By Mikael Ricknäs | Apr 8, 2009

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Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) Europe chairman Juergen Arnold spoke about greening data centers during the recent SNIA Europe Academy event in Stockholm.  According to Arnold, there is a lot of talk about greening the IT landscape.  Unfortunately, there are not enough actual energy-saving projects and investments.   Arnold attributes the gap between talk and action to the economic downturn that is pushing companies to re-allocate funds.

There are, however, a lot of things which can be done to mahe data centers more energy efficient without spending a lot of money.  A good place to start is cooling, because it represents 60-70% of data-center power spending.   Other tips on Arnold's list include sorting out cabling and putting blanking panels in place in racks to improve airflow, and turning out the lights.  Companies that want to delve deeper are advised to take a look at the EU Code of Conduct for Data Centers which includes over a hundred best practices.