FEATURE: GREEN NETWORKING
NOT EVERYTHING,
FOR EXAMPLE, CAN
BE GREEN. IF YOU
ARE COMMISSIONING
DATA CENTRES OR
NEW DISTRIBUTION
CENTRES, YOU HAVE
TO USE CONCRETE.
ACCORDING TO
INDUSTRY FIGURES,
THAT COULD MEAN
THAT EVERY TONNE OF
CONCRETE RELEASES
410KG/M3 OF CO2E
IAN WILKIE
MD, Brand-Rex
as virtualisation, better cable
management and choice of cabling.
Before any choice of cable is made,
good management and practice is
essential. Key gains such as better aisle
containment, making sure blanking
plates are fitted, that there are no
air leaks around racks and that hot
and cold air are not mixing are basic
requirements. Don’t be surprised if,
when you wander around your own
data centre, you see some of these
not being done properly. It requires
effective management and process to
make sure checks take place regularly.
Switches
A big problem for older data centres
and comms rooms - and one that still
exists in new builds - is the location
www.intelligentcio.com
and cooling of switches. Historically,
switches have generally been located
at the back of racks – but this is
where the majority of the heat exists
in today’s higher-powered racks.
This means that they operate at very
high temperatures and are the most
likely item in a rack to fail due to
overheating.
Hardware manufacturers recognise this
risk and so the airflow through a switch
is rarely from front to back. Instead it
is often side to side or, in some cases,
back to front. To cool switches most
effectively, there is a need for data
centre teams to get creative.
A good solution is to use ducts to
channel cold air from the front of the
rack and feed it to the input side of the
switch. Another duct collects the hot
exhaust air and vents it out the back of
the cabinet. This increases reliability,
prolongs switch life and helps to ensure
that cold and hot aisles are properly
separated without air short-circuits.
Ports mean power
Every active port on every switch
consumes power. On older switches
that’s a lot of power; because the
ports are always on and always
transmitting at a power level high
enough to drive a full 100 metre link
– even if the link is only 20m. Even
more power is consumed day-in and
day-out if the port supports power over
Ethernet (PoE or PoE+),
A switch technology refresh can often
be justified simply by the power
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