Google hosted a summit on Data Center Efficiency Best Practices with industry leaders on April 1, 2009.   It was a day long event. You can watch videos with good information on how to make your data center more efficient.  Data Center Efficiency Best Practices Summit

James Hamilton, VP and Distinguished Engineer Amazon Web Services, presented a strong case for his best practices.  He explained that you can achieve a 2 times gain over current averages without advanced techniques. He proclaimed – “metrics drive behavior”.  I fully agree with him on that point.  He challenged data center managers to push the limits and to rely more upon control software. One of his many best practices is “Power Yield Management”.  He explained that power is the most valuable resource.  Therefore it should be over sold just as an airline sells more seats than the airplane holds to ensure a higher utilization.
Power Yield Management Chart
He also gave reasoning on why we should run data centers at a higher temperature. This one chart gives ASHRAEs’ recommendation, range most data centers operate and the Dell PowerEdge 2950 warranty level – a shocking 95 degrees. Temperature Chart

What is the temperature of your data center?

James Cerwinski