D ATA CENTRES


The dangers of underestimating power requirements Dealing with power loss by Mark Hirst, Product Manager, Cannon Technologies


Introduction Data centres are the second biggest global user of electricity. In Europe, current power consumption by data centres stands at 60TWh - and by 2020 is projected to exceed 100TWh. The costs of that energy use are significant. The most efficient data centre spends around 30% of their revenue on energy while the average spend across European data centres on energy is 40% of revenue. Although there have been a lot of


Mark Hirst reveals the importance of reliable energy in data centres...


efforts to bring renewable energy to the data centre, it is still heavily dependent upon the main electricity grids. Those grids, however, are under enormous strain. The strain on the grids in Europe is


predicted to get much worse before it gets better. Although some European countries have begun to diversify their power grids, others are facing serious problems over the next decade. Should Europe find itself having to


restrict power, data centres are likely to find themselves treated the same way as heavy industry. This means that they


will have to accept a degree of reduced power and power outages. Preference will be given to hospitals, homes and other essential services. Data centres will be forced to


increasingly rely on power from their own generators. At present, generators are installed as a stopgap measure. As we move forward, that role may


well change. This means that rather than a single yearly test, generators will need to be tested more frequently and more thoroughly. A higher level of spares will need to be kept and issues such as fuel treatment and refuelling have to be taken into account. What does this mean for data centre


operators? Firstly, power reduction programmes


need to be accelerated and cut deeper than before. A major part of this will be replacing equipment more frequently to ensure that only the most power friendly systems are installed. Secondly, a detailed understanding


of where and when power is used is essential to ensure key systems are kept powered. And thirdly, generating facilities must


be overhauled, reviewed, regularly tested and given a higher priority than many other systems.


Accurate measurement a


priority One of the first things that data centres need to do is assess how they are measuring the amount of power that they use. This might seem self-evident but there are now so many ways to measure power that there is a real risk of ending up with too much data and too little information. Where to monitor power is a subject


of much discussion. Power is lost through transmission and through conversion. A lot of data centres do multiple AC/DC conversions inside their infrastructure. What they do not do is calculate how much power is lost during the conversion process. The most effective way to know


Data centres - heavy industry? 36 NETCOMMS europe Volume IV Issue 1 2013


how much power is being consumed by devices is through intelligent PDU strips, which allow you to monitor either individual devices or groups of devices.


Once you are getting usage data from


devices, the next stage is to understand usage patterns. Not all devices pull data at the same rate 24x7. While storage devices and switches are generally a constant load, computational device power varies constantly. There are solutions on the market


that allow operators to see where power is being used, capture usage patterns and power down systems remotely.


Measure power cooling A major source of power consumption is the cooling systems in the data centre. When calculating the amount of power required keeping the data centre running, it is critical to understand the requirements of cooling systems. If cooling systems are allowed to


lose power, there is a significant risk of thermal runaway, especially in high- density racks containing switches and blade servers. With many data centres only


checking their generators once a year when they run an emergency test, there is a serious risk of not providing the right level of spares and support. Fuel for diesel generators needs to


be properly conditioned. This helps to remove impurities which reduces damage to the engine. As well as the conditioning, filters and strainers need to be regularly checked and changed. Where a generator is not used regularly, these tend to get forgotten.


Conclusion Energy is the lifeblood for any data centre, it is also the biggest cost. In Europe, energy supplies on a 24x7x365 basis can no longer be taken for granted. Data centres need to look at how they can cope with power outages. In future, these may not just be for minutes or a few hours but potentially for a day and on a regular basis. Data centres need to act now and


act fast. www.cannontech.co.uk


www.netcommseurope.com


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