used with permission from the HP Solutions Site
Located near Geneva, Switzerland, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is one of the world’s largest physics laboratories, dedicated almost exclusively to the world’s largest particle accelerator. On its way to unlocking the secrets of the universe, the laboratory had to determine how to efficiently wring massive computing power from a 35-year-old data center.
Ultimately, the solution was to reduce power consumption, according to a white paper published by Intel and CERN.
The lab deployed a strategy to improve the data center’s per-watt performance by bringing in energy-efficient equipment, optimizing data center layout, server virtualization and other measures.
Untapped power source—energy conservation
In this economic climate of waning resources, forcing a rapid return on IT investment, as happened at CERN, is no longer just a success strategy; it’s a survival tactic.
To expedite returns from scarce investment dollars, HP Fellow and Futurist Jeff Wacker advises businesses to go after “the fifth fuel,” otherwise known as energy conservation. “Create efficiencies out of what you have,” Wacker suggests. “It costs five times as much to create and use new energy as it does to conserve existing energy. Every time you pay your electric bill, you are expending investment dollars.”
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, data centers consume up to 100 times more energy than a standard office building. And with electricity costs soaring an average of 4.1 percent annually, the cumulative cost of power is outstripping the cost of hardware at an accelerating pace—from decades to months.
Quick IT ROI from a can of insulation
Yet in these times of diminishing resources, it’s difficult to justify IT investments with an eye toward long-term returns. That’s why Wacker advises a staged strategy for quick returns that can be as simple as a can of foam insulation, and as complex as changing a business process. Think systems, not symptoms. His five steps to fast ROI are:
Elimination: Analyze data center operations and remove or shut down hardware that doesn’t add value. Wacker recommends eliminating the little problems that add up to big costs, such as filling cracks and holes under the subfloor, making sure vents are unobstructed and installing blocking panels on servers. These little things can cut your energy costs by up to 30 percent.
Consolidation: Compress data and eliminate multiple duplications of attachments on mail servers. Consolidate applications so that two or more versions of a single application aren’t running when only one is needed.
Virtualization: Properly configured, one midlevel server could do the work of 18 to 40 entry-level servers, resulting in substantial savings. Data center managers often suffer from a one-to-one-to-one mindset: one server for one application for one end-user, so many servers are underutilized.
Variabilization: Tie costs to usage through processes such as software as a service (SaaS), capacity on demand and cloud computing. Why pay the overhead of a server that’s underutilized?
Externalization: Consider outsourcing nonessential tasks where results are purchased instead of the processes. The cost of resources, tools and expertise might well exceed the price paid to an external party who can spread these costs throughout other projects.
Using IT to achieve overall organizational success remains a challenge, and a competitive opportunity, even during an economic crisis. “Think long-term while acting on the short term,” Wacker advises. Focus on outcomes, not technology. “And if you’re a CIO who thinks you’re just in the business of IT, you’re in the wrong business.”
About Jeff Wacker
Jeff Wacker is the services innovation lead as well as a Fellow and Futurist for HP Enterprise Services.
