Two California data center operators and a representative from Vigilent discuss the deep energy savings achieved from cooling technologies deployed in existing data centers. The California Energy Commission's Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) division funded this research. For more information: www.esource.com/PIER

1. How Eight California Data Centers
Reduced Energy by 20%
Sponsored by the California Energy Commission
Public Interest Energy Research
David Weightman, Energy Commission Specialist
California Energy Commission
dweightm@energy.state.ca.us
Jenny Field, Marketing Manager
E Source
jenny_field@esource.com
Wednesday, April 4, 2012

2. California Energy Commission
Public Interest Energy Research
• Solicitations
• Demonstrations
• Research Centers
• Partnerships
• Codes and Standards

3. California Energy Commission
Public Interest Energy Research
• Global Warming Solutions
Act (AB32)
• Loading Order (EAP)
• Zero-Net Energy (LTEESP)
• Clean Energy Jobs Plan
(Executive Initiative)

4. California Energy Commission
Public Interest Energy Research
• Achieve Clean and
Sustainable Energy Future
• Reduce
Pollution
• Increase Resource
Efficiency
• Create Jobs

5. California Energy Commission
Public Interest Energy Research
Today’s Webinar:
Background

6. California Energy Commission
Public Interest Energy Research
Today’s Speakers:
Carl Boomgaarden
Information Systems Analyst
State of California
Manuel Lujano
Staff Information Analyst
California Franchise Tax Board
Dan Mascola
Senior Energy Efficiency Analyst
Vigilent

7. California Energy
Commission Webinar
Carl Boomgaarden
Office of Technology Services
April 4, 2012

8. Agenda
• Gold Camp Data Center
• Goals for the Project
• Challenges
• Implementation
• Results

9. Gold Camp Data Center
44,000 sf located near
Sacramento, CA
• Serves more than
500 State, County,
Federal and Local
Government entities Source: Google Maps
• 23 CRAC units
expanding to 48
• 1,010 racks
4/2012

10. Gold Camp Data Center
Updating & Modernizing
• Upgrading and adding
power distribution units
• Updating and adding static
transfer switches
• Migrating customers’ power
Source: Google Maps
off old to new
• Realigning cabinets into hot
aisle/cold aisle
4/2012

11. Project Goals
• Continuous visibility for
informed decisions
• Improved planning options,
capacity & growth
• Energy savings
• Cut cooling costs up to 40%
• Less CRAC wear and tear
• Modernize data center Source: Gold Camp
• Improve resiliency &
redundancy
• Reduce downtime risk
4/2012

12. Challenges
• Data center in state of flux
• IT equipment growing rapidly
• Power usage on constant incline
• 2 MW going up to 3 MW
• Initially somewhat skeptical
• How will the technology work in this
data center?
• What improvements will be delivered?
• 23 old 30-ton CRAC units
4/2012

13. Implementation
• Quick
• System up and running in 5 days
• 275 wireless sensors
• 6 wireless gateways
• 23 CRAC units
• Added network wiring & VLAN IP addressing
• Ethernet and power to wireless gateways
• IP address for wireless gateways and server
4/2012

14. Implementation
• Wireless sensors at
top and bottom of IT
server inlet air
• System gives
operations information
they can use
• Hot spots/cold spots
• Adjust floor tiles
Results are visible • Eliminate air gaps
Source: Vigilent
within days of
4/2012
installation

15. Floor Temperature Visibility
• Easily identify hot/cold
spots
• Visual picture shows
where to go look
• Red triangle means go
look at what’s causing Source: Vigilent
temperature rise
• Could be a box on the
floor blocking airflow
4/2012

16. Cooling and Airflow Visibility
• More even temperatures
• Month 1: Turned 8 of 23
CRACs off
• Month 2: Turned 10–11
CRACs off
• Feb 2012: added 13 new
CRAC units to the
system
• After floor balancing, 18
Source: Vigilent
of 36 CRACs are off
4/2012

17. Power Usage
• Prior to project, steady rate of
power increase in the data center
• After project, total power usage
plateaued for a short time even
as the data center continued
to grow Source: Liebert PDU
• Power usage continues to
increase, but at a slower rate
4/2012

18. Cooling at Room Level
• System adjusts as new
conditions arise throughout
the room for improved end-
to-end reliability
• Capacity rating screen tells
us CRAC unit on but running
at low efficiency level, which
could indicate pushing return
air into the floor Source: Gold Camp
• Leads operations to adjust
local CRAC setpoints to
increase cooling capability
4/2012

