• Welcome
  • Community
  • Blogs
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Join
  • Log in
Follow MNN    
MNN - Mother Nature Network - Envrionmental News
improve your world

 

Saturday, May 26, 2012
  • Earth Matters

    Browse All » Animals Weather Energy Politics Space Translating Uncle Sam Wilderness & Resources

  • Health

    Browse All » Allergies Fitness & Well-Being Healthy Spaces

  • Lifestyle

    Browse All » Arts & Culture Travel Natural Beauty & Fashion Recycling Responsible Living

  • GREEN TECH

    Browse All » Computers Gadgets & Electronics Research & Innovations Transportation

  • Eco-Biz & Money

    Browse All » Green Workplace Personal Finance Sustainable Business Practices

  • Food & Drink

    Browse All » Beverages Healthy Eating Recipes

  • Your Home

    Browse All » At Home Organic Farming & Gardening Remodeling & Design

  • family

    Browse All » Babies & Pregnancy Family Activities Pets Protection & Safety

Tweet
Pin It
Email Bookmark and ShareShare
WorldShares lets you earn donations for your favorite nonprofit. Earn up to 20 points now.
Learn More

Earn Points
What's this?
MNN.COM›

MNN BLOGGERS

Karl Burkart

Power Assure uses 'load shifting' to save 80% on IT power costs

Power Assure wins the 2008 Cleantech Open prize for holistic power management.

Thu, Jan 15 2009 at 3:41 AM EST

Photo: stan Dorsett
Power Assure won this year's energy efficiency prize at the Cleantech Open for good reason. A typical server wastes 60-90% of its energy load while in idle mode, preparing for that moment when a heavy data load requires a burst of server activity. Most of the time, the servers are just standing by waiting.  Meanwhile they consume huge amounts of energy.
 
2 ex-HP executives realized there was an opportunity here, what they call "holistic power management."  Their patent-pending software captures minute-by-minute data on the server loads and then shifts utilization of power as needed. They maintain a much smaller buffer of 'idle' energy, 10% instead of the typical 75%.  This provides for sudden bursts of demand, while conserving on energy.
 
The Power Assure system also measures the cooling loads, typically a full 50% of the energy used by a server farm. The system monitors the cooling needs and, provided the facility has the ability to variably adjust cooling temperatures, ensures that the system is not wasting energy by over cooling.
 
Companies like Facebook and Yahoo, with huge variable server loads, are jumping in to test out this holistic power management tool. They get 'green' cred while conserving big time on the other kind of green -- cash. According to Donnie Foster one of the company's co- founders, a large server farm will spend $6 million per year on energy costs. To be able to recoup $4 million of that money is great news for a company's bottom line, especially in hard economic times.
 
A detailed explanation of 4 different implementations is available on the Power Assure site. For other Green IT strategies, check out my recent 'Smart Power' post.
Previous Post
'Smart computing' could reduce IT power consumption by 50%
   Next Post
Greening the stimulus plan -- Van Jones testifies
You might also like:
Related Topics: Energy Efficiency

Comments

Follow this conversation
Add your comment
View:
  • All (0)

Add your comment

Sign in with one of these accounts or just add your comment below.
    Log in or
    create an account
     
    •  
Used only for emailed comments and will not be displayed with your post
Notify me with an email when other people comment on this article.
The posting of advertisement, profanity or personal attacks is prohibited.
Click here to review our Terms of Use

EDITORS' PICKS

tease to asteroids

tease to pet facials

tease to emotional eating

ADVERTISEMENT

NEWSLETTER

Mother Nature. Delivered

CONNECT WITH MNN

Follow @twitterapi
 Tumblr
 Google +

About Karl Burkart

Internet entrepreneur on green media and technology.

RSS feedMore about Karl

Recent Posts

  • Rock star charity seeks to Power the World
  • What do Leonardo DiCaprio, Linkin Park, Hayden Panettiere and Sergio Marone have in common?
  • Inhofe launches wacky 'Climate Hoax' book despite severe climate impacts in Oklahoma
+ Add this to my site

Karl's BLOGROLL

EcoGeekFast Company
MongabayPhysorg Tech
Red Green and BlueTrendHunter Eco
TreehuggerGetting Hot in Here
Triple PunditWeb Ecoist

ADVERTISEMENT



Quick Links

  • About Us
  • Advisory Board
  • Editors' Blog
  • Press
  • Privacy
  • Sitemap
  • Terms of Service
  • WorldShares

MNN Tools

  • Advice
  • Blogs
  • Day in History
  • Eco-glossary
  • Infographics
  • Lists
  • Photos
  • Videos

Connect

  • Community
  • Contact Us
  • Contests
  • Idea Lab
  • Mixed Greens
  • Newsletters
  • Polls
  • RSS

Channels

  • Earth Matters
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Green Tech
  • Eco-Biz & Money
  • Your Home
  • Family
  • State Reports

Follow MNN

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Google+
  • StumbleUpon
 

Copyright © 2012 MNN Holdings, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Website by GLICK INTERACTIVE | Powered by CIRRACORE
 
SPONSORS