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Energy efficiency in the data center
Turn It Down
Conclusions
The storage share of the total data center energy budget is expected to double by 2030. More effective resource utilization for container technologies such as Kubernetes is an important building block in this context. A single technical solution to all of the above challenges is unlikely in the foreseeable future. One practicable approach is to optimize continuously all the technologies and processes involved (Table 1) for the best possible use of resources.
Table 1
Storage Efficiency Technologies
| Method | Technological Advantage | Capacity Savings |
|---|---|---|
| RAID 5/6 and erasure encoding versus RAID 1 (mirroring) | Data integrity without the use of complete data copies | When replacing RAID 1, around 40 percent |
| Thin provisioning | Virtualization of memory allocation | From 50 percent utilization to 80 percent and more |
| Data deduplication | Elimination of duplicate content | 20 to 40 percent primary; up to 50 percent in secondary application environment |
| Compression | Reduction of records within files or blocks | 2:1 compression as standard procedure and more in individual cases, depending on the application and medium |
| Delta snapshots | Reconstruction of different versions of a file without multiple complete data copies | Given small deltas, big potential savings |
Infos
- German data centers: https://www.bitkom.org/Presse/Presseinformation/Deutsche-Rechenzentren-Wachstum-Effizienz (in German)
- US data center energy usage report: https://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/prod_development/downloads/NDCFactSheet.pdf?18d4-b6e9
- "Is PUE actually going UP?" by Andy Lawrence, Uptime Institute Journal , May 15, 2019, https://journal.uptimeinstitute.com/is-pue-actually-going-up/
- Blume, A., and M. Keith, "Germany's Green IT Initiative is cutting energy consumption and GHG emissions in its public sector." World Bank Group, March 23, 2023, https://blogs.worldbank.org/governance/germanys-green-it-initiative-cutting-energy-consumption-and-ghg-emissions-its-public
- German green IT initiative: https://www.bmuv.de/themen/nachhaltigkeit-digitalisierung/digitalisierung/green-it-initiative (in German)
- Shehabi, A., S. Smith, D. Sartor, et al. United States Data Center Energy Usage Report. Lawrence Berkely National Laboratory report LBNL-1005775, 2016: https://datacenters.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/DataCenterEnergyReport2016_0_0.pdf
- Bizo, D. Silicon heatwave: the looming change in data center climates. Uptime Institute Intelligence report 74, 2022: https://uptimeinstitute.com/uptime_assets/4cf0d2135dc460d5e9d22f028f7236f7b5c3dd2f75672c3d2b8dfd4df3a3eea6-silicon-heatwave-the-looming-change-in-data-center-climates.pdf
- Tape storage and carbon emissions: https://www.backupworks.com/tape-storage-reduce-energy-consumption-and-carbon-emissions.aspx
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