High density IT equipment stresses the power density capability of modern data centers. This paper describes the principles for achieving power and cooling capacity management.

New breakthroughs in power and cooling technology allow for a simple and rapid deployment of self-contained high density zones within an existing or new low density data center. The independence of these high density zones allows for predictable and reliable operation of high density equipment without a negative impact on the performance of existing low density power and cooling infrastructure. A side benefit is that these high density zones operate at much higher electrical efficiency than conventional designs. Guidance on planning design, implementation, and predictable operation of high density zones is provided.

The development of standards for the measurement and specification of data center efficiency is an essential step in the global effort to reduce the environmental impact of data centers. This paper explains some of the metrics that have been used to describe the efficiency of data center physical infrastructure and suggests which metric is the most effective.

Despite advances in computer technology, power outages continue to be a major cause of PC and server downtime. Protecting computer systems with Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) hardware is part of a total solution, but power management software is also necessary to prevent data corruption after extended power outages. Various software configurations are discussed, and best practices aimed at ensuring uptime are presented.

Before data center infrastructure efficiency can be benchmarked using PUE or other metrics, there must be agreement on exactly what power consumptions constitute IT loads, what consumptions constitute physical infrastructure, and what loads should not be counted. This paper explains the problem and describes a standardized method for classifying data center loads for efficiency calculations.

Electricity usage costs have become an increasing fraction of the total cost of ownership (TCO) for data centers. It is possible to dramatically reduce the electrical consumption of typical data centers through appropriate design of the network-critical physical infrastructure and through the design of the IT architecture. This paper explains how to quantify the electricity savings and provides examples of methods that can greatly reduce electrical power consumption.

Rack power of 10 kW per rack or more can result from the deployment of high density information technology equipment such as blade servers. This creates difficult cooling challenges in a data center environment where the industry average rack power consumption is under 2 kW. Five strategies for deploying ultra-high power racks are described, covering practical solutions for both new and existing data centers.

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Virtualization has moved to the forefront of many organizations’ IT agendas, because it reduces both the number of physical servers required and the associated costs. This independent study by the International Technology group found IBM PowerVM more cost-competitive over time, compared to VMware, in terms of IT costs and the costs of downtime.

As data mounts, small and midsize businesses cope with a sprawling and often costly infrastructure. This paper shows how these businesses can benefit by implementing a virtualization strategy. A well-executed strategy can result in fewer, better-utilized servers, rapid provisioning of servers, affordable business continuity, and more streamlined, efficient management.