Emerson Network Power launches Energy Logic in Malaysia

Holistic approach helps IT managers make decisions about optimising energy consumption within data centres
Chan Chee Wah, Managing Director, Southeast Asia, Emerson Network Power.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (24 April, 2008) – Emerson Network Power today unveiled its Energy Logic roadmap, a vendor-neutral approach that embraces industry standard technologies and best practices which end user organisations can adopt to help reduce energy consumption within data centres.

Energy Logic proposes a holistic approach for reducing data center energy use without compromising IT performance or availability. Emphasising the cascade effect of energy savings from the IT level equipment down to the support infrastructure, Energy Logic integrates 10 best practices that deliver quantified savings in the priority areas of power, space and cooling.

According to Chan Chee Wah, Managing Director, Southeast Asia, Emerson Network Power, “Data centre managers and designers, IT equipment manufacturers and infrastructure providers must all collaborate to truly optimise data centre efficiency. Energy reduction initiatives should begin with policies that encourage the use of efficient IT technologies, such as low power processors and high-efficiency power supplies.”

According to a recent survey conducted amongst key data centre managers in the United States, 79 percent of IT professionals believe improving the energy efficiency of their company's data centre is important. However, only 17 percent of respondents have a documented strategy for reducing energy use.

Furthermore, a study by IDC1 estimates that it would cost almost US$400,000 annually to power a 1,000 volume server-unit data centre. The report also noted that data centre energy consumption makes up about 10 percent of most companies’ IT budgets.

“Emerson Network Power has quantified the savings that can be achieved through the Energy Logic sequence. Our internal studies have shown that applying the Energy Logic approach to a 5,000-square-foot data centre model can reduce energy use by up to 52 percent without compromising IT performance or availability,” added Chan.

These 10 best practices were identified from an analysis of available energy saving opportunities which were applied to a 5,000-square-foot data centre model based on real-world technologies and operating parameters. Through the model, Emerson Network Power was able to quantify the savings of each action at the system level, as well as identify how energy reduction in some systems affects consumption in supporting systems.

The cascade effect is the energy savings that occur in each supporting system caused by reductions in energy consumption at the IT equipment level. Reductions in demand-side (systems such as processors, server power supplies, storage and communication equipment) cascade through to the supply side (including the UPS, power distribution, cooling and lighting.) For example, in the 5,000-square-foot (465 sq. m) data centre model used to analyse energy consumption, a 1W reduction at the server component level resulted in an additional 1.84W reduction in the power consumed.

The Energy Logic Symposium held in Kuala Lumpur today involved several key participants including ecosystem partners such as IBM, Cisco and Dell. The speakers from the respective companies discussed a wide range of topics ranging from best-in-class technologies and practices to trends in IT virtualisation and IT consolidation. Close to 200 industry and market leaders, IT professionals, consulting engineers and alliance partners came together to discuss the importance of energy efficiency and share knowledge on reducing energy consumption within a data centre.

The Energy Logic symposium series has reached over 5,000 IT and telecommunications professionals around Asia Pacific, providing them with a common platform to share their knowledge, thoughts, views and experiences on optimising energy consumption within data centers. Covering 19 major cities across Asia, including Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, India and Australia, the event series kicked off in April and will run through to July.

For more information, go to [http://www.emersonnetworkpower-partner.com/EnergyLogic].

1IDC, Server Power Consumption Reemerges as a Critical Cost Factor In Data Centers, Doc #33937, August 2005.