Liam Newcombe BCS Data Centre Specialist Group - Secretary

Liam NewcombeBCS Data Centre Specialist Group - Secretary

Towards Low Carbon ICT Simulating the Financial and

Environmental Costs of Operating a Data Centre

Recognising the Problem

IT Devices

The Data Centre

DCSG Data Centre Model

Lessons Learned

Towards Low Carbon ICT



Two Kinds of Energy Use


In Use Energy• Power Drawn by

Device• Data Centre

Overheads

Embedded Energy• Manufacturing• Distribution• Packaging• Disposal


Drivers for Green Computing• Initially about Financial Costs

– Cheap IT kit against the Rising Cost of Power– Cost of M&E Exceeds Both

• Counting the Cost of Carbon– EU ETS, Cap and Trade / Offset Cost– Corporate Social Responsibility / Brand Value

• Choosing the ‘Lowest Cost’ Solution– Lowest overall cost = £ + £(CO2)

Recognising the Problem - Technology

Power Loss Chain Power Station – Data Centre

95% 2.5%

2.5%

Transmission Losses

Transformer Losses

Data Centre

100%Power Station Output

Power Station

Data Centre

95% of Power Station Power

Recognising the Problem - TechnologyPower Loss Chain

Data Centre - Equipment

95% 2.5%

2.5%

Transmission Losses

Transformer Losses

Data Centre

40% 25% 35%Cooling LossesPower Infrastructure LossesIT Equipment


Data Centre

Equipment

Recognising the Problem - TechnologyPower Loss Chain

Data Centre - Servers

95% 2.5%

2.5%

Transmission Losses

Transformer Losses

Data Centre



65% 20% 15%Network Equipment

Storage Equipment

Servers

Data Centre

Equipment

Servers

Recognising the Problem - TechnologyPower Loss Chain - Data Centre - CPU

95% 2.5%

2.5%

Transmission Losses

Transformer Losses

Data Centre


7.5% of Power Station Power


Storage Equipment

Servers

30% 45% 25%Power Supply

Other Components

CPU

Data Centre

Equipment

Servers

CPU

Recognising the Problem - TechnologyPower Loss Chain - Data Centre – CPU Used

95% 2.5%

2.5%

Transmission LossesTransformer Losses

Data Centre


1.5% of Power Station Power


Storage Equipment

Servers

30% 45% 25%Power Supply

Other Components

CPU

20% 80%Idle Time Power

CPU Load Power

Data Centre

Equipment

Servers

CPU

CPU Utilisation

Recognising the Problem - TechnologyPower Loss Chain – Fossil Fuel – CPU Used

95% 2.5%

2.5%

Transmission LossesTransformer LossesData Centre

40% 25% 35%Cooling LossesPower InfrastructureIT Equipment

0.5% of Fossil Fuel Energy

65% 20% 15%Network EquipmentStorage EquipmentServers

30% 45% 25%Power SupplyOther ComponentsCPU

20% 80%Idle Time Power

CPU Load Power

35% 65% Heat ExhaustedElectricity GeneratedFossil Fuel

Data Centre

Equipment

Servers

CPU

CPU Utilisation

What Programs Already Exist? • BCS Carbon Footprint Working Group• The Green Grid• EU Data Centre Code of Conduct• US Dept. of Energy / Energy Star • Too Many Others to List

Recognising the Problem - Programs

Recognising the Problem - Metrics

Energy

Delivered IT Services

Fixe

d an

d Pr

opor

tiona

l

DC

iE /

PUE

Dat

a C

ente

r Pr

oduc

tivity

Use

ful W

ork

Per B

usin

ess

Proc

ess

/ Ser

vice

Acc

ount

ing

Reporting Metrics

Whole Building

Expose the Issue

Apply Targets

Create Incentive to Change

Analysis Metrics

Detailed Breakdown

Why is my IT Inefficient?

How do I Change?

Should I buy Product X?

How much £/CO2 will I Save?

Publicise and Measure Understand and Improve

Target Demand as well as Supply


Existing Metrics• Target IT Department• Little Control• Sell Changes to the

Business

BCS Approach• Per Service

Accounting• Target Demand• Compare Cost with

Delivered Value

IT Devices


IT Devices

Server Workloads

Typical Utilisation of Servers

Sleep 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0

Percent Load

Prop

ortio

n

Single Server

Virtualised Server

Grid / HPC Server

IT Devices

Server Power vs. Workload

Commodity x86 Power Utilisation by Load

0

100

200

300

400

500

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Load

Wat

ts

IT Devices

Server Efficiency vs. Workload

'Commodity x86' Server Normalised Overall Efficiency

12%

48%72%

0%

50%

100%

Single Server Virtualised Server Grid Server

The Data Centre


The Data Centre

Data Centre Power - Where does it go?

