Green Initiatives and Energy Conservation in a Modern Atlanta Datacenter	4.0/5.0 (1 votes total) Rate: Select 1 - Terrible 2 - Poor 3 - Average 4 - Good 5 - Outstanding
Jeff Hinkle April 23, 2009

The ‘Green Initiative’ is not just a focus at datacenters around the country—it is THE focus, with energy efficiency being the central element from which most conservation strategy stems from. Power needs of the modern datacenter are ever-increasing as is the skyrocketing cost of energy, so finding ways to cut operating costs becomes an obvious priority. The environmental aspects of improving energy efficiency started out as a welcome, but secondary, benefit after the priority of reducing datacenter overhead.

The mounting tidal wave of research regarding the impact of carbon-based fuels on the environment and our climate has consumers very aware and concerned about our planet’s limited resources and reducing the ‘carbon footprint’. The green benefits of energy conservation are no longer a secondary consideration for server and colocation datacenters. Businesses are now waking up to the importance of aligning themselves with their consumer market through an image of environmental responsibility. In addition, datacenter managers and owners themselves have become concerned consumers and bring their own motivations to the workplace for improving datacenter energy efficiency and green practices.

An Atlanta Datacenter gets Green

Established in 1994, our Atlanta data center Global Net Access (GNAX) has been incorporating energy recycling and other green practices from the day of ground breaking on the 65,000 square foot facility. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Energy Star have teamed to develop high standards of energy efficiency for modern datacenters and the server technology they employ. Starting in January 2009, Energy Star began the data collection process for developing an Energy Star Rating for data centers. With the many green initiatives GNAX has implemented, and with more in the works, we’re confident that our main Atlanta colocation hub, as well as our satellite Dallas datacenter, will pass their rating standards with flying colors. Read on for details about the creative energy recycling systems GNAX has put into practice, as well as our further green initiatives for the coming year.

Current Energy Efficiency Strategies Deliver Big Results

With a 2000 server datacenter utilizing 8 mega watts of power and two tons of cooling, GNAX puts energy efficiency at the top of its list of priorities. Our team works on ways to get the most for the energy dollar, while keeping server performance at peak.

Creative Heat Recycling Applications

The Offices

When the Atlanta datacenter building was first constructed, GNAX included heat pumps from the onset to funnel BTUS from our server cooling towers directly to the company offices for heating. From day one we have never had an additional heating bill; that’s a 100% energy savings for the GNAX offices!

This extraction of heat from the dedicated server cooling towers results in greater efficiency of server operation, and a decrease in energy waste.

The Generator Room

GNAX has created an innovative, energy efficient system for heating the diesel generators that must be kept warmed up and ready to start immediately in case of a power outage. Block heaters use warm water to keep the generators warmed up and ready for action. A facilities audit resulted in recommendations for additional auxiliary heat in the Atlanta datacenter generator room, since this area must always be open via louvers to the outside air, even in deepest winter.

The GNAX solution was to put a dry cooler fan to unique use (normally mounted on datacenter roofs) by mounting it sideways in the generator room. Venting was set up to funnel excess BTUs from the server cooling towers through this dry cooler system to the generator room, effectively raising the temperature without use of any natural gas or heating oil The only additional energy use is the small amount of electricity to generate fan motor output. As seen in the office heating system, GNAX heat recycling once more results in a nearly 100% energy savings for the generator room.

Again, the cooling towers now run cooler and more efficiently due to the funneling of excess heat away from the datacenter servers. Research and functional testing has shown repeatedly that running servers at less than 80% of capacity results in substantial energy savings and significant increase in the life of the equipment. Heat funneling and recycling from the datacenter to the offices and generator room keeps GNAX servers running beautifully at less than 70% of full capacity.

Data Backup Safety: GNAX tests generators comprehensively every two weeks with a full switch over of the complete datacenter server load to the diesel generator system and off the AC power, which is rarely done by other server hosting companies. This virtually ensures the safety of the emergency data backup system in case of power outage.

Datacenter Cooling System Delivers Significant Energy Cost Savings

The current roof fan system that has been installed in the main datacenter consists of six fan intakes drawing air from the outside, which is then drawn through the data center and out of the facility via one large outtake fan. Currently this is an on/off system with our Atlanta datacenter staff monitoring inside temperature via the main service panel and turning fans on or off according to these readings.

Our preliminary measurements show a substantial A/C cooling energy savings of 6%, translating to serious dollar savings as well. Server cooling is a large expense for all datacenters and any savings in this realm is always welcome; a 6% decrease in energy costs is by no means small.

Upcoming 2009 Initiatives for the Datacenter Cooling System:

With the great energy saving results seen so far with this first incarnation of the cooling system, we knew that even greater energy efficiency was very achievable. For this next phase of our green initiative, we expect to see at least a 10% energy savings—good both for Mother Earth and the GNAX wallet.

