Your Mileage Will Vary
EMC's advises a systems approach to IT energy efficiency. Look at every individual IT element to maximize the contribution of each. Then step back and take a comprehensive look, a systems view. Still, when looking at those individual elements, it pays to take care in selection and configuration.
There are similarities to auto MPG ratings. The brand and model selected make a big difference in potential efficiency. But so do driver habits, driving conditions, and maintenance. For storage there are even more variables that require care, along with attention to that systems view.
Your mileage will vary.
EMC storage technology delivers great individual energy results and excels when framed in that broader view.
Our customers attest to it.
I visited with one of our largest last week in New York. They saw the results from a recent DMX refresh where capacity was increased but power consumption dropped by 30%.
Still, it's always welcome when you get independent corroboration of benefits.
The Aberdeen Group has just published some research that confirms the positive energy results achieved by "best in class" IT operations using EMC technology. (This is independent research. See Chuck's blog for more on that.)
According to their survey of over 4500 IT professionals, for every 10% increase in storage capacity, EMC customers saw a net decrease in energy consumed for storage.
Competitor's customers saw a net increase.
EMC was not involved in the research but we were certainly happy with the result. So, now it's available on EMC.com: Aberdeen Research Brief.
"Users of EMC report increasing storage capacity without increasing operational cost - a true win-win for the customer. EMC's efforts to deliver increased storage density while achieving energy savings and maintaining required performance have resulted in measurable benefits for their customers..."
I spoke to Jeff Hill, the Sr. Researcher on the project and he explained that these results emerged as they examined what commonalities could be found for best in class operations reporting the most favorable results.
They used a combination of surveys and phone interviews and looked at the entire IT infrastructure. For storage this included hardware and software. Three other leading factors he identified were that the best used upgrade of older systems, consolidation and regular measurements of energy efficiency to achieve their results. Most were also members of the Green Grid or at least using Green Grid metrics to help determine progress.
One more interesting point made in the survey results; 47% of the companies surveyed had a green policy and the most often cited reason was social responsibility. "However, a green corporate initiative is even better when it is accompanied by efficiencies or productivity gains."
Another case of multiple unintended benefits.
Green data centers, green energy and overall energy efficiency is the way to go if enterprises are to cut down energy costs. Virtualization is one way; however measures such as de-duplication, tiered architecture and instilling proper work technique amongst employees is very important.
Posted by:Piyush | May 01, 2008 at 02:50 AM