Green datacentre consortium, theGreen
Gridhas introduced afree online toolandmapsto help datacentre and facilities
managers calculate if they can use outside air tocool datacentre server
rooms.
The software determines how much outside air - known as
free cooling - is available for individual datacentres. The
updates extend coverage of the tool and maps to 33 European
countries. The Green Grid said the tool can help datacentre
managers in Europe lower energy consumption and related costs. This
could extend the life and improve the energy efficiency of
datacentre facilities.
"Finding cooling options that use less power is critical not
only for organisations that don't have resources to build new
facilities but also for those that want to save money," said Vic
Smith, Dell representative and EMEA technical work group chair of
The Green Grid.
Datacentre managers can enter data about their facilities -
including local energy costs, IT load, and facility load - to
determine energy savings for individual facilities. The software
also provides information about savings that could be obtained
using water-side economisers.
According to the Green Grid, a one megawatt (1000kW) datacentre
in Luton, with power at a cost of 8.6p per kW hour, could save
£312,000 per year using free cooling, or £192,000 per year using a
water-side economiser.
Members of The Green Grid have access to a high-resolution
graphical map of the estimated hours of air-side and water-side
economisation possible for Europe.
Lower-resolution maps of European free cooling estimates are
available to the public at The Green Grid Web site.
Google invests to reduce carbon footprint >>
Green
Grid library and tools >>