Data Center Monitoring: A 2 minute Lesson
Let’s go quick, I’ve only got you for 2 minutes! From the hallways of the AFCOM Data Center World to the SVLG gymnasium of Netapp – the buzz is all about wireless sensors in the data center! It’s really about time that this technology got out and into the capable hands of every facilities or data center manager – I mean we measure everything else in the enterprise today – how can it possibly be that the data center’s excessive energy consumption has gone on for so long without scrutiny. I scratch my head in wonder…
Wireless sensors work really well to help folks quickly figure out their data center environments and bring sense to simple power and cooling challenges. The sensors are inexpensive, deployment is a snap ( hey Ma, look no wires!) and the application is rich and intelligent. Rather than I try and explain this – let me cut/paste somethig an analyst wrote – very detailed but arther simplistic. I like it.
How Energy Optimizer Works in the Data Center
AREO-DC works by deploying wireless sensors to measure electrical, thermal, flow and pressure conditions on power circuits, server racks, computer-room air conditioners (CRACs) or air handlers (CRAHs), chillers and underneath the raised computer-room floor. The sensed data is then transmitted via wireless sensor networks to a graphical, multi-window dashboard that shows the electricity load (and associated utility rate-adjusted spend rate) of various equipment, electricity usage by physical or functional area over user-selected time intervals; temperature and humidity data from CRACs, CRAHs, server racks and chillers over time; chiller water-flow rates; “heat maps” superimposed on a floor plan; and key performance indicators such as the Green Grid organization’s Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) Level 3 standard.
From the AREO-DC dashboard, users can drill down to specific data centers and specific racks within a data center, and bring up side-by-side views of various factors, such as energy usage vis-à-vis indoor and/or outdoor temperature. Alerts can be generated when heat- and energy-use thresholds or user-defined financial thresholds are exceeded.
Now this my friends sounds like a winner. There is nothing wrong with saving money. Ask Jim Cramer if you don’t believe me.
