Modius Data Center Blog

I am routinely surprised at how difficult it can be to determine the total energy consumption for many data centers. Stand-alone data centers can at least look at the monthly bill from the utility, but as the Green Grid points out when discussing PUE metrics, continuous monitoring is preferred whenever possible. Measurement in an environment where resources, such as chilled water, are shared with non-data center facilities can be even more complex. I’ll discuss that topic in the coming weeks. For now, I want to look just at the stand-alone data center.

In general, the choices are pretty simple for a green-field installation. The only real requirement is commitment to buying the instrumentation. Solid-core CTs are cheaper, and generally smaller for the same current range. Wiring in the voltage is easy. Retrofits are more interesting. Nobody likes to work on a hot electrical system, but shutting down a main power feed is a risky process, even with redundant systems.

One logical metering point is the output of the main transfer switches. Many folk assume they already have power metering on their ATS. It has an LCD panel showing various electrical readings, after all. Unfortunately, more often than not, only voltage is measured. That’s all the switch needs to do its job. Seems that the advanced metering option is either overlooked or the first thing to go when trimming the budget.

Retrofitting the advanced option into an ATS is not trivial. Clamping on a few CTs might not seem tough, but the metering module itself generally has to be completely swapped out. Full shut-down time.

A separate revenue-grade power meter is not terribly expensive these days. In some cases it may even be competitive with the advanced metering option from your ATS manufacturer. Meters that include power-quality metrics such as THD can be found for less than $3K, CTs included. Such a meter could be installed directly on the output of the ATS, but the input of the main distribution panel is generally a better option.

Clamping on the CTs is relatively straightforward, even on a live system, though it can be tricky if the cabling is wired too tightly. Slim, flexible Rogowski coils are an excellent option in this case. A bit pricier, but ease of installation can make back the difference in labor pretty quickly.

For voltage sensing, distribution panels often have spare output terminals available. This is ideal in a retrofit situation, and desirable even in a new install. Odds are the breaker rating is higher than the meter could handle, so don’t forget to include protection fusing. If no spare circuit is available, you can perhaps find one that is at least non-critical, such as a lighting circuit, and could be shut down long enough to tie in the voltage.

Worst-case retrofit scenario, you have no local voltage connections available. CTs alone are better than nothing. A good monitoring system can combine those readings with nominal voltages, or voltages from the ATS, to provide at least apparent power. Most meters can be powered from a single-phase voltage supply, even 110V wall power. I recommend springing for the full power meter even in this case. At some point you’ll likely have some down time, hopefully scheduled, on this circuit, and you can perform the full proper wiring at that time.

The final decision about your meter is whether to get the display. If your goal is continuous measurement (i.e., monitoring), the meter should be communicating with a monitoring system. The LED or LCD display will at best provide you a secondary check on the readings. The option also complicates the installation, because you need some kind of panel mounting to hold it and make it visible. It can become more of a space issue than one might expect for a 25-sq. inch display. Avoiding the full display output saves on the cost of the meter, and saves even more on the installation labor.

Look for a meter with simple LEDs or some other indicator to help identify wiring problems like mis-matched current and voltage phases. If the meter is a transducer only, have the monitoring system up and running, and communication wiring run, before installing the meter, so you can use its readings to troubleshoot the wiring. Nobody wants to open that panel twice!

Continuous monitoring of total power is critical to managing the capacity and efficiency of a data center. Whether your concern is PUE, carbon footprint, or simply reducing the energy bill, the monthly report from the utility won’t always provide the information you need to identify specific opportunities for improvement. Even smart meters might not be granular enough to identify short-term surges, and won’t allow you to correlate the data with that from other equipment in your facility. It’s hard to justify skimping on one or two meters for a new data center. Even in a retrofit situation, consider a dedicated meter as an early step in your efficiency efforts.

