LBNL research and demonstrations

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Benchmark results helped to find best practices

• The ratio of IT equipment power to the total (or
  its inverse) is an indicator of relative overall
  efficiency. Examination of individual systems
  and components in the centers that performed well
  helped to identify best practices.

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Percentage of electricity delivered to IT
equipment
Average .57
Higher is better
Source LBNL Benchmarking
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Performance varies
The relative percentages of the energy actually
doing computing varies considerably.
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Typical power use
Computer/System Architecture
System Architecture / Power Engineering
Facility Design / Mechanical Design
Courtesy of Michael Patterson, Intel Corporation
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Energy efficiency opportunities are everywhere

• Better air management
• Move to liquid cooling
• Optimized chilled-water plants
• Use of free cooling

• Load management
• Server innovation

Cooling Equipment
Power Conversion Distribution
Server Load/ComputingOperations

• On-site generation
• Waste heat for cooling
• Use of renewable energy/fuel cells

• High voltage distribution
• Use of DC power
• Highly efficient UPS systems
• Efficient redundancy strategies

AlternativePower Generation
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Best practices topics identified through
benchmarking
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A word about appropriate environmental conditions

• ASHRAE published thermal guidelines
• All IT suppliers participated and agreed
• Guidelines allow most centers to relax setpoints
• HPC community agrees
• Recommended and allowable ranges of temperature
  and humidity are provided at the inlet to the
  IT equipment
• High temperatures in the hot aisles and return
  to air conditioners are desirable.

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Humidity guidelines at the inlet to IT
equipment
ASHRAE Allowable Maximum
ASHRAE Recommended Maximum
ASHRAE Recommended Minimum
ASHRAE Allowable Minimum
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Temperature guidelines at the inlet to IT
equipment
ASHRAE Allowable Maximum
ASHRAE Recommended Maximum
ASHRAE Recommended Minimum
ASHRAE Allowable Minimum
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Air management best scenario isolate cold and
hot
95-100º
70-75º
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Another isolation scheme
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Measured fan energy savings 75
If mixing of cold supply air with hot return air
can be eliminated- fan speed can be reduced
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Better temperature control can allow raising the
temperature in the entire data center!
ASHRAE Recommended Range
Ranges during demonstration
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See the problem areas
Infrared thermography and CFD modeling can be
used as visualization tools
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Best practices Free cooling with air economizers
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Encouraging outside air economizers

• Issue
• Many are reluctant to use air economizers
• Outdoor pollutants and humidity control
  considered equipment risk
• Goal
• Encourage use of outside air economizers where
  climate is appropriate
• Strategy
• Address concerns contamination/humidity control
• Quantify energy savings benefits

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Outdoor measurements
IBM Standard
EPA 24-Hour Health Standard
EPA Annual Health Standard
and ASHRAE Standard
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Measurements inside the centers
IBM Standard
EPA 24-Hour Health Standard
EPA Annual Health Standard
and ASHRAE Standard
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Data center w/economizer
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Findings

• Water soluble salts in combination with high
  humidity can cause failures
• New ASHRAE particle limits drastically lower than
  one manufacturers recommendation
• Particle concentration typically an order of
  magnitude lower than new ASHRAE limits (no
  economizer)
• Economizers, without other mitigation, can cause
  particle concentration to approach new ASHRAE
  limits but filtration can mitigate this
• Large energy savings

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Set Inlet Temperature To upper end of ASHRAE
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NERSC/LBNL CRT Building Conceptual Design DRAFT
Subject to change
Howard Walter
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Schematic Design Concepts
DRAFT Subject to change Do not re-distribute
Howard Walter
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Best practices power conversion
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Data center power conversions
AC voltage conversions
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• Prior research illustrated large losses in power
  conversion

Power Supplies in IT equipment
Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS)
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With over 25 industry partners direct DC powering
of servers was demonstrated
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Typical AC distribution today
480 Volt AC
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Facility-level DC distribution
380V.DC
480 Volt AC
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AC system loss compared to DC
7-7.3 measured improvement
2-5 measured improvement
Rotary UPS
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• websites
• http//hightech.lbl.gov/datacenters/