Key Elements For A Green and Virtual Data Center

There are many different facets to being green that require solutions. So, too, are there many different technology solutions looking for problems. Environmental concerns can be addressed by applying efficiency and optimization to operate more economically. Consider different technologies and approaches to using various tools in the context of the business problem or opportunity to be addressed. For example, although consolidation can bring great hardware and power, cooling, floor space and environmental health and safety (PCFE) savings, consider also the subsequent performance impact on business productivity as well as savings from reducing software footprint.

Look at technology adoption in the context of market or industry versus actual customer deployment. Density brings the benefits of a reduced physical footprint but also increased power, cooling, weight, and management footprints. Server or storage consolidation in general reduces the number of physical units to be managed, but server and storage virtualization in their current forms do not help to aggregate or consolidate the number of operating systems or application instances. Avoid simply moving problems from one area to another, for example, by solving a server-related problem that, in turn, causes a data storage, network, or backup problem.

In most IT data centers, as well as in the tech industry at large, the focus is on application servers to reduce electric power consumption and cooling demands. However, given the anticipated continued growth in the amount of data generated, processed, and stored for longer periods of time, the focus will shift to optimizing data storage and associated networking components in the data center. In order to power IT equipment in the future, you may not be able to assume that your energy provider will be able to supply you with adequate and reliable power in a cost-effective manner.

There are many different issues that require a balancing of resources. Manufacturers are enabling enterprise IT data centers of all sizes to address power, cooling, floor space, and associated environmental challenges with various technologies to balance the supply of available power, cooling, and floor space with demand-side needs of enabling business applications in a scalable, flexible, and resilient manner. The bottom line is that for most IT data centers there is no single silver bullet. However, when various technologies are combined and balanced with best practices, energy savings to support growth are achievable.

As more IT applications are virtualized, there will need to be an increase in the understanding of how to maximize, leverage, and manage infrastructure resources effectively, as opposed to simply throwing more hardware at a problem. Increase your awareness of applicable issues as well as what you can do today and tomorrow to support your specific needs. This includes educating yourself on the issues and alternative approaches and solutions as well as looking at power efficiency and effectiveness versus simply avoiding power usage.

Shift your thinking from acquiring storage resources on a cost-per-capacity basis to one of how much effective and useful storage with advanced data protection capabilities can be acquired and operated in a given footprint that is energy-efficient and helps to reduce and manage your data footprint more effectively. If you have not already done so, align data center facilities personnel and server, storage, and networking staff to work together to understand each others' needs and requirements as well as internal causes and effects.

Significant improvements in energy consumption and cooling capabilities can be achieved by combining various technologies and techniques to address different issues. The key is to understand what approach or technology to use when and where to address which issue without introducing or exacerbating other problems.

Principal action and take away from this series of articles along with additional details in my book "The Green and Virtual Data Center" (CRC) include:

Green washing and green hype may be on an endangered species lists, however, addressing core IT data center issues to enable more efficient and productive IT service delivery by information factories in an economical friendly manner will also lead to environmental benefits. Addressing green and PCFE issues is a process; there is no single solution or magic formula. Rather, a combination of technologies, techniques, and best practices to address various issues and requirements is needed. Green washing and green hype may fade away, but PCFE and related issues will not, so addressing them is essential to IT, business growth, and economic sustainment in an environmentally friendly manner.

Greg Schulz is the founder of StorageIO, an IT industry research and consulting firm. He has worked as a programmer, systems administrator, disaster recovery consultant, and capacity planner for various IT organizations, and also has held positions with industry vendors. He is author of the new book "The Green and Virtual Data Center" (CRC) and of the SNIA-endorsed book "Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)".

InformationWeek has published an in-depth report on data center unification. Download the report here (registration required).