Lowering power usage is a hot-button topic for anyone operating a lab or datacenter these days. Utility costs are always increasing, servers and storage keep growing and there are few signs that "the cloud" is going to do much to help. Regardless of the size of operation, power costs make up a huge portion of an OPEX budget (#4 at StorageReview); including the direct power usage of servers and associated hardware, as well as indirect power usage to cooling everything. During one of my first trips to Dell's headquarters in Round Rock, TX, I had the pleasure of seeing the #Dell Fresh Air Hot House, which sparked ideas that would eventually lower the overall power usage of the StorageReview Test Lab.
For anyone that hasn't seen it, the Dell Fresh Air Hot House is nothing more than sun and rain protection for a mini datacenter operated in the middle of Dell's parking lot. Its goal is to dispel the myth that servers, storage and networking gear really need the perfect 68F ambient temperatures that many people think they need. Chasing such a low temperature goal costs a lot of money and generally requires a much bigger investment in cooling gear versus basic air handlers to keep fresh air moving through an environment. After consulting with the Dell team in charge of that project, I turned to our own lab to look for ways to save money.
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