Data centre energy gauge, still raw

MUMBAI, INDIA: Raise the temperature at the server inlet point up to 24 degrees Celsius (71 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit), but use sensors to monitor potential hotspots. Develop a dashboard of data centre energy-efficient metrics that provides appropriate data to different levels of IT and financial management. And a lot more is what Gartner is advising.

In order to include metrics, measurement and modeling in a data centre's green IT strategy, Gartner recommends that data centre and IT managers implement the following recommendations with immediate effect:

”Use the SPECpower benchmark to evaluate the relative energy efficiencies of the servers. Improve the use of the existing infrastructure through consolidation and virtualization before building out or buying new/additional data centre floor space.” It adds.

Yes, data centre managers focus on green IT, but too many neglect the metrics data centre and IT managers are not paying sufficient attention to the process of measuring, monitoring and modeling energy use in data centers.

This is what Gartner highlights according to a recent interactive poll conducted by it.

Gartner said that unless users start to create accurate dashboards, they will not be able to reduce energy costs and meet compliance requirements.

The Gartner webinar conducted in April 2009 among more than 130 attendees from the infrastructure and operations (I&O) management found that although green IT issues remain at the top of the agenda, respondents consider vendor and green procurement a low priority activity for the next 18 months.

Although 68 per cent of respondents thought data centre energy management is their most important green IT issue for the next 18 months, only 7 per cent consider green procurement and pushing vendors to create more energy efficient and greener solutions as their top priority.

"This finding is further affirmed in client conversations which reveal that, although the green IT and data centre energy issue has been on the agenda for some time now, many managers feel that they have to deal with

more-immediate concerns before focusing attention on their suppliers' products," said Rakesh Kumar, research vice president at Gartner.

"In other words, even if more energy efficient servers or energy management tools were available, data centre and IT managers are far more interested in internal projects like consolidation, rationalization and virtualization."

Despite this apparent lack of concern for the measuring and monitoring of energy use, around 63 per cent of poll respondents said that they will face data centre capacity constraints in the next 18 months. More importantly, 15 per cent said that their data centers are already at capacity and will be forced to build new sites or refurbish existing sites within the next 12 months.

Gartner said that energy management (both in terms of capacity and cost) can only be effective through advanced monitoring, modeling and measuring techniques and processes.