipment.
Desktop Computers and Energy Efficiency
At a smaller scale, the ubiquitous desktop computers in homes and offices - as well as their numerous peripherals - represent a major source of energy consumption. Actions as simple as turning equipment off can result in notable energy savings, but again, technological advances and intelligent system design can create energy saving opportunities as well. Energy saving system settings that, for example, idle hard drives, turn off monitors, or power down the computer can significantly reduce power consumption. In businesses with dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of desktop computers, the energy savings that can result from careful planning may be impressive. Even in a residential setting, minding computers' energy use can show savings on electrical bills.
1 EPA. 2007. Report to Congress on Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency.
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