In today's world of ever-present concerns over greenhouse gases, carbon footprints and energy consumption, the data center stands as a key area of focus for conservation and improved energy efficiency. According to the Lawrence Berkeley Labs, data centers in the United States today account for about 1.2 percent of the nation's total power draw; by 2010, they are expected to account for more than 2.3 percent.

For the data center manager who is facing increasing energy costs, and corporate and community pressure to reduce consumption, all while working with a limited budget, there are many areas to focus on. Furthermore, many seemingly elaborate processes and expensive programs can be cumbersome and difficult to act upon in meaningful short-term ways.

Server virtualization is one technology that can be effective by allowing multiple applications to run on individual servers, resulting in less equipment to power and cool. Avenues exist for improving airflow, but they require extensive planning, money and execution, such as configuring hot aisle/cold aisle layouts for cabinets.

These types of major changes may not be achievable in the short-term, however, and on their own, they likely will not be enough. There are, however, simpler and less-expensive ways to reduce power and cooling costs in the data center.

Maximizing cabinet density is the long-serving mantra of IT professionals. Maximizing a limited space became the norm, and equipment continued to become smaller, while producing more heat. This situation only becomes magnified in the data center.

The result is cabling that is difficult to manage, and inhibits passive and forced air pathways meant to dissipate heat. The situation is now shifting, however, as facility managers begin to weigh operation expenses in energy costs against the capital expenses of less-dense configurations. As a result, energy efficiency demands have forced managers to consider something known as managed density.

This is the principle that acknowledges there is a point where the number of cable terminations and servers deployed negatively affects the economics and management of the data center. A major element to "unmanaged density" is the common issue of cable dams blocking airflow within the cabinet. According to IBM, infrastructure upgrades, such as removing cable dams, can result in 15 percent to 40 percent savings in energy costs.

One solution is to limit the number of servers and cable terminations in a cabinet, especially in copper racks where cable diameter is larger. Another is to employ well-designed cable-management products and to utilize discipline in cable routing when dealing with moves, adds and changes.

Products designed to protect cables and keep pathways clear are critical to uptime and cooling, respectively. Consider cable-management products that integrate slack storage so that ample space is allowed for the flow of cool air into and hot air out of the cabinet. Implement flexible and scalable cable-management products that allow deployment to be customized to meet current and future requirements.

Securing cables along the entire length of vertical cable managers can open airflow, as can the use of restraints when filling trays to allow access as well as improved airflow. Place cables in overhead channels as opposed to raised floors, freeing up more plenum space to improve airflow and reduce the need to push more cool air.

Another simple fix is to specify smaller diameter copper cable. With the emergence of 10GBASE-T and the larger diameter augmented Category 6 cables, the choice of copper cabling can impact airflow, because some cables have a much smaller outside diameter than others. Less material means a smaller footprint, leading to improved passive airflow, requiring less power used for cooling.

Unrestricted and direct airflow means less power is needed to cool equipment. Other simple measures are plugging unnecessary vents and cable cutouts in perforated raised floor tiles. Use blank panels in open rack spaces to help properly channel cool air over equipment, and ensure that vented floor tiles are properly located to reduce hot spots and flow cool air into equipment air intakes. Dim the lights during off hours, and shut down servers that are not in use. David Yanish Minor changes make a difference, and they are cumulative.

David Yanish is responsible for the development and management of the enterprise marketing and partner programs at ADC, Minneapolis. In this role, he directs ADC's PACE (professional architects, consultants and engineers) program that provides information about emerging technologies, standards and industry trends.

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