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A carbon neutral strategy for data centers plus, the extreme energy efficiencies designed into the CIX.ie data centre.
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reducing information Technology's ever-increasing carbon
footprintTom Raftery
Blog: cix.ie / tomrafteryit.netPodcast: www.podleaders.com
Email: [email protected]
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
