THE RISE OF GREEN DATA
“ Often the power supply to data centres is overbooked , but under-used which leads to huge amounts of energy going to waste ”
– Dennis O ’ Sullivan , EMEA Data Centre Segment Manager , Eaton
He points out that water has 50,000 times the capacity to absorb heat compared to air , making it the most efficient and cost-effective option . By reducing the energy spent on fans and coolants , liquid systems can drastically minimise a data centre ’ s carbon footprint .
“ Water cooling systems can also enable better use of space . As hot air rises , servers at the top of a stack can often overheat in air-cooling environments , limiting the number that can be placed on top of each other . As the temperature can be more easily controlled in a liquid system , the height of the stack becomes less important ,” England explains .
Whatever else happens , it doesn ’ t look like this sector will stop needing new , and larger , facilities any time soon . The global green data centre market is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 14 % according to market research company Technavio in a study it released this year . By 2021 , it calculates the market will be worth US $ 5bn .
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