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How to Address Rising Data Center Power Consumption
By Carrie Schmelkin TMCnet Web Editor
As the quest for reducing data center power consumption continues, data center managers worldwide are looking for alternative ways to power the data center as well as technologies that can help monitor and track data center power.
Recently, U.S.-based provider of communications and data center services Level 3 found an answer to the issue surrounding critical power as it announced that it is now powering three of its data centers in Europe completely by renewable energy sources.
Commenting on the announcement, James Heard, president of European markets at Level 3, said, “With three data centers 100 percent reliant on renewable energy for commercial power, Level 3 ... demonstrates our commitment to achieving excellence in its protection of the environment and sustainability.”
According to a recent DatacenterDynamics article, the utilities that are serving power to one Level 3 colocation facility located in Amsterdam and two facilities in London issued Level 3 with documentation cementing the fact that the facilities are powered solely by renewable sources, including wind, hydro and solar.For those companies that are not turning to renewable energy sources but are still plagued by increased data center power consumption, companies like Server Technology (News - Alert) are out there to offer monitoring tools.
For almost three decades, Server Technology has been providing some of the largest companies around the world with data center power management solutions, particularly its flagship technology Sentry Power Manager. The latest version of the flagship offering, SPM 5.0, does not just boast a flashy new color and few upgrades; rather, the SPM 5.0 is a fundamental design change within the product itself.
“I think it addresses things customers have wanted to see, it addresses a lot of new functionality that we have been anxious to put into the product and so all of that is rolled up into the 5.0 version,” Server Technology’s Senior Director of Software and Firmware Development Calvin Nicholson told TMCnet. “There were some customers who were waiting for 5.0, and it’s a game changing version of this software. We are going to see more and more installations and more and more success with it.”
SPM 5.0, touted as an “unbelievable solution” for rack-level data center power management, provides significant innovations. This single pane of glass view has the ability to manage an entire CDU network while providing measurement, monitoring and trending data at the rack level or device level, according to company officials.
To read more about Server Technology’s offerings, click here.
Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.
Carrie Schmelkin is a Web Editor for TMCnet. Previously, she worked as Assistant Editor at the New Canaan Advertiser, a 102-year-old weekly newspaper, covering news and enhancing the publication's social media initiatives. Carrie holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and a bachelor's degree in English from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Rich Steeves
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