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1: The Importance of Green IT 7

adding significant server power, often with racks of blade servers. The racks
of blade servers can greatly increase the power required per square foot in the
data center. Each blade server requires about the same energy as larger, older
servers, and the data center needs similar levels of electricity to cope with the
heat generated. Canary Wharf didn’t have the power infrastructure to sup-
port the increased demands. A similar limit of the power structure occurred
th
during 2008 for data centers south of 14 Street in Manhattan. Power
restrictions to data centers based on inadequate power infrastructure is only a
part of the problem. Data center floor space has also become a significant
concern for data centers, especially in large cities. Often, a company runs out
of data center floor space with no easy capability to expand.
The green IT techniques described in later chapters (such as server and
data storage virtualization, and server consolidation), in addition to cutting
power requirements by 50 percent, also reduce data center floor space
requirements. Using virtual server techniques to replace ten stand-alone
physical servers with one large physical box that includes ten virtual servers
can easily reduce the data center floor space required by 80 percent.
Practicing green IT promotes a “win-win” situation for all aspects of your
ptg
data center: electric-power reduction, server cost, data center floor space, and
management of the physical boxes.
Although building and certifying a green data center or other facility can
often be expensive upfront, substantial long-term cost savings can be realized
on operations and maintenance. The green data center technologies described
later can all be based on the typical business case, where a significant return
on investment (ROI) would be required before proceeding with
a project. Of course, there are also significant nonfinancial returns to
consider—because green facilities (including green data centers) offer
employees a healthy, comfortable work environment. In addition, we cannot
ignore the fact that green facilities enhance relations with local communities.
We are all aware of the growing pressure from environmentalists and,
increasingly, the general public for governments to offer green incentives:
monetary support for the creation and maintenance of ecologically responsi-
ble technologies. Server refresh offers data centers a convenient opportunity
to go green, which always makes economic (as well as environmental) sense.
IBM estimates that a typical 25,000 SF data center with electrical costs at 12
cents per KWH will cost a company $2.5 million a year in electrical energy
costs for IT power and cooling. IBM also estimates that the typical data cen-
ter can reduce its annual electricity cost by up to 50 percent by going green.
Of course, as energy costs continue to climb, so will the savings due to the