How to Make Data Centers More Sustainable – Tips and Best Practices
Liquid Cooling
Shahid
Published:
Data centers consume significant amounts of electrical power. Their outsized carbon footprints make it challenging for a data center to be sustainable, in terms of the environment and resource consumption. They also use a great deal of water. Data center equipment typically turns into e-waste, which further undermines sustainability.
This article explores how to make data centers more sustainable, along with best practices to follow to achieve sustainability.
That’s why it’s important to consider why it may be wise to consolidate data centers and how to develop a meaningful data center consolidation strategy.
What is a Sustainable Data Center?
A sustainable data center is a data center designed to operate in an environmentally and resource-efficient manner. It can be achieved through many sustainable data center solutions, such as utilizing renewable energy or advanced cooling methods.
A green data center aims to reduce the environmental impact of its everyday operations.
The impact that data centers have on the environment is often scrutinized because they consume more energy for their size, compared to virtually any other kind of building. While data centers comprise less than .01% of the world’s built space, they consume between 1% – 2% of all the energy produced worldwide—a figure that is projected to increase over time due to increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital trends.
What is a Data Center Consolidation Strategy?
A data center consolidation strategy is a set of guiding principles that shape a data center consolidation project plan.
It should align with broader business goals while clearly articulating the desired outcomes of the process; for example, decreased energy use or optimizing network performance. At the same time, the strategy should provide a foundation for the organization’s IT future.
Examples of data center consolidation strategies include:
Merge the systems running in four data centers into two while ensuring scalability and performance capacity to enable an artificial intelligence growth plan.
Cut power and cooling expense by migrating systems from two data centers into one, while deploying high-performing hardware that aligns with anticipated workloads.
Consolidate system administration teams, i.e., headcount, as part of a process of closing a data center.
Importance of Outlining a Data Center Consolidation Approach
Data center consolidation should not be an impulsive process. Doing it right means careful analysis, planning, and execution. The process will involve the participation of people from across the organization, as well as from external entities like co-location providers and consultants. Adopting the right data center consolidation approach is critical for success.
At the earliest stage in the process, before you even decide to consolidate data centers, it’s smart to gather the core stakeholders and try to figure out if consolidation is necessary, what its basic goals might be, and what, specifically, the project will involve.
What will the approach be? Will you start in small increments, migrating selected applications and data repositories to new hosting facilities, or will you plan a massive consolidation that takes a year to execute—completed with a big “cut over” moment? There’s no right answer, but it’s useful to think through your approach before you even start planning.
