FEATURE
FEATURE
As data centres are one of our
most heavily relied upon resources,
it is important that they operate
sustainably. Matthew Underhill, Head
of Infrastructure, Alfred H Knight,
discusses his approach to greener data
centre operations and offers his best
practice advice for improving energy
efficiency in the data centre space.
Operating sustainably in
the data centre space
As I consider ways to develop a more sustainable approach
to data centre operations, I believe this starts from the
ground up. Ensuring that the building itself is energy
efficient is the very first step during the design phase. Making
sure that the building materials are sustainably sourced is also
vitally important to ensuring a greener approach.
Utilising clean and renewable energy is vital to running a green
data centre and reducing carbon emissions – coupling this with
energy-efficient fuel cells can also make this more efficient, with
increased resiliency.
Thermal containment offers improved efficiency by containing
either hot or cold air – or both – into their specific areas. This
improves the efficiency by offering greater control of the inlet
air temperature, helping to eliminate hotspots – making the
requirements more predictable. In turn, this can enable increased
utilisation of free air cooling.
Free air cooling uses low outside air temperatures to help cool the
data centre – and is one of the reasons that the Nordic countries
are favoured for big data centre installations. Granted, this air still
needs to be filtered and moisturised and this process requires
much less energy over typical cooling methods.
To increase power efficiency, organisations can use AI analytics
to monitor the power coming in and how it is consumed. Firstly,
knowing what you are consuming is a start as it gives a target
in which to aim for. Utilising AI controls not only the power, but
the entire data centre. Learning from the past and predicting
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