Enterprise software Proof-of-Concepts (POCs) are often challenging to administer and implement as they typically require the vendor to train, install and implement the software in the client’s facility.  This process can prove costly and time consuming for both the vendor and the client. 

Modius has solved this challenge by creating a new offering for a “virtual” proof of concept (vPOC).  The vPOC allows customers to try Modius OpenData in a secure sandbox environment without installing any local software. 

The database is pre-populated with a typical Data Center environment including a full range of data center equipment, including typical ‘heavy equipment’ such as UPS, CRAC, Genset, PDU, as well as rack-level equipment such as iPDU’s and wireless temperature sensors from leading equipment providers including HP, IBM, APC, Emerson, RFCODE, and Server Tech.

The vPOC provides a fully-functional instance of the Modius OpenData system that the user can manage and administer.  The Graphical User Interface (GUI) allows the user to drill through to each device and identify which alarm points are being collected, how they are correlated and distributed, their polling rates, and which “real-time” alarms are critical or require immediate action. Typical customers who are signing up for a Modius vPOC are looking to replace several existing monitoring point solutions (e.g. homegrown, ALC or DataTrax).  In addition, they may be looking at Modius OpenData’s “multi-site” capability to consolidate existing infrastructure monitoring across multiple locations with a single repository of easy accessed and reported information for availability, capacity, and performance utilization.

The process to get started is as simple as signing up for the 15-Day free trial.  To get started, please see our vPOC registration page for a simple form to have one of our team contact you.

The IT industry has focused a tremendous amount of attention to the concept of 'GREEN' over the past 5 years. Many of the players, both IT vendors and consumers of IT gear alike have created GREEN Officers or Sustainability Czars, and even whole organizations that focus on 'greening' a company or a product strategy. Green is timely and exciting and viewed as a good corporate citizen thing to do. However, the realities of COSTS are now beginning to materialize.

While it is very exciting to standup in front of your shareholders and articulate all of the GREEN initiatives in progress, there have been a number of recent 'green' projects conceived a few years ago that have been put 'on hold' pending funding. The reality of GREEN is that it COSTS money! It may cost money short term, or it may be long term. Green is not cheap. In some cases an ROI can be calculated to show savings over longer periods of time, in somes cases new technologies must be invented to make any difference in costs.

Consider the grocery store analogy. An organic pear may be 40% higher in cost than a 'generic' pear. Yes, everybody knows that organic is healthier, but how many people are willing to spend 20%-40% MORE for the Organic versions of their groceries? Oh sure, at first you tried a few, but the likelihood is that many of us switched back to regular foods and continue to buy non-Organic groceries due to cost.

Another gem... I priced a 5kW solar system for my house a year or two ago, and with a total cost of over $50K, I calculated the break-even point (after rebates!) to be 9 years! Hummm, so I would have to write a check for $50K, and then over the next 9 years would get my $50K back, and THEN I might start saving money...

In the world of IT, we have the same thing happening today. Many of the biggest companies that jumped into 'GREEN' early because they thought it was a good corporate citizen move while at the same time believing it would somehow save them money, are now finding that 'going green' COSTS money. REAL money! It may be an upfront cost with a 3-5 year payback, or it could be permanent ongoing costs. The fact is TODAY that a kW of power generated by Wind or Solar has a cost of 5-10 TIMES that of fossil fuel generate power. (See the URL: http://greenecon.net/understanding-the-cost-of-solar-energy/energy_economics.html).

Our best bet today is to use advanced monitoring to determine WHERE energy is being used, and how exactly how much by each application. This will set the stage for future investments in green technologies to be deployed. And remember, "Going Green" does NOT mean your energy efficiency is going to be better. You could running your entire data center on renewable power, but do so with a horrible PUE due to process and architecture problems. Wasting a watt is wasting a watt, regardless of where the watt came from.

We have the opportunity to push each other towards data center innovation, the creation of new power and cooling technologies, various regulatory reforms to spur investment even furthar and above all, demand accountability across the board.