Embedded Data Centers: Designing Better Energy Efficiency Programs

Transcription

1 Embedded Data Centers: Designing Better Energy Efficiency Programs Robert Huang, Cadmus Silicon Valley Leadership Group Data Center Efficiency Summit November 5, 2014

2 What are Embedded Data Centers (EDCs)? Type Square Feet # Physical Servers Number in U.S. Server Closets Less than 100 Less than million Server Rooms 100 to to million Localized Data Center 500 to 1, to 99 66,000 Mid-Tier Data Center 2,000 to 19, to ,000 Enterprise Data Center At least 20,000 At least 500 7,000 Source: IDC,

3 EDCs in Commercial Buildings Typical office building s DC is: 23% of annual energy costs Efficient office building s DC is: 40-50% of annual energy costs Source: 2013 E Source Energy Manager s Roundtable: presentation entitled Who needs skeletons? We ve got servers in the closets by Mark Monroe, Chief Technology Officer and VP at DLB Associates. 3

4 EDCs are. Ubiquitous 50% of all servers in the U.S. are installed in EDCs Found in 50% of small and medium business customers at PG&E CBSA found 250 EDCs in 230 commercial buildings* Hard-to-Reach 50 calls per completed survey with EDC Manager Uninterested in EE Limited Savings per Site Size Opportunities not the same * Preliminary results 4

5 Importance of EE to EDC Managers PG&E Study asked IT Vendor: How Often do Customers Ask About EE? (n=17) Often 12% Always 6% Never 35% Sometimes 18% Rarely 29% 5

6 When Do Closets Need to Have 1.5 kw IT load limit at 77 degrees Technically, based on # servers includes: Most server closets Some server rooms CBSA: 35 of 85 server closets had no dedicated cooling Dedicated Cooling? Schneider Electric, Whitepaper 6

7 Airflow Management/Cooling Savings are Very Limited in Server Closets 7

8 Growing Interest in EDCs EPA: Updating utility guidance to include EDCs NEEA, PG&E, & SVP: Conducting charrettes with EDC managers/it vendors NRDC: Issued papers on topic NWPCC: Analyzing CBSA data PG&E: Surveyed EDC managers NYSERDA: Examining entire DC market including EDCs MN: Requested EDC pilot VERGE and ACEEE Conferences Red denotes Cadmus projects 8

9 How Can This Group be Reached? PG&E: EDC Managers: 1 survey completed per 50 calls IT Vendor: 1 survey completed per 5 calls 45% of EDC Managers use an IT vendor Another survey found IT Vendor twice as likely to know about utility data center efforts Link program to IT Vendors that heavily influence EDC decision making (similar to HVAC programs) 9

10 If HVAC Opportunity is Limited, Look to IT Pursue prescriptive incentives (custom too costly): ENERGY STAR qualified servers, data storage, and networking based on efficiency metrics Server virtualization Migration to colocation and cloud services (chiller-less cooling) Explore per-unit incentives: midstream for IT Vendors or upstream for IT equipment makers 10

11 Incentives Can Help Increase EE in EDCs Top 5 EE Barriers in EDCs Ranking According to SDC Managers: According to IT Vendors: 1 Resource constraints Resource constraints 2 EE not priority Focus on upfront costs 3 Focus on upfront costs Lack of understanding of inhouse IT manager 4 Lack of understanding of in-house IT manager Risk averse 5 Risk averse EE not priority 11

12 Server Savings EPA study at MSFT DC metered HP ProLiant servers G6 (ES) G5 (non-es) Determined over 50% savings very low loads (where most servers operate)

13 Server Virtualization of EDCs 2012 NRDC study: 37% (n=30) 2014 CBSA study: 35% (n=86) EDCs ripe for server virtualization incentives 13

14 ENERGY STAR Is Gathering SERT Data For Servers 14

15 ENERGY STAR Requires Data Storage Performance Info Three types of information collected: Transaction (I/O per second per watt) Banking Large number of random I/O operations Streaming (MiB per second per watt) Netflix Streaming large continuous chunks of data Capacity (GB raw capacity per watt) Not accessed frequently but prepared to go Currently 60 models on qualified product list 15

16 IT Vendor Perspective on EDC Migration Eventually, will head to a co-location facility or the cloud Held back mostly by security and bandwidth Most indicated that EDCs would migrate to a colocation facility before moving to the cloud -PGE Study 16

17 ComEd Closet to Colocation Program 5 cents/kwh incentive EDC with 5kW total load that saves 10% from colocation migration pockets $200 incentive 17

18 EPA EDC Case Study Preliminary Info Small municipal server room Funding for new HVAC system Two rack server room 4 kw IT load 11/10/

19 Server Room HVAC Possibilities 19

20 Panel Metering Metered total load and AC load at panel Watt nodes Data logger Also metered temperature and humidity 11/10/

21 Odd Findings 3.5 ton spot cooler oversized for 4 kw IT load Mysterious increase in use of AC and temp changes with no change in IT load 21

22 Culprit During the summer, the manager was leaving the door open to cool adjoining offices on hot days The 3.5 ton spot cooler was going full blast all day 22

23 Looking to be Efficient Consolidating another server room into this Getting rid of spot cooler Currently examining small cooling unit made by Daiken with air side economizer Needs to be on outer wall $18K to install Extra $4K for economizer Incremental cost payback in 2 years 23

24 Single Enthalpy Control Economizer Operation Parameters Unit DB Temp Temp Dewpoint Enthalpy % Time On ES % ES % ES % ES % ES % 24

25 Summary of EDC Program Develop prescriptive rebates for IT measures (to ease administrative burden) IT equipment Colocation/cloud migration Leverage IT Vendors relationships and market influence (similar to HVAC programs use of contractors) Explore upstream incentives to manufacturers Use classic HVAC measures for larger EDCs Possibly smaller, free cooling units Variable speed drives to accommodate shrinking IT loads Run pilots 25

26 Contact Info Robert Huang Office: Allison Bard Office: