Emerson: Productivity Gains Offset Energy Use

When the EPA released its report on data center energy, it was widely noted that data centers used more electricity in 2006 than all the color TVs in the U.S. My immediate reaction: “Okay, but which contributes more productivity to the U.S. economy?”

The same thought has occurred to the folks at Emerson Network Power, who have released an analysis placing data centers’ rising energy use in a broader context. Emerson’s conclusion? The productivity gains seen inside data centers dwarf those in other sectors of the economy (like the auto industry, as noted in the above graphic).

“While there has been a significant increase in energy consumption in IT and data center environments, these increases are considerably overshadowed by dramatic gains in data center output and efficiencies over the last five years,” Emerson notes, adding that “while energy consumption in data centers nearly doubled in the last five years, data center compute output increased fourteen-fold, and data center efficiency increased eight-fold over the same period.”

Emerson arrived at those numbers using a new metric called Compute Units per Second (CUPS), which it devised to quantify the performance gains delivered by more powerful chips and servers. The company, which makes power and cooling equipment for data centers, developed CUPS to provide a “placeholder metric” to highlight data center efficiency gains “in the same way that miles-per-gallon (MPG) provides an easily understood, agreed-upon efficiency measure for cars.” Data center professionals can experiment with CUPS in an online data center efficiency calculator.

Are Nuclear Powered Data Centers Possible?

A New Mexico company has announced plans to begin selling compact nuclear power “modules” for commercial use, which are projected to generate about 27 megawatts of energy. The announcement by Hyperion Power Generation of Santa Fe has prompted some tech watchers to wonder whether these mini-nuke installations could be a workable solution for the data center industry.

Hyperion licensed the original reactor design from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The Hyperion Power Module is a hydride reactor that is approximately the size of a hot tub and can drive a steam turbine for seven to 10 years. The reactor uses a uranium hydride core, surrounded by hydrogen gas, and the fuel is not enriched to weapons-grade, meaning it can’t be used for building a nuclear device.

The miniature reactors will be factory-sealed, have no moving parts and be encased in concrete and buried underground, making them difficult to steal. Each module is expected to cost $25 to $30 million, and Hyperion says it has about 100 orders already. Toshiba is said to be developing a similar product that may have a lower price point.

EPA Preps Energy Star Server Spec

The Environmental Protection Agency is moving closer to finalizing an Energy Star efficiency rating for servers, which will help data center managers compare energy usage among vendors. The EPA has completed the third draft of its spec for Energy Star server ratings, and Mark Fontecchio at Server Farming has details.

“The spec includes a matrix for power supply efficiency requirements,” Mark writes. “For example, if the server has a multi-output power supply, the supply should be at 82% efficiency when the server is at full load. The spec also sets power consumption limits for when the server is idle. For a single-socket server, the limit is 60 watts; for 2-3 socket servers, the limit is 151-221 watts depending on how much memory is installed; and for four-socket servers, the limit is 271 watts.”

Read Server Farming for additional details.

Energy Standard for Networks in the Works

There are a growing number of energy efficiency initiatives targeting data center equipment. But what about the network? The Energy Consumption Rating (ECR) Initiative is an open standards-based project aimed at creating energy-efficiency metrics for network and telecom devices. The project was developed by Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, network gear vendor Juniper (JNPR) and Ixia (XXIA), which does network performance testing. Katie at GigaOm has details:

The Initiative is welcoming network industry vendors, service providers and other standards bodies to work with it to help institute benchmark metrics for how energy-efficient (or not) network hardware is. The group is working on repeatable measurements to report energy performance in units of “watts per gigabit per second,” a sort of miles per gallon for tech gear.

The initiative was announced by Ixia and Juniper. The inclusion of LBL (which is not yet listed as an ECR member) would broaden the effort beyond vendors. 

Morgan Stanley Plans Tide-Powered Data Center

Morgan Stanley plans to spend more $400 million to build a huge data center in Scotland that will be powered by tidal energy, and may seek to lease the huge facility to Google upon its completion, according to UK media reports. Morgan’s plans for a data center driven by tidal power closely resemble elements of Google’s proposed floating data barges that use the ocean for power and cooling.

The data center is planned for Scotland’s Pentland Firth, which separates the Orkney Islands from the Scottish mainland, and would require about 150 megawatts of power, the Guardian reports. The data center would use grid power at first, but later generate its own energy using tide-powered turbines developed by Atlantis Resources Corp., in which Morgan Stanley is a major shareholder.  

Google has filed a patent for a floating data centers located 3 to 7 miles from shore, which would use wave action to generate electricity. Google’s patent describes “wave snakes”of floating cylinders like those developed by the UK company Pelamis. The patent also noted the potential to use tidal power systems to support a land-based data center, which is exactly what Morgan Stanley hopes to build in northern Scotland. Google would not comment specifically on the Morgan Stanley project, but is actively interested in developing renewable power sources for its data centers, including wave power and tidal power. 

