Welcome to Keep Your Cool - a series tackling simple cooling optimization strategies for the busy data center operators by former busy data center operator, Gregg Haley.

Does your organization proactively identify and remove abandoned or unused servers from the computer room?

Most data centers have old technology platforms that remain operational for archival or research purposes. In fact, most data centers actually have application servers which are operating but have no users. Someone at some point in time said; “leave it running so we can make sure we don’t need it any longer”, and it falls off the radar.  It is useful to inventory these systems and create a retirement plan. I am always amazed by the number of systems that have had software upgrades running on newer hardware and the legacy system is not retired. 

As technology changes and newer systems are brought online to replace the older systems, once the new systems are functioning the legacy systems are forgotten and continue to sit in the data center, using power, cooling and space, but serving no purpose. In many cases, systems can be taken offline and powered down, even if they are not physically retired.

An opportunity exists to put multiple old technology systems onto one new system, which will reduce the total number of servers needed.. A company I worked for replaced six 2 RU servers with a single 1 RU server capable of producing the same performance of the six server cluster. While this may not be typical for every application, it needs someone's attention to realize the savings. In this example, we were able to save about 80%, whereas I would think a typical case would yield savings of about 20%. Even if the floor space is not recovered, the power capacity recovered can be very valuable as users deploy higher density IT equipment.

When making any changes to the Data Center environment, it’s important to conduct a before and after study. When removing “zombie” servers, you can to proactively identify the servers, measure the existing state, remove the servers, and then show the impact of your change. This will show that your data center is operating within safe and optimal conditions, and will also show –with data– the efficiency & savings realized. 

An easy way to benchmark is to use the Purkay Labs’ AUDIT-BUDDy system. You can quickly take measurements (without any installation or downtime), and automatically generate a before and after. AUDIT-BUDDY is a portable, temporary, economical environmental monitoring tool that should be in every Data Center Manager’s toolbox.

About the Author

Gregg Haley is a data center and telecommunications executive with more than 30 years of leadership experience. Most recently served as the Senior Director of Data Center Operations - Global for Limelight Networks. Gregg provides data center assessment and optimization reviews showing businesses how to reduce operating expenses by identifying energy conservation opportunities. Through infrastructure optimization energy expenses can be reduced by 10% to 30%.

In addition to Gregg's data center efforts, he has a certification from the Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRII) as Business Continuity Planner. In November of 2005, Gregg was a founding member and Treasurer of the Association of Contingency Planners - Greater Boston Chapter, a non-profit industry association dedicated to the promotion and education of Business Continuity Planning. Gregg had served on the chapter's Board of Directors for the first four years. Gregg is also a past member of the American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS).

Gregg currently serves as the Principal Consultant for Purkay Labs.