Yuedao Tech: 6 Key Energy-Saving Strategies for IDC Data Centers-PART 1

PART -1

The electronic and networked development of business and management has led to the fact that data centers (IDCs) are indispensable for the support, operation and storage of important data for key business of enterprises, and thus IDCs are now able to develop rapidly and constructed in large quantities. However, IDC due to the concentration of equipment, the large number of mainframes, has become a major user of electricity in the enterprise.

Why Data Centers Need Energy Efficiency
IDCs consume 87% of telecom operators’ total power, with 73% used by servers and cooling systems.
️ Blade servers (up to 15kW/rack) generate intense heat, demanding advanced cooling solutions.
⚠️ Cutting UPS/cooling redundancies blindly risks system stability — 99.9999% uptime requires smart design, not just cost-cutting.

6 Universal Energy-Saving Principles

1️⃣ Low-Power Hardware

• Choose energy-efficient servers/storage: 100W device power ≈ +120W cooling load.

• Impact: Slash energy amplification by 3x.

2️⃣ Smart Power Design

• Tiered power plans: Match criticality to uptime (not all devices need 99.9999% redundancy).

• Result: Reduce wasted capacity and operational costs.

3️⃣ Adaptive Cooling

• Use free cooling: Winter air (North China), dry air (Northwest), or building chilled water.

• Example: Cut HVAC energy by 30%+ with seasonal optimization.

4️⃣ Airflow Optimization

• Avoid "hot spots" with logical layouts and shorter airflow paths.

• Fix: Poor airflow = 20%+ extra fan energy.

5️⃣ Targeted Cooling

• Deploy specialized cooling (e.g., liquid cooling) for high-density racks.

• Why: Uniform cooling wastes energy; focus on hotspots.

6️⃣ Seal & Insulate

• Block heat leaks: Insulate walls/floors, seal gaps (critical in hot climates).

• Fact: Summer heat gain can spike cooling costs by 40%.
  
  Avoid These Traps:
  ❌ Blindly cutting UPS redundancy → downtime risks.
  ❌ One-size-fits-all cooling → energy waste.
  
  (more details, please check our Blog:  PART -2 of the same article)