19. CRAC Influence… At a Glance
• System shows the effect
of every CRAC across
the floor
• Comprehensive, accurate,
real-time airflow visual
• Operations looks at
Vigilent constantly wCRAC A
• Saves money
• Saves time Source: Vigilent
4/2012

20. Results
• Works as advertised
• Valuable tool helps operations do their job better
• Be more energy efficient
• Support state data center consolidation
• Use Vigilent as a map to ensure new equipment can
be added
• Can show management how we’re improving power
consumption efficiency
• Extend cooling unit life due to decreased run time
• Lower risk due to cooling control across the
entire floor
4/2012

21. Results
• Automatic monitoring of cooling control
• Removed “human” factor
• No more walking around checking/adjusting temperatures
• Automated ability of system to respond to changes
works like a charm
• Moved cooling units, moved power units, add/move cabinets
• Streamlined the process
• See at a glance the conditions on the data center floor
• Go from being reactive to proactive
• Operations are first ones to know there is a hot spot and have
a solution in place before there is an issue
4/2012

22. California Energy
Commission Webinar
Manuel Lujano
California Franchise Tax Board
April 4, 2012

23. Agenda
• Building 1 Data Center
• Goals for the Project
• Challenges
• Implementation
• Results
• Next Steps
4/2012

24. Building 1 Data Center
• 20,000 sf located in
Sacramento
• 13 CRAC units
• Humidity control
requirements for printing
operation Source: Google Maps
• Tape storage units
(confined to one area)
• Odd-sized room cooling requirements
4/2012

25. Building 1 Data Center
• Hot spots and cold spots
• Operations measured
temperatures by walking around
• All CRAC units running 100%
• Crosstalk – these units were
blowing too much air, creating Source: CA Franchise Tax Board
too much air mixing in the
data center
• Inefficient
• Some CRACs heating
• Some CRACs cooling
4/2012

26. Project Goals
• Energy savings
• Better temperature
control
• Eliminate CRAC cross
talk or fighting
• Better floor temperature Source: CA Franchise Tax Board
visibility for more
informed decision-making
4/2012

27. Data Center in State of Flux
• The B1 Data Center was both growing
and shrinking
• Need to add capacity in the same room to get
ready for more agencies
• Need to add and remove IT equipment
without temperature change
• Keep IT guys happy
• Identify, correct and prevent hot spots
• Efficiently cool the odd-shaped room
4/2012

28. Implementation
• Quick
• Vigilent System up and running in 5 days
• 140 wireless sensors
• 2 wireless gateways
• 13 CRAC units
• Installed ABB VFDs in five days
• Previous experience with Vigilent
deployment in Building 3 data center in 2009
• High confidence that the system would work well
4/2012

29. Implementation
• Wireless sensors at
top and bottom of IT
server inlet air
• System gives
operations actionable
information
• Measuring power on
each CRAC for
Results are visible cooling energy usage
Source: CA Franchise Tax Board
within days of reports
4/2012
installation

30. Floor Temperatures Visible
• Hot spots/cold spots
immediately visible
• Once corrected, can
show IT guys proof with
the thermal map
• Feel the difference
• Shift in how data
center feels
• Cold spots identified before
Source: Vigilent
installation disappeared afterward
4/2012

31. Results
• 78% energy savings
• Annual kWh savings of
697,042 or $69,705
• Exceeded expectations
• Reduced VFD speeds in 13
CRACs from 100% to 50% Source: CA Franchise Tax Board
• Eliminated CRAC fighting
• Reduced noise
85,108 kWh/month usage before project reduced to 19,014 kWh/month after project
Made changes to data center so now usage is 25,882 kWh/month
4/2012

32. Results
• Odd-shaped room now
cooled efficiently
• Lowered setpoints on Vigilent
system which directed more
cooling to the room
• Temperatures in data center
went down AFTER energy
Source: Vigilent
usage was reduced
• Less air movement and
air mixing
• Humidity remained constant and managed
4/2012

33. Results
• Major energy savings and carbon reduction
• Eliminated hot spots and cold spots
• Less wear and tear on CRACs
• Improved risk management due to system ability
to auto-adjust to equipment adds or removals
• Quick payback and ROI
• Works with varying data center floor plan and
equipment type and age
4/2012

34. Next Steps
• Upgrade 2009 Building 3 data center (13,000 sf)
to add VFDs to all 12 CRACs
• Upgrade Vigilent system from start/stop CRACs to full
control VFDs
• Add more hot aisle containment curtains
• Add a water side economizer
• Improve lighting efficiency
4/2012

35. Vigilent ®
Intelligent Energy Management Systems
Solutions for Data Centers, Telcos,
and Commercial Buildings
Dan Mascola
Blog: www.dchuddle.com
California Energy Commission Webinar
April 4, 2012

