Mark Bramfitt - Utilities & IT

Intel vs. ARM from The Economist

I've posted before about the potential use of ARM-designed chips in servers as an energy efficiency play. This article from The Economist focuses on the potential market battle between Intel and the ARM cluster of companies, noting that energy efficiency is the basis of the competition.

In a nutshell, ARM chips dominate mobile electronics applications, which of course means that energy efficiency is a prime design attribute (to maximize battery life). Intel dominates in desktops, laptops, and data center gear, and their processors bring awesome computing capability to bear at increasing energy efficiencies. (Disclosure: Intel is one of my clients.)

It's been posited that ARM-like designs would be applicable to Intel's markets on the basis of energy efficiency - a server running ARM chip sets could use as little as a tenth of the power of an Intel-based model, according to HP (HP has a project to develop ARM-based servers called "Moonshot"). ARM chips might also be suitable for PCs - certainly in the laptop, tablet, and new "ultrabook" categories.

The article points out many of the barriers that would prevent one side from gaining traction in the other's turf: the PC market is stagnant (so why bother), Intel has developed the Atom processor which has efficiency on a par with comparable ARM products, ARM designs likely lack the performance needed for server workloads, and the whole issue of whether software companies and other industry players will support new platforms.

I'll raise just two issues.

First, it has always appeared to me that issue of server energy efficiency is mooted by the incredibly low average utilization rates in most applications. Even the best internet-focused companies with largely homogeneous workloads only report rates in the twenty percent range, and enterprise users are lucky to see rates over ten percent. So efficient power supplies or even comparative advantages in processor efficiency simply don't make the difference that improved utilization would. 

Second, the PC market is relatively stagnant, but there are tremendous opportunities to drive efficiency through refresh and power management. The latest generation of Intel processors are far more efficient than cores made just three years ago, and coupled with power management, desktops use just a little more energy than a late generation laptop.

Which is why I counsel utilities to promote server virtualization and consolidation and desktop power management as their primary programs in these markets. Yes, there are discussions at some utilities about designing programs that reward the purchase of premium efficiency desktops and servers, but that will drive marginal energy savings compared to these two measures.

As to the ARM/Intel foray - battling over energy efficiency is a great thing!

 

Speaking At: AESP's 22nd National Conference in San Diego

I'll be delivering a paper presentation on Wednesday February 8th in San Diego at the Association of Energy Service Professionals 22nd National Conference, which runs Monday through Thursday.

We'll post the paper, which I wrote with Alan Rose at Intel, after the event. The title is Opportunities for Desktop Computer Energy Efficiency Programs, and here is the abstract:

There are proven technologies that dramatically improve the energy efficiency of desktop computing infrastructure, but poor market adoption calls for the engagement of utilities and their service providers to employ program approaches to stimulate the three large user markets of large businesses and institutions, small and medium businesses, and consumers. Although there are challenges in delivering programs that will deliver cost-effective, defensible results, the opportunities for dramatic energy efficiency accomplishments are too large to ignore. This paper makes recommendations for program approaches that leverage vendor support, meet regulatory requirements, and that benefit consumers. 

 

 

Video: NetApp on Data Center Efficiency

Thought I'd dig through some of my files and clean up directories, and came across a couple of videos I thought I'd share. (Don't you just hate watching yourself - or even just hearing a recording of your voice? It never matches the image you have of yourself somehow.)

Here's a video I helped NetApp with some time ago:

  

Great Site For Guidance On Data Storage

Here's a great site for those of you interested in developments in the data storage world.

The three Davids (Vellante, Floyer, and Butler) behind this effort have perfected a great model for sharing industry insight and developing and delivering high-quality content. They have a real interest in the energy efficiency attributes of storage technology, so this is the place to gather information on that subject.

I recommend signing up and enrolling in the subscription service, and watching out for regular webinar briefings. I sat in on one this week which clued me in to the move to solid state storage in data center applications, which utilities and data center operators should be watching with keen interest.

(It's clearly time that I develop a resource links section on my landing page - I'll get right on it!)

Intel Site: Great Utility Data Center & IT EE Program Resource

This is one of those things I should have posted a long time ago, but a recent client inquiry at least prodded me to do it now.

The client wanted to know how to find out about utitlity energy effciency program offerings for data centers across the US, without having to do endless internet searches on his own.

Intel has created just such a resource at their Premier IT Professionals site, which features not only a map and lookup feature for program information, but a blog, technical resources, and useful links.

Full disclosure: Intel is one of my clients, and I have been producing some blog content for this site. But I don't at all mind you bookmarking it along with my blog!

HP Looks to ARM for a Leg Up on Server Efficiency

HP announced today that they will be offering servers in the middle of next year that use ARM chips (and eventually, Intel's Atom processor). The stated benefit is primarily energy efficiency, and HP figures that maybe fifty of the largest data center operators (those with web serving applications) will be interested in the product.

I dug around the web to find out as much as I could on the "Moonshot" line; this coverage in the New York Times sums it up pretty well, HP's press release is here.

Note the description of the energy use of HP's system compared to a "base" load of 400 servers - energy use drops by almost a factor of ten, from a load of over 90 kW to just over 9 kW. The space required goes from ten racks to just half a rack, so the new architecture pushes the density envelop into the 20 kW per rack range, which can be cooled with air, but is likely to push operators to consider at least close-coupled cooling solutions.

It will be interesting to see if the product line makes headway, and whether other users may adopt it as well. HP notes that scientific and financial processing loads, which require intensive data analysis, might be suitable for the equipment also.

