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CIOs Today Concerned about Data Center Power and Driving Efficiency
By Susan J. Campbell TMCnet Contributing Editor
Once upon a time, CEOs and CIOs didn’t care about data center power or power consumption. In fact, the data center was never even mentioned in the board room unless it was something identified by the CEO as something the company needed.
Today, however, that approach has changed. Top level management down to the data center supervisor, are all aware of the importance of data center power and how too much consumption can lead to inefficiency. And, with so much attention mounting around data center power, it is becoming clear that the data center could easily be run more effectively.
According to a recent white paper titled “Why Energy Management Is Driving Adoption of Data Center Infrastructure Management Solutions,” the efficiency that tends to be inherent in the data center today is evident by the data center design. A number of these centers are run by separate units, an owner for each layer of technology captured. Different layers and different people managing those layers easily apply to the networking, storage, servers, power distribution, databases and cooling.
The same organizations are likely to use various reporting and management applications to help each area, yet none create a complete picture of actual activity in the data center as a whole. Now, as efficiency and data center power reductions are a primary focus, the siloed approach will no longer work as it cannot support the data center-wide optimizations that are necessary. To respond to the needs of the business, the data center today must allow for rapid provisioning, virtual assets and complete agility.
Supporting the business needs and conserving data center power are goals that also present specific challenges. Energy costs are rising, utilization in terms of capacity in space and computing must be increased, and data center wide transparency is decreasing. As a result, CIOs are searching for new strategies for data center optimization. Ultimately, CIOs need information that resides in building automation systems and building management systems. At the same time, effective energy management requires bridging IT and facilities management.
The cost of data center power continues to rise and the demand for more power continues to increase exponentially, putting more pressure on data center managers the world over to identify new ways to make their data centers more efficient and to deliver the necessary cost savings. Fortunately, there are providers in this space that can help to create the efficient data center.
Server Technology works to design, develop and provide some of the world's best power management products and systems. For the past 25 years, the company has seen significant changes in the data center space and data center managers today are overseeing more elements within the data center than ever before. Plus, now that virtualization is gaining momentum, the rules within the data center have changed.
Server Technology (News - Alert) relies on its own technology in the Sentry Power Manager to measure, monitor and trend data center power consumption. The company monitors usage, the environment and captures that information in the Sentry Power Manager, and then uses that information to make better decisions regarding the efficient operation of the data center. As a result, companies can more effectively manage their data center power consumption for a more efficient environment.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Rich Steeves
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