When people tend to navigate social media and websites, significant quantities of user information needs to be uploaded and preserved. Data centers are divided into several potential computers mostly known as servers which are dispersed along the virtual media; their main function is to gather and administer the data received from external users. The servers work with a special cooling feature that prevents the system from collapse due to overheating. Data centers workers are not usually aware that “Online companies typically run their facilities at maximum capacity around the clock, whatever the demand. As a result, data centers can waste 90 percent or more of the electricity they pull off the grid” (Glanz, 2012, p.1). Therefore, data centers consume incredible amounts of energy that has been managed inefficiently producing noteworthy economic waste and environmental pollution effects. The engineering measures that ensure the reduction of energy consumption in data centers are the consideration of air flows and the right-sizing technique.
The first measure comprises the efficiency of cooling systems that rely on the types of air flows that are normally used in data centers. According to Loper and Parr (2007), “Data centers should be wary of mixing servers that have different air flows (for example, placing the vents for exhaust air for one unit in front of another server) since this may result in the mixing of hot and cold air”. As a result, data centers can achieve a low tier of energy consumption when individuals consider the positioning of each piece of equipment so that the hot air expelled by one server does not contact another server.
Moreover, the other measure that significantly reduces the energy utilized in data centers through cooling systems is the “right-sizing” of servers, this term refers to adapting the size of the equipment according to the work load periods required by servers. For instance, the cooling systems may achieve a high-performance rate or switch to a power-saving mode depending on whether the work load periods are high or low; the efficiency of cooling systems depends on the structure and organization that right-sizing provides. In other words, the energy consumed by data centers could be diminished considerably if the right-sizing technique is applied to the servers.
In conclusion, data centers tend to work with inappropriate techniques. As a result, the consumption of energy is significantly affecting not only the environmental contamination but also the financial sources required by data centers to keep functioning. The measures are focused on coding systems improvements such as air flow positioning and right-sizing which are demonstrated to be the most effective methods in order to reduce data centers energy consumption. In fact, data centers could be able to achieve high-performance standards without wasting significant energy sources.
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