Green Data Cabinets Feature Editorial

Syracuse University has announced that it partnered with IBM and New York Energy Research and Development Authority to unveil its green data center powered with direct current.

University sources revealed that the data center was highly efficient with minimum energy losses compared to legacy alternating current powered infrastructure. The green data center employs modern DC power technology enabling Syracuse University to reduce its energy consumption costs significantly.

“Direct current power is native to all computers throughout the world,” said Christopher Sedore, vice president for information technology and chief information officer at Syracuse University.

“By delivering power native to the computer we eliminate losses and equipment historically required to deliver AC to the server. Leveraging the Validus and IBM (News - Alert) technology allows us to be much greener while improving overall systems reliability,” Sedore said.

In the university data centers, all IT equipment used to be fed with AC power in spite of all servers running on direct current. Now in the new Green Data Center, Syracuse has implemented the DC system with Validus DC Systems technology which allows the AC power generated by micro-turbines to be converted only once to direct current.

The energy efficiency resulting from this system is due to the delivery of direct current power at the exact voltage directly to the IBM System z10 server. This simplified architecture reduces energy losses, equipment components and real estate requirements besides reducing maintenance costs and improving end-to-end reliability.

 

IBM’s chief hardware systems engineer, Edward Seminaro said, “IBM’s Power and z series servers readily accept either 380 or 575 volts DC directly, enabling IBM to be the market leader in delivering green IT platforms. When the energy efficiency is combined with the benefits of running an end-to-end DC environment, it is difficult to deploy a system that is greener or more reliable.”