Power Monitoring Gizmo Helps Reduce Energy Consumption
Christian Harris, 24/08/2010, posted in "Analysis"
Christian Harris is editor of BCW. Christian is an IT journalist with over 17 years industry experience. In that time he has launched, edited and written for numerous magazines ...more info
Christian Harris is editor of BCW. Christian is an IT journalist with over 17 years industry experience. In that time he has launched, edited and written for numerous magazines and Web sites including PC Magazine, ZDNet, TechWorld, VNUnet, PC Advisor, PCW, GameSpot, Stuff, Press Gazette, Web User, The Daily Mail and The Guardian. As a copywriter/blogger, Christian also works on freelance marketing projects that include producing Web sites and writing white papers, case studies and press releases. Christian has a BA (Hons) in Publishing from the London College of Communication. ...less info
Data centre managers rejoice. 2bm has launched the iMeter, an advanced environmental and power monitoring solution designed to help businesses monitor and reduce power consumption in the data centre.
Uniquely, iMeter can be implemented without a complete re-fit and whilst allowing normal uninterrupted operation.
The reduction of excessive power consumption is becoming a major government initiative – and the potential significant levy for failure to comply is set to become a major concern for any large enterprise and its subsidiaries.
Today, it is organisations with power consumption in excess of £500,000 per annum that must comply with the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme requirements. But there is little doubt that in the coming years the threshold will inevitably continue to fall, with increasing numbers of UK businesses affected.
In response to this, the iMeter is pitched as the first product to provide an “intelligent, reliable and accurate method” of monitoring power consumption without requiring any system downtime. This technology can be used at rack level, providing insight into energy requirements of servers, Storage Area Networks and switches, as well as the attendant supporting equipment, such as lighting and air conditioning, that will enable the controlled reduction of a data centre’s Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) rating.
In addition, the iMeter continuously monitors power consumption allowing reporting which compares every hour, day, week and month, providing not only clear trends in energy consumption but also the opportunity to set alarms based on predetermined thresholds. Real-time alerts can be raised if consumption exceeds the specified threshold, improving day-to-day management; while the information can also be integrated with existing systems management tools to provide a complete data centre overview.
The power behind the iMeter lies in its sensor, intelliAmp, which has been designed to monitor the current draw of racks via 16A and 32A cables. Unlike other data centre power monitoring solutions that require downtime for implementation, the intelliAmp can be installed in ‘live’ environments as it simply clips around the cable that needs to be monitored. Its unique calibration system ensures the sensor can be positioned correctly to achieve optimum levels of accuracy, ideal for legacy data centres where a re-build is prohibitively expensive or not possible.
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