IBM's green datacenter pr0n

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c|net’s Green Tech blog has a post today on IBM’s new green datacenter, with a gallery so you can satisfy your floor tile jones.

IBM logoIBM’s main problem was data center sprawl. Five years ago, internal IT staff could barely keep up with growing demand for computing resources from employees, causing an expansion from one data center location to four–a situation that was costly and inefficient.

Now, those four data centers have been consolidated into a single spot with the latest in energy-efficient tech gear, including a network of 200 sensors and water-cooled servers. It also uses what are considered the best practices for physically laying out a data center, with close attention to everything from cabling to air flow.

A big concern, once you get over the hump and decide you want to try and reduce energy use in your datacenter, is what you do first. Most people will say that the place to start is measuring what you have now

To keep the air conditioning well tuned, IBM is gathering lots of data. Sensors are placed behind, in front of, and top of server and storage racks to monitor the temperature. The data is collected and analyzed so that the air and water cooling systems can be automatically adjusted as needed, Guasti explained.

“The bright idea is not so much putting the sensors in. It’s what you do with the data–you get reams of information so you have to try to figure out what’s important and not,” Guasti said.

Comments

  1. It’s great that IBM is trying to be energy efficient. I hope they install a geothermal system eventually. It’s great and very eco-friendly!