An innovative method of saving the energy consumes by data centres has been invented by EPFL scientists and applied for Credit Suisse in Switzerland. The solution, developed at the Embedded Systems Laboratory at EPFL, will save up to 50% of the energy currently used.

The Power Monitor System and Management uses a set of (probably Hall) sensors connected to the server racks’ main power cables and measures the current passing through. Then, the consumption is logged and sent to a software feedback system that adjusts the load on each server. “Two servers running at 40% of their capacity each, consume much more than only one
at 80%,” said David Atienza, ESL director. The system has already been implemented on the racks of some 5,200 servers in Credit Suisse‘s Zurich data centre. The institution had been planning such a “virtualization” approach for about six years.

Source: The Green Optimistic