Data Centre Specialist Group

The DCSG presented at the BroadGroup Power and Cooling Conference http://www.datacentres.com/pac/ yesterday on the subject of whole system IT energy and cost models and metrics based on the DCSG model and White Paper. There was considerable interest in the subject and the DCSG model, including an article on TechWorld on the same day, http://www.techworld.com/opsys/news/index.cfm?newsID=10260&pagtype=all.
The presentation is available for download in the repository under Presentations.

The level of interest and activity in the area of green computing from hardware, software and data centre equipment vendors, consultancies and IT users was very encouraging. Concerns that green regulation would impact the ability of UK businesses to compete on a global stage are now being replaced with the understanding that cost and energy use are strongly correlated and that Green IT is as much about good business as good ethical practice.

The DCSG presentation focussed on what we have learnt from the development of the DCSG server and data centre energy efficiency model.

• Data Centres and IT are a system and we must produce integrated desings from IT loads through to M&E infrastrucuture
• What data, models and metrics IT users will need to make effective decisions on IT strategy
• The cost and energy benefits available now
• The use of energy and cost models and how this will lead us to the carbon accounting capability IT needs to develop
• Initial proposals for physical and XML labelling of device power characteristics both individually and as a common reporting format to extend existing benchmarks