More Energy-Efficient
Processing and Storage
The cloud, a global network of virtual servers, introduced first in 2006, has very quickly led to a thriving and global digital economy, changing the game for companies and consumers alike. Today, the cloud continues to drive efficiencies for businesses by providing virtual storage, enabling remote work for employees, influencing e-commerce innovations and much more. The data centers that host these servers and enable this convenience have improved significantly as well in the last decade or so, becoming increasingly energy efficient, running on renewable energy, purchasing offsets and exponentially expanding their scope to power tens of billions of electronic devices.
AMD
AMD, for instance, has mastered the science of maximizing the computing performance delivered per watt of energy consumed. Their cutting-edge chip architecture, design and power management features have resulted in significant energy-efficiency gains, aiding their goal of “25x20” or delivering 25 times more energy efficiency by the year 2020 with processors that combine powerful processor and graphic cores in a single chip. That means that in 2020, if achieved, an AMD-powered laptop will consume one-fifth the power and accomplish a task in one-fifth the time required by an AMD-powered laptop produced in 2014. AMD remains on track to meet this goal, which has received recognition that includes the California Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership (GEELA) Award, an Edison Award and an Energy Manager Today Award.
Lenovo
Laptop maker Lenovo introduced a novel approach called Neptune in 2018 for data center efficiency, which offers a complement of three liquid-based cooling technologies that efficiently extract heat from computer systems. Direct to Node (DTN) Warm Water Cooling utilizes water piped directly into the system unit to cool components, instead of using system fans and chilled air, and allows critical server components to operate at lower temperatures compared to standard air-cooled systems. The Rear Door Heat Exchanger (RDHX) brings water to the rack to reduce heat, making it room neutral. Similar to a car radiator, the RDHX replaces the rear door of the rack and absorbs heat from the exhaust of air-cooled systems. Finally, a Thermal Transfer Module integrates a hermetically sealed liquid-filled heat pipe inside a traditional heat-sink.
Apple
Lastly, Apple reports using outside air cooling through a waterside economizer during night and cool-weather hours, which, along with water storage, allows the chillers at its Maiden, North Carolina, data centers to be idle 75% of the time.
