Reducing Information Technologies ever-increasing carbon footprint

reducing information Technology's ever-increasing carbon

footprintTom Raftery

Blog: cix.ie / tomrafteryit.netPodcast: www.podleaders.com

Email: tom@tomrafteryit.net

CIX

• Cork Internet eXchange - CIX• First professional data centre outside

Dublin• Opening Oct ’07• Not a sales pitch (unless your based in

Cork!!!)

CIX.ie

CIX.ie

CIX.ie

CIX.ie

CIX.ie

Lingo

• Watts = Voltage x Amps

• 1000 Watts for 1 hour = 1kWh

• 1U = 1 rack unit = 44.45 mm (1.75 in) high

• 1U servers -> 1A = 220W or .22kW

• Blade Servers/SAN = 500W per 1 U

• A large server might take 1kW

• 40U rack could use 20kW of power

CIX Vision

• Carbon neutral data centre• Why?• How?

Why? Climate change

Why?

• DC running costs• Staffing - reasonable controllable• Connectivity - decreasing• Energy - increasing

Increasing Energy requirements

• Rack of equipment typically used• 1.5 kW 7 years ago• 4.5 kW 4 years ago and• 15 kW in 2006!• SL Avatar consumes 1.75 kWh p.a.!

Watts per $1000 server spend

• Price to fill a rack has gone down• Power consumption has gone up• => Increasing Watts per $1000 of

server spend

Watts per $1000

Carbon Neutrality

• How?• Using Pure Plant Oil (PPO) as an

energy source

Background

• Data Centres:• Consume a lot of electricity • At roughly a constant rate• Have generating capacity at 2x

requirements• Connected to grid through high

voltage substations

Background

• Electricity Supply:• Cannot be stored • Seasonal & diurnal demands• ESB offers Max Demand (MD)

discounts• Wind generates 0-30% of demand

but is highly unstable

The Strategy

• Create a Data Centre power grid

• Powered by diesel generators burning PPO

• Grid generates power for ESB by day and pulls surplus power from ESB by night

• Give control of grid to ESB

• ESB can now buy more wind power

Requirements

• Political will• Buy in from ESB• Buy in from other DCs• Buy in from farmers!• Time!

In the meantime

• CIX are innovating to maximise• Energy efficiency and • Minimise carbon footprint

Optimal DC environment

DC Energy Flow

Innovations

• Utilise free cooling

• Dynamically maximise chilled water temperature

• Eliminate water mixing

• Minimise humidification

• Eliminate air mixing

• Utilise low resistance, slow speed air paths

Free Cooling

• Mean temp in Cork is 10.5˚C• Optimum inlet temp for servers is

21˚C• Exhaust air from servers is 30˚C to

40˚C• Use ambient temp to cool the warm

air and return water

Maximise Chilled Water Temp

• Chillers have a fixed set point• CIX developed dynamic chiller

control system• Maximises temp of chilled water• Reduces energy required to chill it

Eliminate Water Mixing

• Fixed chiller set-point • If CRAHs get overly cold water• => mix with warm water -

extremely wasteful• Dynamic set point eliminates water

mixing

Minimise Humidification

• Low temperature water CRAHs => condensation • reduces the relative humidity• Steam (energy and cooling

implications) required to humidify• Dynamic chiller set point => less

condensation

Typical DC

Eliminate Air mixing

• Mixing hot and cold air - v wasteful• Most DCs - hot aisle/cold aisle

separation• CIX - cold aisle containment - most

energy efficient rack layout

Low Resistance, Slow Speed Air

• Large unobstructed under-floor cavities

• Large overhead spaces for return air flows

• Fans require less energy to move air• Also, using thyristor controlled

direct drive fans to reduce belt resistance losses

Server Supplied Heating

• Dimplex heat exchange unit• Servers heat the CIX offices• Servers heat water for CIX

Power

• 10kv low impedence looped connection to the national grid

• Using GE Super ECO UPS’s offering >98% efficiency

Power

•Normal mode• The output voltage is newly generated,

independently from the input voltage• Heat losses are present in rectifier and

inverter

•Super Eco Mode• Load is supplied via the bypass• UPS rectifier keeps the battery charged• UPS inverter switched off

(no heat losses)

Super Eco Mode

Normal mode

Inverter

DC

Battery bank

AC

AC

DC

Static bypass

Rectifier

Bypass supply

LoadRectifier

supply

Inverter

DC

Battery bank

AC

AC

DC

Static bypass

Rectifier

Bypass supply

LoadRectifier

supply

Transf.

Typical DC

End Result

Standard DC CIXChiller

HumidifierCRAC

IT EquipmentPDUUPS

LightingSwitch Gear

33% 12%3% <1%9% 4%30% 80%5% 0.01%18% <2%1% <1%1% 1%

Conclusion

• Carbon neutrality• many stakeholders • Political will• time to roll out

• Extreme energy efficiency• Being built-in!

References

• Uptime Institute - www.upsite.com

• APC - www.apc.com

• GE - www.ge.com

• CIX Energy Efficiency White Paper - www.cix.ie/air-conditioning-efficiency-at-the-cix-data-centre

• Second Life Avatar Power consumption - www.roughtype.com/archives/2006/12/avatars_consume.php

Thanks

Tom Raftery

Blog: www.tomrafteryit.netPodcast: www.podleaders.com

Email: tom@tomrafteryit.net