Energy efficiency insight into small and medium data centres: A comparative analysis based on a survey

摘要

Data centres are the backbone of a growing number of activities in modern economies. However, the large increase in digital content, big data, e-commerce, and Internet traffic is also making data centres one of the fastest-growing users of electricity and such consumption is expected to vastly increase in the next decade. The total energy consumption of data centres corresponds to almost 1.5 % of the global electricity consumption, and had an average annual growth rate of 4.3 %. Therefore, it is very important to increase the energy efficiency in data centres with actions such as power usage management, server consolidation, energy efficient components and systems. Small and medium data centres account for more than 50 % of the total electricity consumption in this sector. In fact, surveys indicate that this data centre profile waste more energy than larger facilities. Nevertheless, existing studies tend to be focused on the energy related issues for large data centres rather than small and medium data centres. In order to analyse and propose changes to this current perspective, a survey was designed to provide insight into the current reality in terms of energy efficiency actions in small and medium data centres in Brazil the USA, and Portugal. The survey was sent to key decision makers with technical responsibilities for these data centres. This paper aims to present best energy efficiency practices, using two surveys from literature as relevant source of data and results to compare with the conducted survey, analysing the main opportunities and challenges in small and medium data centres energy efficiency. It highlights that while data centres are recognized as a central part of organizations' energy efficiency strategies, many are improving energy efficiency rather slowly compared with the metrics, evidences, and case studies published by academia and industry.