Data centres are often blamed for their significant energy consumption, but this perspective overlooks a critical point: they do not create the energy demand or consume the power, the true driver of energy consumption lies in the IT equipment they host, which is measured by Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE).
Misconceptions About PUE and Energy Efficiency
PUE is often incorrectly used as a proxy for energy efficiency in data centres, but it does not address the driver of electricity consumption, the IT load.
Efforts to reuse ‘waste’ heat merely scratches the surface in reducing the symptom, but not addressing the cause. Reducing PUE is at the point of diminishing returns in well-designed and well-run data centres.
The one thing that will have an impact on data centre power consumption is a reduction in the hosted IT power consumption. Reducing the IT load and the building load, plus any overhead also reduces power consumption. If you take all the IT out, the building goes dark.
What is the Real Energy Drain on Data Centres?
The real demand and consumption is the IT load, which is generally operated very inefficiently, in terms of low levels of utilisation, too much redundancy and duplication, with software that’s not optimised for energy efficiency. The IT load is a huge area to tackle when it comes to reducing energy, and is the main culprit when it comes to the environmental impact of data centres.
All is well and good in identifying the real energy drainer in data centres, but what creates the demand for data, thus IT power consumption in data centres in the first place? We do! All of us contribute to this through our consumption of digital services, and the types of platforms that we choose to use.
The Need for Awareness of Digital Choices and Environmental Impact
We all need to be made aware of our carbon footprint and the environmental implications of the digital choices we make, and the services we choose to consume.
This is something I (Mark) have been saying for a while now. There is no point in simply blaming data centres, because ultimately we create the electricity demand as individuals, and drive data centre power and resource consumption.
A Case in Point: The Irony of Digital Activism
This point is highlighted by an experience I had at an Irish Data centre event a couple of years ago, which Extinction Rebellion chose to try and disrupt.
The irony was that almost every protester was holding up a phone and presumably live streaming or uploading photos to a data centre somewhere, with no understanding of the impact on data centre demand and power consumption they were having!
Humorous to a degree, but this also highlights the real source of the issues we face and the challenges in educating the public.
Possible Solutions for Data Centres
One solution could be to limit power needs by introducing charging models, or even a digital services consumption tax for many of the services that are currently ‘free’ to use. This however would probably involve too many vested interests, with the result simply being more profit for the global hyper-scale platform providers.
Possibly a better idea is to have an energy labelling scheme for digital services, in the same way we currently do for other consumer products, so that we can all make informed choices on our usage.
Tesco recently launched their ‘Digital Passport’ for clothes to provide shoppers with more information about each item, so why not apply this logic and requirement to digital services too?
I believe that would have a far greater data centre energy and environmental impact reduction than taxation or tinkering with PUE.
To Summarise
Data centres are often blamed for high energy consumption, but the real issue is the inefficient IT equipment they host, driven by our demand for digital services!
Instead of focusing on data centres alone, we should recognise our role in this demand. Solutions like energy labelling for digital services could help consumers make informed choices and reduce the environmental impact of data centres. If you’d like to find out more about PUE and data centre efficiency, check out our blog ‘The Problem with PUE’.
Are you looking to move your data centre into an energy efficiency directive, and optimise your current infrastructure? Look no further than Future-tech – contact our expert team today.