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Computing can use a lot of energy, so we invest time and resources in improving energy efficiency in our datacenters and passing on what we learn to our customers, partners, and other stakeholders.
We tackle all aspects of datacenter energy consumption: space, cooling systems, and the computing technology itself. We also participate in U.S. government programs such as the EPA and the Department of Energy's pilot.
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Presentation
Datacenter Consolidation and Efficiency
Consolidating our , datacenter sites in fiscal 2007 reduced energy use by 1.5 megawatts (MW), floor space by 88%, CO2 emissions by 3,227 tons, and costs by $9 million. The Santa Clara datacenter now has a Data Center infrastructure Efficiency (DCiE) rating of 78%, compared with an industry average of approximately 50%. DCiE is a metric defined by The Green Grid that compares the amount of power coming into a datacenter with the power available to its servers. The higher the percentage, the more efficient the datacenter, because less energy is consumed by cooling, lighting, power conditioning, and transmission losses. In Santa Clara alone, these efficiencies lead to additional savings of $400,000 per year.
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For an open, frank discussion of how Sun and our customers are putting green datacenter principles into practice—and saving money in the process—see
In late 2008, we plan to launch our latest green datacenter at our Broomfield, Colorado, campus, which will be just 23% of the size of the datacenter it replaces. It uses an intelligent cooling system with efficient and dynamic cooling, plus a free-cooling system that uses water vapor.
Reducing Heat Output Within Datacenters
Our IT organization set a goal to cut energy consumption by reducing the heat output from the computers in datacenters by 10% in fiscal 2008. We exceeded that demanding target with an 18% reduction, largely achieved through datacenter consolidation, server and storage virtualization, updating technology, and careful monitoring. However, as demands for data processing and storage continue to rise, the savings we realize are quickly consumed. For example, the 2,000 megawatt-hour (MWh) annual savings at our Broomfield datacenter were quickly canceled out by new projects. As a result, heat reduction is now part of the IT group's standard procedures.
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