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In the face of organizational budgetary cuts, there are seven effective ways enterprises can reduce costs in the data center during a 12- to 18-month period, says Gartner
NC News Network, June 12 2009, 1100 hrs
Gartner has identified seven important ways to cut data center costs:
1. Rationalize the Hardware
Hardware rationalization will result in savings in several areas. First, it will help with asset and inventory management and provide a clear picture of the boxes that are being used effectively and those that are not. Second, server rationalization should lower maintenance and support charges. Third, server rationalization will lower energy costs, typically more than $400 per server, per year. Finally, hardware rationalization projects usually yield savings of 5 percent to 10 percent of the overall hardware costs, when measured post project.
2. Consolidate Data Center Sites
Most organizations still have multiple data centers for their IT operations, ranging from large complex installations to small machine rooms. Consolidating these multiple sites into a smaller number of larger sites will often result in financial savings. Site consolation can typically result in savings of between 5 percent and 15 percent of the overall data center budget.
3. Manage Energy and Facilities Costs
Energy costs are rising for most data centers because the energy consumption of the underlying hardware continues to increase as new technologies, such as blade servers, are more widely used. As floor space runs out, more hardware is crammed into the space, thus requiring higher levels of cooling.
Gartner recommends employing the following tools and techniques to manage the energy cost curve:
- Raise the temperature of the data center to 24 degrees Celsius to reduce the level of cooling required;
- Use outside/free air as an alternative to expensive air conditioning;
- Use hot aisle/cold aisle configurations, blanking panels and economizers;
- Use server-based energy management software to run workloads in the most energy efficient way, such as taking advantage of lower energy tariffs.
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