May 17, 2012

Taking a Look at 2012 Green IT Trends

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One of the first posts we wrote when we launched this blog back in early 2011 was about Green IT trends and tips. Given how much time has passed, we thought it was time to take another look at current trends in Green IT. Server Virtualization Rolls On Then as now, server virtualization is still a big one. But as we noted in a recent post based on a conversation with Phil Magnuszewski, director of data center technologies at Carousel Industries, it’s not just big companies virtualizing their servers any more. Now small and medium size businesses are getting in… Continue Reading ›

CFD Modeling Podcast: Get a Handle on Your Data Center Airflow

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Listen to the Computational Fluid Dynamics Podcast Jamie Davis as been working in and around data centers for some 25 years, so when he gets excited about any given data center technology, you can bet it’s with good reason. And he is absolutely excited about how computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technology is being used to create 3-dimensional models that help data center engineers make solid decisions on data center layout and cooling infrastructure.  Listen to this information packed Podcast to get all the details. “Gartner says by 2013 all data center design is going to be done with 3D modeling,”… Continue Reading ›

The Role of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) in Proper Data Center Design

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Long gone are the days when companies would design their data center by scratching out a diagram with pen and paper. Today, most firms use tools such as the Microsoft Visio diagramming software or a computer-aided design (CAD) tool such as Autodesk Revit. Either tool will enable you to create a nice, accurate depiction of how your data center will be laid out, says Jonathan Caserta, Physical Infrastructure Solutions Architect with Carousel Industries. If you follow industry best practices in terms of data center layout, you’ll likely be able to create a good, energy efficient data center. At least at… Continue Reading ›

6 Keys to Saving Energy in Your Data Center

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As companies look for ways to reduce expenses, energy savings is a rather obvious target. That’s especially true when it comes to data centers, which can consume 100 times more energy than the offices they support, according to David Cappuccio, Research VP with Gartner. But there are ways to ease the pain. Here are six key actions every business should consider when working to deploy a modern and highly energy efficient data center. 1. Perform an Energy Audit The first step in planning for efficiency is determining how much energy your data center is consuming. Areas to examine include your… Continue Reading ›

How To Plan Effectively For Your Server Virtualization Project

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At Carousel, we pride ourselves on properly planning our IT projects to ensure success, and virtualization projects are no different. After working on dozens (hundreds?) of virtualization projects over the years, we’ve come up with a number of planning steps that can help ensure your project goes more smoothly – and ends in success. Take Inventory Before Diving in to Virtualization Before you can start virtualizing servers, you need to have detailed data on what your IT infrastructure looks like, which means performing an IT audit. Only with this data in hand can you make informed financial and functional decisions… Continue Reading ›

4 Ways to Save on Data Center Cooling Costs

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Reducing the energy consumption of their data centers should be a top concern for every IT department, simply because it can save so much money. As we’ve discussed previously, upgrading hardware is certainly one way to save on data center power costs.  But nowhere is the savings greaterthan in cooling systems, according to a blog post at arstechnica.com: The price for power also tends to get magnified at the data center level. [John] Haas [of Intel] said that, based on his company’s estimates, one watt saved at the server can save 2.84W at the data center level, while Google’s Chris… Continue Reading ›

A 4-Step Strategy for Big Data Center Energy Savings: Schneider Electric / APC Podcast

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Too many companies are leaving money on the table when it comes to their data centers – or, more accurately, tossing it out the window. That’s because they don’t spend the time and effort to ensure their data centers are as energy efficient as they can be, and wind up spending more than they have to on data center power and cooling. Take a listen to this information packed podcast to get some tips on how to remedy the problem from Russell Senesac, the director of data center business for APC by Schneider Electric, a Carousel partner. As you’ll hear… Continue Reading ›

4 Tips for Reducing Data Center Hardware Energy Consumption

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Powering a data center is expensive, probably a lot more so than you think. A 25,000 square-foot data center can consume $4.1 million in energy each year, said David Cappuccio, a research VP with Gartner, during a session at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo this week in Orlando.  Data centers consume 10 times more energy than the offices they support, he said. A good chunk of that energy is consumed by all the hardware that companies rely on for data processing, storage and the like. But companies can realize big savings by making some judicious changes to their hardware portfolio and usage… Continue Reading ›

Carousel Partner APC Settles Debate Over Hot-aisle/Cold-aisle Containment

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A debate has raged in data center circles for years now over whether hot aisle or cold aisle containment systems are the best bet in terms of improving data center cooling efficiency.  (For proof, see this 2008 article from SearchDataCenter.com.) Well our friends at APC by Schneider Electric, a Carousel Industries partner, have come up with a definitive answer, as outlined in this blog post: Here at APC Schneider Electric we did some analysis and found that, while both strategies offer energy savings, hot-aisle containment can provide 40% more savings. And while it can be difficult to retrofit an existing… Continue Reading ›

Beyond Consolidation: Mining the Many Benefits of Server Virtualization

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While seemingly every company is considering taking advantage of virtualization technology to some degree, it seems many aren’t getting as much out of it as they could – or should. According to a recent “Magic Quadrant” report by Gartner on the x86 Server Virtualization Infrastructure market (PDF): As of mid-2011, at least 40% of x86 architecture workloads have been virtualized on servers; furthermore, the installed base is expected to grow five-fold from 2010 through 2015 (as both the number of workloads in the marketplace grow and as penetration grows to more than 75%). Virtualization lays the foundation for cloud Considering… Continue Reading ›