Eco Data Centers

In this post we will talk about a specific case of CPDs, which can be called “Eco CPDs”. The objective is to explain what Eco CPDs are and how they differ from normal CPDs and also explain the purpose of promoting or creating Eco CPDs.

Currently, one of the biggest problems our society has is pollution. If the planet is not taken care of, the forecasts are not good and therefore all possible measures must be taken to reduce pollution. One of the biggest problems is the use of non-renewable energies, which can be exhausted and also pollute a lot, and to solve this, renewable energies that do not pollute so much are being used more and more.

Another factor that must be taken into account is that the greatest economic expense that a data center has is to pay for the electricity for the consumption of all the appliances and for the refrigeration. To reduce pollution and also lower costs, Eco CPDs have been created.

An Eco CPD does not stop having the same function as a normal CPD but its biggest difference is that it tries to take advantage of the environment to try to cool the appliances or directly to generate the energy they need to function.

An example could be that you always try to put the data centers in cold areas, thus saving a lot of money in refrigeration companies because the devices generate a lot of heat. Another way that they would have to lower costs would be to directly use renewable energies such as sunlight or locate the CPD near a hydroelectric plant to generate energy with water. Another innovative practice that has been carried out has been to place a CPD under the sea as is the case with Microsoft. This was done to test whether it failed less than a CPD on the ground and it was concluded after two years of experiment that it failed one eighth of a CPD on the earth's surface. This is due to the fact that in the sea there are many fewer factors that can damage or alter the operation of the CPD than on the land surface.

An example of a pioneering company in this sector is EcoDataCenter, located in Sweden. This company offers space and / or resource rental services in a data center. Its CPDs are located in different parts of the country according to their function or purpose. For example, those located in the city are more accessible to people but those located in the Arctic zone have a greater advantage in terms of cooling and consumption.

Among its 3 main locations we have the main DPC, the DPCs in the city and the DPCs in the arctic zone. The latter, although they are the most radical solution, have refrigeration at zero cost, great physical security since their access is difficult and renewable energy sources that position these data centers in the rankings of the best ecological data centers.

Another company of this style can be ServerECO, which has its data centers in France and the United States. These have different technologies to make their CPDs as eco-friendly as possible. One of their solutions is to use geothermal energy. Thanks to the large amount of groundwater in the area where these data centers were built, they take advantage of its low temperature to save a lot of energy in cooling, up to 60% less consumption. Another key factor is the use of a technology with an ecological certificate far superior to the rest. An example is the installed UPS system that has the best efficiency factor on the market, 96%.

As we have seen, most of the money allocated to a data center is its maintenance and operation, which means that energy expenditure is the largest cost of this. Bearing this in mind, and knowing that a CPD is always in operation, the objective of the constructors and owners of the CPD should be, apart from offering good services, to be as Eco-friendly as possible. No longer for a matter of caring for the planet, which should be their main objective, but to be able to save on energy expenditure which also benefits them. The initial investment of a CPD of these characteristics may be much higher than normal ones, but in the long term and to take care of the planet it is profitable.

Posted by Lluis Camino Perez