University Data Center Will Conserve Energy

As increasing demand for computer services spurs the growth of data centers, energy conservation has become not only a green issue, but a money issue. With more servers packed into bigger data centers that need bigger cooling systems, energy use has become, in many instances, the largest operating cost for a data center.

Syracuse University is attempting to buck the energy usage trend by creating a new data center that is expected to use 50 percent less energy than an average data center. The $12.4 million, 6,000-square-foot data center is part of a multi-year agreement between Syracuse, New York State and IBM. The data center will use a system with a natural-gas-powered microturbine engine to generate all the electricity, as well as computer-controlled cooling sensors and adsorption chillers. The center will be one of the greenest in operation, according to IBM and Syracuse officials.

“One of the key issues we need to look at is electricity demand in the U.S. and how data centers consume significant amounts of energy and will, most likely, increase in energy usage in years to come,” said Chris Sedore, vice president of information technology and CIO of Syracuse University. “It’s critically important that, as demand for technology services continues to grow, we are as efficient as possible so we don’t stress the electrical grid.”

By creating this innovative data center, Syracuse is hoping to not only cut energy costs and receive green karma points, but gain green technology research experience that it intends to publish.

But for other universities and organizations that are looking into greening their data centers and forming partnerships, investment costs should be offset by return on investments, Sedore advised, noting that Syracuse’s previous data center was more than 20 years old.