Data Centers Must Get Greener, Says Gartner

Climbing energy costs will eventually cripple IT if changes are not made, but there appears to be plenty of room for increased efficiencies.The next generation of data centers will have 300 percent more capacity in 60 percent less space-and they'll have to, as management realizes where the trend in power consumption is taking us.

Or so says market research firm Gartner, pointing out that that at current growth rates the energy costs of an x86 server will exceed the cost of that server within three years. A 40kw rack could cost $5,400 per server per year.

The old slap-dash days must end, where x86 servers had 12 percent utilization while still running hot, and IT handled the power and heat issues by spreading the hardware thinly in the racks and in the room and then installing more cooling, Gartner says.

Gartner is preaching maximum virtualization, of course, but is also suggesting rack and row cooling to allow denser equipment levels, smarter floor layouts in terms of air movement, right-sizing, and air economizers.