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Douglas Alger

Cash for Clunkers in the Data Center

Get paid to consolidate old servers, upgrade your Data Center HVAC system

By dalger on Mon, 07/13/09 - 8:51pm.
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I have been seeing a fair amount of news coverage about the U.S. government’s “Cash for Clunkers” program. Turn over a functioning automobile that averages less than 19 miles per gallon in gas and is less than 25 years old and you can earn a $3,500 or $4,500 voucher toward the purchase of a new vehicle.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was similar program for Data Centers? Turn in an old piece of energy guzzling hardware and get money to buy something new?

There is actually, at least in some regions.

Several utility companies now offer financial incentives for companies to get rid of older, less efficient hardware, typically replacing them with virtualized servers that have much higher utilization rates. California-based Pacific Gas and Electric Co., for instance, pays 9 cents per kWh plus $100 per kW of demand reduction for consolidating old servers. (PG&E offers other incentives for cooling and lighting upgrades, too.)

Many government agencies also have tax breaks for projects that reduce energy consumption. In the United States, you can get a $1.80 per square foot tax deduction for cutting a commercial building’s HVAC, water heating and interior lighting energy costs by 50 percent.

So, talk with your local utility company and local government. There might be some rewards available for getting clunkers out of your Data Center as well as your driveway.

…

I ended my last post with a minor trivia question… how many Data Centers have been formally LEED-certified? The answer: five, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.

Cash for Clunkers in the Data Center

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About The Greener Data Center

Douglas Alger is Cisco’s IT Architect for Physical Infrastructure. He develops architecture roadmaps, solutions and policies for the physical infrastructure of the company’s Data Centers and other critical facilities around the world.

Doug has more than 20 years of varied professional experience including more than 12 years in Data Center physical design, Data Center operations, IT project management, construction project management and IT infrastructure management. He has participated in more than 80 major Data Center projects, from all-new construction to substantially retrofitting existing facilities, and is the author of two Data Center design books, Grow a Greener Data Center (available online as a pre-publication Rough Cut) and Build the Best Data Center Facility for Your Business (available in print, downloadable eBook, and in Safari Books Online.)

Doug is a popular speaker, with more than 250 corporate customer engagements and dozens of presentations at various Data Center industry conferences. Prior to joining Cisco, Doug was a writer and editor in the News & Publications office of Syracuse University and, before that, a full-time stringer for the Los Angeles Times. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from San Jose State University.

Doug's latest book, Grow a Greener Data Center is the July, 2009, book giveaway selection for Cisco Subnet.

To enter to win a copy of the book of the month, visit the Cisco Subnet home page for contest details.