Despite a decade or more of green-IT initiatives, data center power and cooling challenges are increasing. Server virtualization and storage consolidation may have reset the baseline for the number of installed servers and storage systems, but application growth continues, utilization rates for both processors and storage are up, and the total power used, inclusive of cooling systems and power distribution systems, can be 2-3X what is required of the IT hardware alone. This results in increased power and cooling requirements, when measured on a cost-per-cubic-foot basis. Ultimately CIOs must face the very real threat of data centers being out of available power and out of available cooling.
The options, when faced with out-of-cooling and out-of-power conditions, are numerous and include:
- Build new data centers
- Re-engineer power and cooling systems
- Refresh hardware to take advantage of more energy-efficient systems
- Expand the scope of server-virtualization and storage-consolidation initiatives
- Employ job scheduling to reduce peak load
Many organizations lack three things necessary to make informed, financially-responsible decisions:
- Information
- Structure
- Process
The information gap stems from an absence of good measurement. Measurement needs to encompass not only the consumption of power by IT systems, but also the consumption by power distribution systems, battery backup systems, and cooling. The facilities manager often measures power going into the data center complex, but they frequently do not charge CIOs for the power and cooling consumed.
The structural challenge stems from the fact that often the facilities manager holds the budget for data-center buildings, power-systems, backup-generators, battery backup systems, and HVAC, while the CIO holds the budget for IT systems and software. CIOs don't have full budget responsibility to which they can be held accountable. If the cost of buildings, power, and cooling are in another budget, one of the options for a CIO is to make power or cooling someone else's problem.
Process can overcome some organizational structural challenges. If budgets for facilities, power, and cooling are separate from IT budgets and not allocated to the data center, the process solution is to rest the responsibility in the lap of the CFO, to whom the facilities manager and the CIO often report. The CFO can ensure, before building new data centers, investing in new HVAC systems, or upgrading power systems, that the CIO has examined all options relative to data center design and upgrades to more energy-efficient systems.
Action Item: Ultimately the responsibility for making sound financial decisions rests with the CFO. The CFO should establish three priorities in order to drive better overall data center efficiency:
- Implement measurement and chargeback for facilities, power, and cooling
- Reorganize budgets to empower CIOs and hold them responsible for the full operational cost of IT systems
- Establish processes for better collaboration between Facilities Management and Data Center Managers to ensure that IT options are evaluated in the context of power and cooling efficiency.
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