Overall Power Transfer Functions

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

0 200 400 600 800 1,000

kW

IT Electrical Load (kW)

Dat

a C

entr

e In

put P

ower

Transformer

Chiller

CRAC

UPS

PDU

Cabling &SwitchgearLinear IT LoadPower

The Data Centre

Fixed and Proportional Loads

Data Centre Power Transfer as Fixed plus Proportional

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

kW

IT Electrical Load

Util

ity P

ower

Proportional LoadFixed Load

The Data Centre

Put the Server in a Data Centre• What Power is Drawn at the Utility Feed?

Server Power Draw by Fixed and Proportional Overheads

0

250

500

750

1000

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

IT Workload

Pow

er D

raw

n (W

atts

) Fixed Data CentreLosses

Proportional DataCentre Losses

Server InputPower

Server TotalPower at Utility


A Holistic Approach to Data Centre Energy Efficiency



DCSG Model• Data Centre Power

Transfer Function

• Server Load to Power Function

• IT WorkloadTypical Utilisation of Servers

0 20 40 60 80 100

Percent Load

Prop

ortio

n

Commodity x86 Power Utilisation by Load

0

100

200

300

400

500

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%Load

Wat

ts

Data Centre Power Transfer

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Thou

sand

s

IT Power Draw

Util

ity F

eed

Dra

w

Example Scenario


Current Commodity x86 ServerOld Tier 4 Data Centre

Nameplate ProvisioningRising Power Cost


Old Tier 4 Data Centre, Nameplate Provisioning

Commodity x86 Overall Cost

£0

£200,000

£400,000

£600,000

£800,000

£1,000,000

Single Server Virtualised Grid / HPC

Fixed Power Cost

ProportionalPower Cost

Facility PowerOver-Provisioning

Facility PowerUsed

MaintenanceContracts

Servers CapitalCost



Commodity x86 Lifecycle Energy Use

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500


Thou

sand

s

Life

cycl

e Po

wer

Util

isat

ion

(kW

h) Proportional PowerOverhead (kWh)

Server PowerDrawn (kWh)

Fixed Load PowerOverhead (kWh)

Example Scenario


New Load to Power Linear x86 ServerOld Tier 4 Data Centre

Nameplate Power ProvisioningRising Power Cost



New Load-to-Power Linear x86 Server Overall Cost

£0

£200,000

£400,000

£600,000

£800,000

£1,000,000


Fixed Power Cost



Facility PowerUsed


Servers CapitalCost



New Load-to-Power Linear x86 Lifecycle Energy Use

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500


Thou

sand

s

Life

cycl

e Po

wer

Util

isat

ion

(kW




Example Scenario


New Load to Power Linear x86 ServerNew, Efficient Tier 3 Data Centre

Peak Power ProvisioningRising Power Cost


Efficient Data Centre, Peak ProvisioningNew Load-to-Power Linear x86 Server Overall Cost

£0

£200,000

£400,000

£600,000

£800,000

£1,000,000


Fixed Power Cost



Facility PowerUsed


Servers CapitalCost


Efficient Data Centre, Peak ProvisioningNew Load-to-Power Linear x86 Lifecycle Energy Use

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500


Thou

sand

s

Life

cycl

e Po

wer

Util

isat

ion

(kW




Lessons Learned


What has our analysis told us about DC Operations?

• Data Centres are not individual components, they are complex systems, view them as such

• Component Improvements can be masked• Consider Merging your IT and M&E

groups now

Lessons Learned

What has our analysis told us about DC Operations?

• Buy servers by Performance / Watt not Performance / £• One-App per server - buy the lowest power servers• Build lower Tier data centres and achieve reliability at the

systems / network level• Build modular data centres to keep the utilisation levels

high• Crop Rotate your data centre to sweep out the disused

equipment

Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned

What has our analysis told us about Data Centres? • Energy Use and Cost are Correlated

Overall Cost vs Lifecycle Power

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

£0 £200,000 £400,000 £600,000 £800,000

Overall Cost

Life

cycl

e Po

wer

kW

h

Commodity x86 Single Server

High Efficiency Single Server

Power Linear Single Server

Load Optimised Single Server

Commodit x86 Virtualised

High Efficiency Virtualised

Power Linear Virtualised

Load Optimised Virtualised

Commodity x86 Grid

High Efficiency Grid

Power Linear Grid

Load Optimised Grid

Thank you

Find out more

Data Centre Specialist Group

http://dcsg.bcs.org

Documents

Liam Newcombe BCS Data Centre Specialist Group - Secretary