36. California State Data Centers
Square kWh Dollar Cooling
Site Name Feet Sensors CRAHs Savings Savings Reduced
Office of Technology Services, Gold Camp 40,000 495 23 484,174 $48,417 19%
Employment Development Department 12,500 63 5 433,049 $43,305 54%
Franchise Tax Board LA Data Center 12,000 126 15 697,045 $69,705 78%
Department of Water Resources 5,300 53 6 288,348 $28,835 40%
Department of Trans. (Caltrans), 2nd Floor 4,000 44 4 149,555 $17,947 64%
Secretary of State 2,700 32 5 37,084 $3,708 30%
Department of General Services, Ziggurat 2,500 41 4 84,134 $11,358 50%
Department of Trans. (Caltrans), 9th Floor 667 31 3 140,135 $16,816 64%
Totals 79,667 885 65 2,313,524 $240,091 41%
Source: Vigilent
4/4/12

37. Results
• Reduced energy consumption of eight data
centers by more than 2.3 million kWh
• Projecting over $240,000 in annual savings
• Results achieved at diverse set of
data centers
• Demonstrates the power and flexibility of
intelligent energy management
• Works in big or small, old or new data centers
4/4/12
Proprietary and confidential

38. Vigilent Today
Vigilent provides intelligent energy
management systems for data centers,
telcos, central offices, and buildings
• Intelligent control – dynamic, predictive, adaptive
• Rapid deployment with minimal disruption
• Instant savings on energy costs
• Informed by Big Data, directed by Big Analytics
4/4/12

39. Big Pressures…
Source: Vigilent
4/4/12

40. Big Challenges and Costly
• Cooling accounts for 50% of data center
energy costs
• Downtime costs $5,600 per minute
• Human error is one of the largest causes
of downtime
• Nearly $300,000 downtime costs per incident
• Siloed information across multiple sites
"National Survey on Data Center Outages," conducted by the Ponemon Institute, published September 30, 2010.
4/4/12

41. And More...
• 42% of data centers will run out of cooling,
power, or space in the next two years
• Technical Challenges
• Chasing hot spots
• Increasing rack energy density
• IT loads becoming more dynamic
• A lot to manage, little visibility
4/4/12

42. The Vigilent Solution
• Cooling becomes a managed resource
• Improved reliability
• Improved capacity management
• Improved resiliency
• Lowered life-cycle costs
• PAID FOR WITH ENERGY SAVINGS
Typical savings of 40% savings in cooling costs or better
4/4/12

43. Vigilent Data Center™
Source: Vigilent
4/4/12

44. Vigilent Delivers
60
energy management
BEFORE software started
50
Main breaker, kW
40
30
20
10
AFTER
0
1/31 2/2 2/4 2/6 2/8 2/10
date/time
Source: Vigilent
4/4/12

45. The Data Center Solution
• Powerful Artificial Intelligence based
technology
• Measures, monitors and actively controls
cooling operations
• Dynamically adjust cooling units in real time
• Optimize temperature distribution
• Provides insight into environment and
operations through lots of data
4/4/12

46. Cooling Strategies
floor tile control hot aisle rack
VFDs
changes software isolation blanks
60
50
main breaker kW
40
SAVINGS FROM
ENERGY MANAGEMENT
30
20
10
0
A B C D E F
Time Interval
Source: Vigilent
4/4/12

47. Technology Overview

48. Intelligent Energy Management
• Input-output data model
• Interactions drive AI decision-making and analytics
• Adaptive and dynamic
• Self-configuring
• Self-maintaining
• Self-optimizing
• Optimize temperature distribution
• Minimize energy consumption
4/4/12

49. Long Tail
Source: Vigilent
Large amount of data able to
predict very rare events
4/4/12

50. Thermal Mapping
• Pinpoint hot spots,
identify areas of
excess cooling
• Colorized, overhead
views make it easy to
assess performance
at a glance Source: Vigilent
• View sensor readings over time as a movie
4/4/12

51. Summary
• Vigilent delivers…
• Improved IT reliability
• Improved resilience, redundancy
• Improved capacity management
• Extended equipment life
• Reduced maintenance costs
• Paid for with reduced energy costs
Vigilent solutions are farthest up the experience curve
4/4/12

52. Vigilent™
Intelligent Energy Management Systems
www.vigilent.com
dmascola@vigilent.com
Vig•i•lent /ˈvijələnt/
Adjective: Intelligently keeping careful watch for possible
danger or difficulties

53. Questions?