Atlantis’ tidal power design is described as an underwater windmill, in which 60-foot blades are encased in cylinders on the ocean floor, and uses tidal flows to spin the blades, which can move in either direction to benefit from incoming and outgoing todes. Atlantis is currently testing its technology off the coast of Australia, and says each turbine may be able to generate 5 to 6 megawatts of power. The company has designed turbines for both shallow water and deep water.

Flywheel Maker Pentadyne Gets $22M

In another sign of confidence in the market for flywheel UPS systems, Pentadyne Power Corporation announced this week that has closed $22 million in financing from its existing investors. The funding will be used to support the company’s expansion into new markets. Pentadyne’s flywheels are resold by Emerson Network Power under the Liebert FS brand.

“This latest round of financing comes from our existing investor base – support from the folks who know the most about our company, our products, our talent and our capabilities,” said Mark McGough, President and CEO of Pentadyne. “The commitment of these investors to continue their interests in the company speaks volumes about their confidence in the current and coming success Pentadyne enjoys in the marketplace.”

Major Flywheel Deal for Active Power

In the latest sign of growing interest in flywheels, Active Power, Inc. (ACPW) this week reported its largest single order to date. The company said that “one of the world’s largest Internet search engine providers” had bought 12 of Active Power’s 1200 kVA CleanSource UPS (uninterruptible power supply) systems using 48 flywheels. The systems are scheduled to be delivered in the fourth quarter 2008.

“This particular customer’s order further substantiates the market acceptance of high performance and high efficiency flywheel UPS solutions for large mission critical data center applications,” said Jim Clishem, president and CEO of Active Power. “We continue to see rapid adoption of our flywheel technology particularly among major data center owners and operators who recognize the value proposition and performance benefits inherent with systems of this design.”

Blade Servers and the Density Dilemma

Are blade servers the answer? That depends upon the question, and some data center operators should be asking more questions before looking to blades, according to Microsoft’s James Hamilton. High-density blade server installations can create as many problems as they solve, James argues in a thorough examination of server density on his Perspectives blog.

Hamilton points out that filling racks with blade servers can result in rack power loads of 25kW and beyond, which usually leads to liquid cooling solutions - which may not have been factored into the original cost/benefit analysis for the blade servers. It’s an informative look at power, space, cooling and PUE in evaluating the cost of optimizing your data center.

“I’m not saying that there aren’t good reason to buy high density server designs,” Hamilton writes. “I’ve seen many. What I’m arguing is that many folks that purchase blades, don’t need them. The arguments explaining the higher value often don’t stand scrutiny. Many experience cooling problems after purchasing blade racks. … In short, many data center purchases don’t really get the ‘work done per dollar’ scrutiny that they should get.”

PDI Acquires Onyx Power

Power Distribution, Inc. (PDI) has acquired Onyx Power, Inc. a leading maker of  custom power magnetics and power distribution equipment for the data center, the two companies said today. PDI, which makes power distribution and voltage regulation products, is based in Richmond, Va. and was acquired by Bertram Capital in April 2007. Financial terms of the PDI-Onyx deal were not disclosed.

“The addition of Onyx will strengthen our platform’s competitive positioning in the marketplace by giving us now a third manufacturing center located in California, complementing our Michigan and Virginia facilities,” said Bertram Capital Managing Director Jeff Drazan. “It will provide enhanced customization capabilities, deeper design expertise, shorter lead times, enhanced logistics, and new product opportunities, making PDI the undisputed leader in the power distribution equipment industry.”

Green Power Solutions Gain Visibility

This week we’ve seen some interesting announcements about alternative approaches to data center power products, and one vendor saying interest in green data centers appear to be boosting their wares. Here’s a roundup:

• Capstone Turbine Corp. (CPST) said it has received a $1.3 million order for its UPSource product, an Uninterruptible Power Supply to be used at data centers in Houston, Texas and Arlington, Virginia. Capstone makes microturbines that can run on natural gas. “Instead of an air-conditioned room with rows of batteries on raised floors periodically used to provide emergency back-up, Capstone’s UPSource Secure Power product uses multiple highly reliable, natural-gas fueled microturbines that provide continuous power independent of the electric utility,” said Jim Crouse, Capstone’s Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing. 
• APC introduced Fuel Cell Extended Run (FCXR), a hydrogen-based fuel cell backup solution that integrates with the company’s InfraStruXure racks and enclosures. FCXR, which produces power using air and stored hydrogen, is available in 10 kW increments up to 30 kW contained in a single 19-inch rack.” APC’s next generation fuel cell backup product represents one of the first commercial uses of fuel cell technology for data center environments,” said John DiPippo, senior vice president, APC Data Center Solutions, Software and Services.