Why Energy Efficiency in Data Centers is Essential

High amounts of energy consumed by data centers have often been a sore point of deliberation in the world of technology. Of course, data centers are an integral part of the data protection business the world is so used to today and, without them, reading your archived emails might not even be possible. After all, in the United States alone, 3 million data centers operate day and night to ensure that every bit of computerized information is stored efficiently, with easy access whenever required.

The gargantuan task of providing support and greater efficacy to the flow and storage of information, of course, comes at a price, and that price is the high amounts of energy consumed by the data center industry. In 2013 alone, the figure stood at 91 billion kilowatt hours of electricity.

Now, while industry giants such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft and eBay are announcing and deploying highly efficient energy-saving resources in their data centers, the smaller data centers are the ones that seem to be lagging behind in this race for lower energy consumption. The latter make quite a dent, too, as the large enterprises who are using energy-saving practics only form 5 percent of the data center industry in the US, while the smaller players make up the other 95 percent. These include data centers at corporations, small and medium-sized server rooms, as well as data centers that manage data for multiple clients.

If the entire industry could get their energy savings in gear by simply making changes to their existing methods using tools that already exist, the energy savings would amount to a whopping 40 percent. This translates into a savings of 39 billion kilowatt hours – energy that could provide power to around 3.5 million homes in the US. For the data center industry, this adds up to savings amounting to $3.8 billion, certainly an amount worth considering, especially when these numbers can be achieved simply by making changes to the existing systems.

At Lifeline Data Centers, we ensure that our business structure integrates the component of energy efficiency as a priority. We continue to adopt new technologies to help us save energy. After all, intelligent use of energy enables us to provide savings to our clients as well.

Interested in Lifeline Data Centers? Schedule a tour with us today to see our energy-saving practices firsthand.

Alex Carroll

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Alex, co-owner, is responsible for all real estate, construction and mission critical facilities: hardened buildings, power systems, cooling systems, fire suppression, and environmentals. Alex also manages relationships with the telecommunications providers and has an extensive background in IT infrastructure support, database administration and software design and development. Alex architected Lifeline’s proprietary GRCA system and is hands-on every day in the data center.