Green IT technology addressing data centre energy loss

Posted by James Gardiner

Cutting-edge technology is helping data centre facilities reduce the amount of energy they use, according to an IT industry expert.

James Cole, director of IT support services provider Keysource, explained that technological developments are currently focused on cooling data centres as this is where most energy wastage occurs.

"So cooling technologies which utilise ambient temperatures outside the data centre, technologies which draw fresh air into the data centre, are all sort of at the nub of the technology," he commented.

Mr Cole went on to stress that the power usage effectiveness ratio – which is used to measure the energy efficiency of a data centre - can be manipulated by companies trying to show that their servers are 'green'.

He added that firms should keep in mind the bigger picture of improving the overall efficiency of their data centres.

Earlier this month, Facebook engineer Amir Michael gave a technology lecture in Palo Alto, California, in which he explained that the company hopes to hopes to cut energy loss in its data centres from 35 to 15 per cent.