Data Center

Overheard: Are data Center efficiency metrics purposely obtuse?

I have come to the realization that this industry does a wonderful job in telling its members WHAT to do, but lacks to follow-up with the HOW. Michael Manos, Struggling with CADE, McKinsey / Uptime Metric

Lots of buzz about the Uptime Institute’s symposium on IT Energy Efficiency and the study McKinsey released called Revolutionizing Data Center Efficiency . It’s interesting that Michael Manos estimates that only 10% of data center managers measure the efficiency of their facilities. Could it be because it’s almost impossible for the average Joe to get the data they need to plug in the formulas? Or could it be that they’re waiting for a clear winner in the proposed metrics? Try this one out for size: CADE.

CADE is the new metric-of-the-week.

CADE (Corporate Average Data center Efficiency) = (Facility Efficiency) x (Asset Efficiency)

Facility Efficiency is defined as (Facility Energy Efficiency) * (Facility Utilization)
Asset Efficiency is defined as (IT Energy Efficiency) * (IT utilization)

Overheard: Is there a market for the heat created by a data center?

The designers of the new mall worked out a plan to connect their heat pump system to the data center of a near by Telco facility. During the winter, the data center heats the mall and during the summer, the mall uses the heat generated by the server room to preheat a local hotel’s water system. kstroh, Selling Heat

Mercursenteret is a shopping mall established in an old telegraph building in Trondheim, Norway. The shopping mall is cooled and heated by a heat pump system. In the winter during the heating period, the heat pump uses the cooling distribution system of the telecommunication centre in the next-door building (Teknisk Telehus) as the heat source. In the summertime, the heat pump operates mainly for cooling. Excess heat from the heat pump system is sold to pre-heat sanitary water in a hotel in the neighbourhood. The seasonal performance factor is 3.5 for heating and 2.5 for cooling.

Tour: Server room at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

Tour: Huawei Data Center

Tour: WickedInk takes you on a tour of his data center

Tour: DLR’s German National Satellite Data Center

Tour: Teklan data center

Tour: Internetwire Communications

This is in German, but you won't have any trouble understanding the narrator.

Tour: DRFortress (formerly Equinox)

Tour: ICT Center