In today’s connected world, data centers are increasingly important to ensure that businesses and individuals have access to their digital information whenever they need it. Operating a data center, though, can be a costly endeavor, especially when you factor in the cost of electricity that’s required to keep the equipment running. Given the constant energy use, even small gains in efficiency can help you improve your bottom line. To ensure your data center fits in your budget, here are some tips to help you make your data center more energy-efficient.
Though the equipment you oversee is complex, one of the best ways to save energy isn’t complex at all. By turning off equipment that’s not in use, rather than letting it sit idle, you can reduce or eliminate the “vampire power” that various components use to keep lights on, complete background updates, and perform other functions. As long as you know you won’t need a certain piece of equipment for an extended time period, it’s best to switch it off and save all the energy you can.
All types of data center equipment create heat during their operation. Keeping the equipment cool is crucial to prevent service disruptions and to prolong the life of your equipment. It’s important to keep your data center at a temperature that’s low enough to prevent the individual fans on the equipment from running most of the time. This will ensure you keep your cooling centralized, allowing you to control how much energy you use for the process.
If you have anything more than a small data center, it’s likely that you use uninterruptible power supplies, also known as UPSs, to distribute power throughout your facility. If these devices aren’t efficient, you will lose quite a bit of power before it even makes it to your network equipment. That’s why it’s a good idea to have commercial electrical services install more efficient UPSs, along with any wiring upgrades that are needed to support this change.
In the fast-paced world of a data center, it can be easy to overlook inefficiencies that are created as a result of expanding your capacity, over time. Therefore, it’s a good idea to occasionally analyze your entire data center to ensure that there are no synergies that can be created by consolidating equipment or performing other overlooked maintenance tasks. Even if you don’t discover any new efficiencies, a regular analysis of your data center can help to keep everything running smoothly for the long haul.
Just as the equipment in your data center must work together to produce the desired outcome, it’s a good idea to work together with other IT professionals both inside and outside your organization to ensure you’re following the best practices when it comes to energy efficiency. By seeking second opinions, you can be sure that you’re realizing every possible efficiency, helping to save your company money.
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