We spent a lot of time on energy efficiency and it might be interesting to share our experiences with the community in order to exchange best practices.

It is very important to really think through your choice of hardware. In particular the energy loss of a power supply unit of a server is concerning. Google claims in a white paper that you are likely to loose 30 - 40% of power in a typical power supply unit. The reason is that the power supply unit converts AC to DC power which results in heat (ie loss of energy). Google however has developed servers which loose only 10% of the power.

Choosing hardware with efficient power supply units is obviously of paramount importance. But where do you find these efficient power supplies ? The answer is simple: you cannot. Humans have built nuclear reactors and sent people to the moon but efficient power supply units are still not around except for the likes of Google. (more…)

I gave a presentation on April 3rd as a key note speaker on the financial impact of virtualization on the Netapp Innovation event. I must give my compliments to Theo van Theylingen and his Netapp team for organizing such a major event. It was a pleasure to present in such an outstanding setting and there were around 900 people attending. (more…)