Malaysia and Singapore need to cool off on cooling

Local data centres are too cool according to a recent survey from Enlogic

[Kuala Lumpur – 20 February 2014] A recent survey conducted by intelligent Power Distribution Unit (PDU) provider Enlogic has revealed that data centre operators in Malaysia and Singapore are running their centres far below the recommended temperature range. According to ASHRAE, formerly known as the American Society for Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning, the recommended high end temperature range for class one data centres ranges from 25 to 27 degrees Celsius with an upper limit of 32 degrees Celsius.

The survey of 55 data centre professionals, conducted at Datacenter Dynamics in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, revealed that 82 per cent were running their data centres at temperatures below 25 degrees Celsius. In fact, a full 15 per cent of respondents were running their facilities at even lower temperatures, below 20 degrees Celsius.

Eddie Desouza, Head of Business Operations for APAC, Enlogic says, “This severe over-cooling is adding needless energy costs to these facilities and reducing power utilisation efficiency as well. It’s been estimated that every one degree Celsius baseline temperatures are lowered by, can result in higher energy bills of up to four per cent!”

“While there is no global standard guideline for cooling data centres, most turn to ASHRAE for its recommendations. Notably, our survey revealed that 61 per cent of respondents believed they were aware of ASHRAE’s recommendations. Yet, when asked what the temperature range was, hardly any of the respondents could quote the correct range.”

ASHRAE has revised its guidelines for cooling data centres twice since it published its first guideline in 2004. That year, an upper limit of 25 degrees Celsius was recommended. In 2008, the upper limit was revised to 27 degrees Celsius, and in 2011, the upper limit was again revised to 32 degrees Celsius[i].

Desouza continues, “Once the efficiencies were shared server vendors reviewed the technology to now withstand temperatures of up to 70 degrees Celsius. Vital components such as PDUs have historically been more fragile.  The latest, leading edge intelligent PDUs can withstand temperatures of up to 60 degrees Celsius, allowing managers to push baseline temperatures higher.”

Desouza concludes, “Refusing to raise the baseline temperatures may be a short term view as it does mean data centre managers can keep lower rated technologies in situ.  However, investing in the right technology, especially the right PDU can allow you to reduce overall cost of ownership and increase profitability.”

For further information please visit: http://www.enlogic.com/

[i] http://datacenterpost.com/2013/08/who-exactly-is-ushering-in-ashraes-temperature-guidelines.html

A New Intelligent Entity Is Born: Enlogic and SJ Manufacturing Malaysia join the fight to reduce energy consumption in the data centre

22 August 2013– Kuala Lumpur - Enlogic, a global intelligent Power Distribution Unit (PDU) manufacturer, today announced its first OEM partnership, with SJ Manufacturing Malaysia.

The partnership will enable SJ Malaysia, a leading local enclosure system manufacturer, to broaden its rack offering with integrated smart energy metering capabilities from Enlogic’s 4th generation intelligent PDUs. This complete data centre hardware solution will allow customers to accurately monitor their power consumption – a crucial factor in the fight to reduce energy consumption.

Eddie Desouza, head of business operations APAC, Enlogic.

The newly embedded intelligence will also be able to monitor environmental conditions, so that the cooling of hot aisles in a data centre can be better managed – approximately 50 per cent of a data centre’s energy consumption is spent on cooling.

With Malaysia expected to cut subsidies and raise electricity tariffs to normal market prices by 2016 , local businesses will need to take stock of their energy consumption and devise ways of lowering it.

Eddie Desouza, head of business operations APAC for Enlogic says, “Enlogic’s decision to sign an OEM partnership with a Malaysian company was driven by the strong growth of local players in the data centre industry, such as CSF Group and FREENET, and the government’s continued support of the industry.”

In a speech delivered on 16th January, the Malaysian Minister of Human Resources, Datuk Seri S. Subramaniam said that the local data centre industry pulled in RM400 million or higher in revenue in 2012 and is expected to bring in RM480 million in 2013 .

Khoo Boon Yap, Managing Director of SJ Malaysia.

Eddie adds, “We are excited to be working with SJ Malaysia as they are a key player in Malaysia in the production and distribution of racks. As a prominent local company, they bring valuable insights on the needs of customers in the peninsula.”

“As PDUs and server racks have a symbiotic relationship, we look forward to seeing some new innovations coming into fruition through this OEM partnership. Who knows what other ideas may come to life.”

Managing Director of SJ Malaysia, Mr Khoo Boon Yap says, “One of the main reasons we decided to partner with Enlogic is their commitment to meeting companies’ power distribution needs as well as their expertise on the energy utilisation at the rack level and environmental aspects of running a data centre.”

 “We hope that this partnership will help local data centre space providers to adopt greener, more environmentally friendly solutions.”