HP helps clients get an edge on data center energy usage and "stranded" capacity

I reported earlier this week that about one-third of data center managers are planning for some kind of new capacity or expansion over the next several years due to constraints in power supply, space and other resources. Hewlett-Packard's Environmental Edge tool, launched back in June, is aiming to help companies put off that sort of expansion.

"In most cases, your data center isn't out of capacity, it's just that the capacity is stranded," says Steve Cumings, director of marketing for HP's scalable computing and infrastructure division.

Power and cooling capacity are the top concerns for most clients opting to use the new Environmental Edge tool, which essentially senses things like temperature across the data center using wireless sensors. The information is transformed into Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) data, and historical logs are created because data center efficiency always morphs over time. What's efficient in February may not cut it in May. A console provides a graphical view of information such as air flow and whether the hot and cold aisles are designed efficiently. (Future plans call for the data to be part of other management tools that take a broader view of the data center, Cumings says.)

Over the five or so months that the software has been in use, some customers have been able to make adjustments to energy usages and other metrics, resulting in capacity increases of up to 30 percent. Pricing depends on the configuration of your data center.

Here's the link to the Environmental Edge Web site for more information.