Power consumption in the data center continues to be a rising trend. The need to provide redundant power systems with high reliability and availability of compute resources is a major driving force for the increase in power utilization. Some data centers use just as much power for non-compute or “overhead energy” like cooling, lighting and power conversions, as they do to power servers. The ultimate goal is to reduce this “overhead energy” loss, so that more power is dedicated to revenue-generating equipment, without jeopardizing reliability and availability of resources.
There are many methods currently being implemented to reduce unnecessary power consumption in the data center—high-efficiency servers, thermal containment, server inlet temperature increase and reducing power conversion loss. When used in combination, these approaches can deliver low Power Utilization Effectiveness (PUE) values and reduce energy expenses.