Rochester’s Newest Datacenter provides PUE Metrics for all Colocation Customers
Within their 36,000 square foot headquarters located in Pittsford, NY, EarthLink has built one of the most technically advanced, reliable and secure Data Centers in the region with over 6,000 square feet of raised flooring. “We have strategically engineered our newest Data Center with state of the art designs and technology enabling us to provide the most reliable and cost effective solutions to our clients” says James Salviski, the Founder and CEO of EarthLink.
When designing the new Enterprise Class Data Center, the EarthLink engineering team realized that aside from building a secure and reliable facility, power management and energy efficiency would be the area that would impact customers the most over the next decade.
In order to provide their customers with the most cost effective data center solutions, EarthLink selected only the most efficient power distribution and cooling technologies available. But, this was only the first step.
To measure the efficiency of a Data Center the industry uses a metric called Power Usage Efficiency (PUE). PUE is the ratio that represents the total power coming into the Data Center divided by the amount of power used by the servers. EarthLink’s Data Center is one of the first facilities to give real-time PUE metrics to customers via a web based portal.
Over the last several months, EarthLink has created a PUE Green Meter that calculates the efficiency of the Data Center in real-time utilizing a network of revenue grade power meters that have been installed on all of the Data Center equipment. This tool has enabled EarthLink to fine-tune their systems, which has increased the efficiency of the Data Center by an additional 15%. This tool also helped confirm that the efficiency of the Data Center is proportionally tied to outside air temperature. As it gets cooler outside it takes less energy to keep the servers cool. Therefore, EarthLink is able to increase the percentage of their total power usage that goes to the servers. For every degree the outside temperature is below 80F, the Data Center operates at a significantly more efficient level. With the annual mean temperature of Rochester being 48 degrees Fahrenheit, combined with reasonable electric rates and great fiber paths in and out of the region it makes upstate New York an ideal location for Data Centers.
What does all of this mean for their customers? EarthLink is currently the only Data Center in upstate New York and one of the few in the country that offers revenue grade power metering for all of their electrical circuits. “Utilizing this branch circuit monitoring system”, says Chris Wall, CIO of EarthLink, we are able to provide all Colocation customers with variable rate pricing for electricity based on actual KWh consumed. Using this billing system saves our customers money and rewards them for being responsible with their power usage.”
EarthLink is an industry leading provider of advanced Data Center solutions, and Managed Services. EarthLink’s new Enterprise Class Data Center, combined with the hosting and managed services that the company has been providing for over 15 years are key to the company’s continued success and anticipated growth.
