Tag: PUE

Data centers use a lot of power, and while the move to renewable energy helps, other efficiencies must be created to keep these power-hungry behemoths in check. It is estimated that 2% of the carbon emissions in the world come from data centers, and that will only increase as we stream more, save more on the cloud, and demand internet that is faster and faster. However, there is a monster or monsters lurking in nearly every data center – zombie servers.

Key Takeaways

By the end of this article, you’ll know:

• What zombie servers are and their impact on carbon footprint.
• The challenge of identifying zombie servers.
• Solutions for identifying and managing zombie servers.

Jump to Section:

• Just Resting?
• “Power! Power!”
• Wake Me Up or Just Go-Go
• Zombie Hunting

Rather than roaming the world dragging their feet and looking for brains, these zombie servers quietly draw power, making a data center much less power efficient that it could be. It’s not just power either. There is also the hidden cost of the space these servers take up. What are “zombie servers” and what do we do about them?

Just Resting?

Even as demand for larger, faster data centers increases, there is a significant push for those data centers to be more efficient. So many data centers use less power as they expand. This is in part due to Power Useage Effectiveness (PUE) standards that determine how well a data center uses the power available to them.

Zombie servers are servers that still use power… but don’t actually do any work. These energy wasters can be difficult to find, especially in large data centers with thousands of servers. Part of the problem is that unlike powering off your laptop, a server is always using energy even when it is “idle.” It’s never truly off. Since the idea is to get equipment to use less energy by doing more work, it is vital that these servers be identified.

“Power! Power!”

The reason quite simply is power usage. Since the server is never truly idle, it is hard to find, because all the servers in a stack may appear to be pulling equal amounts of power, but it can be hard to determine which ones are doing the most work. While AI monitoring helps, it is still not a foolproof solution.

Not to mention the fact that many data centers have not yet implemented that technology. Traditional Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software can help with power usage and cooling, but in order to achieve newer and stricter efficiency standards, data centers must take additional steps we’ll talk about in a moment.

In fact, as recently as 2015, a study found that 1 in 3 servers in data centers were “zombies”, either comatose or consuming energy and doing little to no work. Immediately, many data centers began to take steps to locate, isolate, and remove these zombie servers. “It’s a matter of technical efficiency,” Jonathan Koomey, a research fellow at Stanford University told Computer World.

Wake Me Up or Just Go-Go

There are two choices when it comes to zombie servers: once located, you can either wake them up and put them to work, or you can move them out of the system. Alternatively, you can move their computing functions to the cloud. The problem is a bit more complex though.

Data centers are often fearful of removing some zombie servers in case they may be needed, or are more mission critical than first thought. This can result in zombies staying online and sucking power longer than necessary. However, as power savings have been proven in other instances, more data centers have become proactive in seeking and taking these servers offline.

Zombie Hunting

What’s the answer? In concept, it is pretty simple. An intelligent DCIM can help by creating certain reports either regularly or on demand. They include information like:

• Charting of trends
• Power capacity trend and analysis
• Power charge back reporting
• Failover testing
• Active power by month and device

The active power by month and device can help you establish baseline power needs and consumption. Then changes can be tracked to determine what servers are underutilized or even not doing any work at all.

The key is a truly holistic approach using all the modern tools at our disposal. The piecemeal approach of shutting down a server here or there will result in only minimal power savings. Optimizing all aspects of on-site infrastructure is essential.

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FAQs

What are zombie servers?

Zombie servers are underutilized or completely unused servers that remain powered on and consume energy, space, and cooling resources within a data center. They are “undead” because while they are technically operational, they aren’t actively performing useful work. A 2015 study found that as many as one in three servers in some data centers were zombies.

Why are zombie servers a problem?

Zombie servers cause two main problems: wasted power and wasted space. They quietly draw electricity, making a data center much less power-efficient than it could be. They also take up valuable physical space that could be used for active, revenue-generating servers. This inefficiency goes against the industry-wide push for higher Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) standards.

Why are they so difficult to find?

Finding zombie servers is difficult, especially in large data centers with thousands of machines. Servers are never truly “off” and always draw some power, even when idle. This makes it challenging to distinguish them from servers that are doing work. While modern tools like AI monitoring can help, many data centers have yet to implement such technology.

What can be done about zombie servers?

-Once identified, there are two main options for dealing with zombie servers:

-Recommission them: Put the server to work on a new task. This is a good option if you have a need for the server’s computing power.

-Decommission them: Take the server offline and remove it from the data center. This frees up space and reduces power consumption.

-Alternatively, some organizations opt to migrate the functions of a zombie server to the cloud.

How can my organization proactively hunt for zombie servers?

Proactive zombie hunting requires a holistic, systematic approach rather than a piecemeal one. The most effective method is using an intelligent Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) system. This software can generate reports to help you:

-Establish baseline power needs and consumption.

-Track changes to identify underutilized servers.

-Analyze power capacity trends.

-Monitor active power by month and device.

-By using these tools, data centers can locate, isolate, and remove or repurpose these servers, leading to significant power savings and improved efficiency.