For the data center industry, when it comes to renewable energy we need to follow the principle we learned in our Intro to Economics class – caveat emptor or “let the buyer beware.” In this week’s Voices of the Industry, Phillip Sandino, Vice President of Data Center Operations at RagingWire Data Centers, examines how data centers can improve their renewable energy usage.
Insights: Data Center Energy
Electricity is the lifeblood of every data center. At Data Center Frontier, we're exploring new frontiers in data center energy as we see data centers in new places. Some of these new facilities will seek new sources of energy, especially renewable technologies such as wind and solar, as well as landfills and other sources of biogas. Other technologies, such as Bloom Energy fuel cells, may prompt consolidated approaches to power architecture.
We're interested in how modular data centers and other design innovations allow new methods of deploying Internet infrastructure, creating opportunities to make use of solar arrays, wind turbines, fuel cells, combined heat & power (CHP), microgrids, and the recycling of server exhaust heat to warm buildings through district heating.
Energy Procurement: A Painful Process Made Easy
It’s typical for a company to view energy procurement as simply another cost. Making the time to understand all of the options and what a company is buying is hard because of the complexity involved with the energy market. In this edition of Voices of the Industry, Brian Frazier, Director of Energy Services for Stream Data Centers, outlines the benefits of energy procurement services.
Facebook: Open Sharing Was Key to Addressing Arc Flash Incidents
At the 7×24 Exchange, Facebook disclosed two arc flash incidents at its data center in Sweden, and how its post-event analysis headed off other potential incidents.
Facebook Comes to Richmond, Boosting Green Energy Options in Virginia
Facebook is coming to Richmond, and bringing tons of solar energy with it. The company will invest $1 billion in a data center and network of solar energy facilities.
Customer Focus on Energy Efficiency Driving Green Data Center Market
The global green data center market, with Europe and the U.S. historically leading it, is expected to reach or exceed $55 billion by 2021. Aaron Binkley, Director of Sustainability Programs at Digital Realty, discusses how a growing customer focus on energy efficiency is driving the “green” data center market.
Using Servers to Heat Homes: Facebook Embraces Heat Recycling
Facebook will use heat energy from servers in its data center in Denmark to warm up to 6,900 nearby homes through a district heating system.
Bloom’s Breakthrough Moment? Equinix to Install 40 MW of Fuel Cells
Bloom Energy has received a huge vote of confidence from one of the industry’s largest players. Equinix Inc., will install Bloom Energy Servers in 12 data centers in California, New York and Los Angeles.
Frontier Spotlight: The Top Data Center Stories for July 2017
Power is the lifeblood of the data center industry, and continues to engage data center thought leaders, as seen in the most popular stories on Data Center Frontier for July 2017.
Schneider Electric Buys ASCO Power Business From Vertiv
Schneider Electric announced today that it has purchased ASCO Power Technologies from Vertiv for $1.25 billion. ASCO is a leading maker of automatic transfer switches (ATS) for data centers.
The Future of Innovation in Data Center Electrical Infrastructure
Our DCF Data Center Executive Roundtable addresses the need for continuing innovation in data center electrical design and infrastructure.
Data Center Frontier is edited by Rich Miller, the data center industry’s most experienced journalist. For more than 15 years, Rich has profiled the key role played by data centers in the Internet revolution.