And it appears that we have two fundamentally different approaches to server energy efficiency coming from HP and Dell, with Dell offering more traditional architectures but warranting equipment to much wider environmental conditions - essentially offering equipment that can allow air-side economizer use all of the time, anywhere in the country. HP is countering with fundamentally more efficient equipment, but with the potential liability of high energy density.

 

Samsung/Dell: Dell Wows with Higher Inlet Temperature Certification

Perhaps the most earth-shaking news at the Samsung/Dell CIO Forum was the announcement by Dell that they were certifying their data center IT equipment to much higher inlet air temperatures - sending the signal to data center operators that the equipment is warrantied at much hotter environmental conditions.

In the data center energy efficiency programs that I have delivered over the past three years or so, we have always used Dell's specification sheets to show attendees that manufacturers warranty their equipment at temperatures well above the ASHRAE guidelines.

We cite a specification for a Dell Powervault MD3000, which lists suitable inlet temperatures of 10 to 35 degrees Celsius (50 to 95 degrees F).

Now Dell has announced that their servers will be warrantied in environments that reach 45 degrees C inlet for no more than 90 hours a year, and that their networking and storage gear can have 40 degree C inlet air for as many as 900 hours a year.

This is big news, because it removes any possible obection to using nothing but outside air to cool a data center in any climate zone in the United States, and I suspect the specifications were set expressly for that reason.

Why? Dell showed that they are building modular data centers to support Microsoft's Bing search service that in an installation in Colorado went from bare ground to operational in four months. Dell claims a PUE of 1.03 for the 1 MW deployment, which can only be achievable using 100% outside air cooling. Dell also uses servers without onboard fans to get this amazingly low PUE rating.

Samsung/Dell: Samsung Touts SSD for EE and Performance

Some analysts that I've spoken with recently believe that we're at a technology adoption threshold where solid state memory will begin widely supplanting traditional disk storage devices.

Samsung certainly thinks so. At the CIO Forum held in conjunction with Dell three weeks ago, they reinforced their entree into the data center space, showing in particular how SSD can greatly reduce energy use in servers while dramaticaly increasing potential performance.

Samsung has of course made SSDs for mobile devices for a long time, and with their projection that 10 billion mobile devices will be sold globally over the next decade, that's clearly a driving market for them.  By the way, Intel projects that there will be over 50 billion internet connected devices in use in that timeframe.

With SSDs now made with 30 nm architecture, Samsung notes an inherent energy efficiency advantage approaching ninety percent compared to disk, with follow on savings from reduced cooling load in a data center environment. As to performance, the input/output rate for SSD is an order of magnitude better than disk, theoretically allowing servers to use their full processing power.

(I'm inclined to think that the later advantage is valuable only for certain users and applications, given that most servers run at ten or fifteen percent utilization in enterprise environments.)

Samsung's presentation at the event was really solid, with a great overview of the energy use issue facing data center operators. This product brochure concisely tells the energy efficiency story on the second and third pages.

 

NYT: Water-side Data Center Cooling Gaining Traction

Nice article in the New York Times yesterday by James Kanter (in the Green Column of the Global Business Section) describing how some data center site selections are valuing locations with access to water which can be used for water-side cooling.

Notably, Google's next data center in Finland is located in a former paper mill, and will use sea water for cooling.  Eminently doable of course, though more expensive than using freshwater given corrosion and usually higher pumping costs. Liked the statistic that Google's five owned data centers have on average a 16% overhead for cooling (and I suppose power delivery and conditioning).

I'm not sure that I agree with the conclusion that sites with ample water supplies are less suitable for on-site generation - the assumption is that the sites will generally have climate conditions that won't favor solar PV.

First, solar PV isn't the only technology available for on-site generation, though it is particularly apt for peak load shaving. Fuel cell technology may have broader advantages by obviating some power conditioning equipment, for example.

Second, as the Google example shows, if you're using seawater for cooling, that only limits your site selection to coastal locations, and you could certainly select sites with ample PV exposure, balanced against ambient temperature conditions.

The upshot though is that leading data center operators are starting to think like industrial plant developers, carefully evaluating the inputs of their cost structures, and thinking about ways not only to drive up efficiency, but to use "natural" resources like cooling water that can lower costs.

 

 

Green Grid Weighs in On Utility Virtualization Incentive Programs

I had the good fortune of attending a portion of the Green Grid Technical Forum in Santa Clara last week, and seeing Corban Lester's presentation based on a new white paper that analyzes utility server virtualization/consolidation incentive programs. (Presentation only available for Green Grid members.) Corban is with Lockheed Martin and heads up the Green Grid's Utility Task Force.

The paper and presentation did a reasonable job explaining why utilities have entered the data center and information technology markets with their energy efficiency programs. I have quibbles on minor points: I don't think efficiency program managers are as risk averse as portrayed, or that utilities are attracted to the market because it has a high PR profile. Utilities are scrambling for savings to meet their targets, and have an obligation in many cases to address all energy use sectors.

What I do support in the paper is the conclusion that utility incentives for server virtualization and consolidation is still appropriate despite decisions by California utilities (and BC Hydro) to end their programs.

A tailored program offering that targets smaller enterprise customers rather than sophisticated IT shops is still needed to drive market penetration and adoption of virtualization - my reading of the market reports says eighty or ninety percent of the market is untouched. That represents an incredible opportunity to drive energy efficiency in the short term, slowing the need for new data center capacity.