It Was a Big Week for Data Center Energy News
Posted on Fri, Jun 25, 2010 @ 10:41 AM
There was a lot of interesting news on data center energy this week. Here's a look at some of the articles that caught our attention.
DatacenterDynamics ran a nice piece on how the rising cost and demand for energy in the data center combined with impending government legislation means energy efficiency metrics are taking hold and evolving at a rapid pace.
SearchDataCenter News ran an article by Robert McFarlane on the new EnergyStar ratings for data centers. In the article, he points out that the new Energy Star rating will have its detractors because it is based on the already controversial PUE (power usage efficiency) which is becoming the global standard for measuring data center efficiency. He points out, the metric is "not valid as a comparison among different data centers" and that the problem with PUE is that it looks only at how much energy is used and not how that energy usage is contributing the business.
Melissa Alvarez blogged about The Three Biggest Myths About Green IT. The first myth is that the case for Green IT is a clear one. She writes that "the biggest problem in making the case for energy efficiency has nothing to do with the technology. The issue is who realizes the benefits." The second myth is that Green IT is achievable. Her thinking here is that Green IT isn't so much a destination as a journey that involves creating processes and policies that define a way of operating over the long-term. And the third myth is that everybody cares about Green IT. She quotes the results of a recent survey from CIO magazine that asked IT management their top priorities where Green IT didn't make the list. Her thinking is that "Green IT is really about doing away with waste and inefficiency -- and inefficiency costs money."
At Viridity Software, we believe that you can't manage what you can't measure. It's great to read that energy efficiency metrics are taking hold across the industry and that people recognize that reducing data center energy usage benefits the whole organization.