The Green Grid Gears Up

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For months you've heard that so-and-so big shot tech company has joined The Green Grid. Today, by announcing a technology roadmap, they're gearing up to make good on their charter and begin to engage the IT community at large. It all starts with a flurry of activity during the latter half of this year (Q3 and Q4 2007, a.k.a. soonish).

A major theme during the press call today was the need to spell out what energy efficiency means as it pertains to the data center. Currently a nebulous area of research, the group plans to sort out the standards and metrics used to measure power consumption. The group then plans to follow up with studies on how this data is collected; a survey on the current and proposed eco-tech landscape; a look at power distribution and cooling; and, of course, best practices.

Also in the wings is a Database for Data Center Performance that will eventually allow operators to gauge their performance versus others with like characteristics.

A full list of what to expect from The Green Grid in the coming months awaits after the jump.

Update: More coverage from bITa Planet's Jennifer Zaino and InternetNews' Andy Patrizio.

From the press release:

Data Collection

Data Center Standards and Metrics Inventory (Q3’07) – this study will document existing standards and metrics for energy efficiency, identify coverage gaps and make recommendations for future development.
The Green Grid Metrics: Describing Data Center Power Efficiency (Q3’07) – this study will be an update to The Green Grid’s existing study on data center efficiency metrics and will look at workload classification through a data center segmentation model.
Operationalizing Energy-Efficiency Data Collection (Q4’07) – this study will identify the requirements for collecting and aggregating data center power consumption data.

Data Assessment

Data Center Efficiency Baseline Market Study (Q3’07) – this study on the current state of the industry will allow The Green Grid to identify key factors driving companies to take action on data center power consumption and the challenges in doing so. Collecting and analyzing this data will help to provide companies with a baseline to compare their own initiatives, goals and performance.
Operational Best Practices (Q4’07) – these studies will focus on right-sizing the data center and will outline best practices in the adoption of virtualization and consolidation technologies.
Database for Data Center Performance (Q4‘07) – The Green Grid will begin development work on a database focused on data center characteristics and performance schema.

Technology Proposals

Initial Technology Roadmap (Q4’07) – this roadmap provides an initial assessment of existing and emerging technologies affecting data center efficiency and performance, taking into consideration both return on investment and risk to the end user.
Power Distribution Options for the Data Center Study (Q3’07) – this study will look at the qualitative advantages and disadvantages of data center power distribution configurations.
Cooling Options Study (Q4’07) – this study will focus on the qualitative advantages and disadvantages of data center cooling architectures.

August 7, 2007 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)