The purpose of the report, "to accurately characterize electricity used by servers in the U.S. and the world so that public debate can proceed based on accurate data," was fulfilled. The report also established a process for aggregating relevant data and attribution of power use to specific server models. Furthermore, Koomey and other LBNL scientists helped to dispel the myth that office use of IT equipment approaches 13-15% of total U.S. energy consumption, and they reinforce some of the widely held assumptions related to energy use in IT: 60-80% of energy supplied to IT equipment in data centers is consumed by servers, and 50% of total data center energy use goes to cooling. Most importantly, the study established that the growth in energy demand generated by servers doubled over the period 02000 - 02005, and, at current growth rates we can expect to see a 40% increase by 02010.
However, IT shops operating in today's business climate should be careful to not assign too much value to the report in their efforts to tackle infrastructure efficiency and carbon neutrality. Important innovation and policy change has occurred since Koomey's report was compiled, which are of much greater relevance to these eco and efficiency initiatives. For example,
- Sun released the UltraSPARC T1 processor, which powers our Cool Threads servers - the only servers eligible for an efficiency incentive rebate from energy utility Pacific Gas & Electric.
- Water cooled solutions to the chronic challenge of cooling data center are now becoming economically attractive.
- Congress has enacted HR 5646 specifically promoting the use of energy efficient servers, which has already accelerated the pace of innovation in server efficiency.
I knew I could count on Aaron to put it in the proper perspective relative to Sun, but other recent coverage of the study (Green Wombat, ars technica and Treehugger) omitted the relevance of recent innovations and the leadership role that Sun is playing in the advancement of data center efficiency.
Hats off to Koomey and his colleagues for establishing a comprehensive, peer reviewed baseline and methodology for aggregating the data and putting server energy use into a proper context. I am hopeful that Sun and other industry leaders will be able to apply the gains in understanding toward the challenge of solving contemporary business challenges.
