Design and Operational Analysis of a Green Data Center

Data centers are at the heart of the IT-driven economy. Power consumption of a single data center can range from tens to a hundred megawatts, and operational costs can run into millions of dollars a month. Data center operators incorporate careful design and optimizations to reduce large-scale data centers' energy consumption. Because data center design and operations are a source of competitive advantage, insight into modern data centers is scarce. This article describes the design and analysis of a state-of-the-art green university data center, and provides several insights into its operational and efficiency characteristics.