Computer-Optimized Datacenter Cooling

The GNAX plan is for the cooling system to be computer-optimized through the company’s existing automated building systems. The system will monitor for when the differential between inside and outside air reaches 10 degrees and then will start up the fan cooling system. This system will optimize usage for as much time of the day as possible and will take advantage of the cool night air, even when staff is not here to physically start up the system.

‘Hot Aisle’ Enclosure

The second part of the enhanced energy conservation plan is to enclose the ‘hot’ aisles of the datacenter, where server heat raises temperatures to around 110FËš. A vent system will be constructed to directly funnel this very hot air to the system’s outtake fan. This will result in two benefits:

1. This excess heat is removed from contact with other datacenter equipment so that their operating efficiency is not affected.

2. This heated air causes an artificial differential between inside and outside air so that the new computer-optimized cooling system will kick in even if the outside air is around 85 or 90 degrees. It is still more cost-efficient to cool 90 degree air than 100 degree air.

The Hinkle Benchmark: Making the Case for Newer more Efficient Servers

As President of our growing Atlanta dedicated servercolocation datacenter, it became very apparent to me that a clear, workable measure was needed in order to demonstrate, to clients and colleagues, the real energy savings gained from implementing newer, more efficient server technology. It had long been apparent to the core GNAX team that server consolidation and the retirement of outdated equipment would result in serious cost savings, as well as making better use of the Earth’s limited energy resources. The question was how to illustrate those energy savings in a clear and easily quantifiable manner. and

The answer came with a mathematical tool I created which we dubbed the Hinkle Benchmark. This energy efficiency formula allows GNAX to illustrate and justify consolidation of servers and retirement of outdated technology to the computer recycling facility. The newest server equipment is highly energy efficient, lasts longer, and saves our clients substantial money. Energy cost savings begin evidencing rather quickly; clients don’t necessarily have to wait for ‘long term’ savings effects.

The datacenter efficiency is calculated by adding all ‘chip points’ for every microchip in use for each server in the center. This number is then divided by the total number of servers in use. The resulting number indicates relative use of power as compared to the total delivery of computational power. Dedicated server and colocation clients should look at a provider’s Hinkle Benchmark and choose a data center committed to improving energy efficiency. This equation also allows GNAX to evidence to clients the need to upgrade their server equipment.

Green Initiatives beyond Energy Conservation

While increasing the datacenter’s energy efficiency is of the highest priority, GNAX is also committed to other datacenter green initiatives that decrease our company’s impact on Earth’s resources and fragile ecosystems. Our company is full of conservation-minded individuals who bring their green ideas to the GNAX table. We’ve worked to reduce our carbon footprint and to recycle at every opportunity.

Global Access Network (GNAX) uses no natural gas or heating oil in datacenter operations.

This is just sound business practice and something most of us believe in as citizens of the planet.

We recycle every scrap of cardboard. A local community member in need of the income picks up cardboard and transports it to the Atlanta or Dallas recycling station. We recycle all scrap metals, mostly steel and copper. All old server equipment is picked up by a local area computer recycling company. GNAX has eliminated packing materials that are unnecessary by requesting that vendors ship new equipment in bulk packaging whenever possible. The Gaylord boxes we use allow us to receive up to 20 servers in a single box on one pallet with no extra packing material inside. This practice has cut our packaging waste by nearly two thirds!

Well Water on Site: Self Sustained Cooling and Zero Stress on City Water Resources

GNAX has its own well dug on the property for cooling our server equipment. We are not dependent on the town and put no strain on city resources. In case of any local or national disaster, we have our own power and water resources, ensuring the total safety of our clients’ data.

No Trees were Harmed in the Making of this Datacenter

It goes without saying that our datacenter is virtually paperless in operation and, whenever possible, communications happen electronically rather than via paper-based mail or fax systems.

Our Atlanta datacenter is made almost completely of concrete, even the floor tiles, and almost nothing burns. Very little wood of any kind has been used in the facility. GNAX uses water based sprinkler systems and fire extinguishers that do no harm to human beings or the surrounding environment.

Closing Thoughts

The green initiatives our modern datacenter has put in place are already yielding excellent savings in the energy realm and with the plans we have for 2009, the GNAX team is excited to see just how far we can take this efficiency challenge. This is the present reality of responsible data center management and the industry’s premier research organization, the Uptime Institute, has entitled their upcoming 4th Annual Research Symposium: Lean, Clean, & Green. We’ll be there April 13 to 16 in New York City and are looking forward to meeting our colleagues and learning more ways of keeping it green in our datacenter world.

Hosting Bookmarks