The more IT-dependent your business, the more data, cooling components, networking equipment and power units are needed. The more of these devices you have; the more money you’ll waste on energy. And as you come to notice, you’ll be spending a lot of money running a server room. Still, you can use portable cooling units, traditional A/C units and features in the room to save money on keeping your server rooms operational.
Turn Off Unused Servers
A simple fix to save at least 30 % of your energy bill is simply shutting off a server, which could amount to an upwards of $4,000 in savings a year. By updating server hardware and applications, companies can better track the apps running on each server to consolidate excessive inventory. Most companies fail to understand that not all servers need to be used at once. Instead, consolidation can improve your saving strategy.
Turn Up the Heat
It might sound counter-intuitive, but increasing the temperature to 80 degrees can save on costs and keep your IT equipment operational. By raising the temperature slightly, and keeping portable AC units near the hottest servers, you can measure the inlet temperature use a digital thermometer to keep the temperature steady.
Remove Duplicate Equipment
Say you have a dual power supplies while operating UPS equipment. You’re using both, but you don’t need too. Well, duplicate equipment means double the cost, and as you may already know, some of your IT equipment doesn’t require a backup power supply unit to keep things running. In fact, some applications can operate fine when restarted without any major ramifications. Even worse is the simple idea that duplicate power-consuming equipment causes a drop in efficiency for your system.
Proper Airflow Management
Airflow management requires one simple idea: providing cold air to the front of your IT equipment while avoiding any hot air to mix with the cold air. Portable air conditioning units can help, while removing unused IT racks can help improve airflow toward equipment placed further back. If you need additional cooling systems, you can easily find a rental portable air conditioner to help improve the airflow inside a closet or a server room.
As your energy bill continues to climb, you’ll start to map out methods for lowering your costs to provide the most efficient server room possible. Your room may only need improved ventilation by opening a door or as complex as installing a new A/C system to improve airflow.