Three-quarters of server managers believe a sixth of their machines do nothing but needlessly consume power, wasting an estimated $25 billion a year.
The alarming survery results were released by 1E, a provider of software and services which reduce organisations’ IT costs and environmental footprint, following a commissioned independent global study of server managers.
The study, conducted by Kelton Research, commissioned in association with the Alliance to Save Energy, revealed that the world’s largest IT departments have millions of servers that are not doing anything useful.
“Contrary to popular belief, one of the largest causes of energy and IT operational waste in data centres are servers that are simply not being used. The savings from decommissioning non-productive servers cannot be ignored. Organisations need better information on server efficiency and more effective ongoing server energy management.” comments Sumir Karayi, CEO, 1E.
“At 1E, we have always looked at IT inefficiency as an opportunity for innovation. Nearly 10 years ago we pioneered PC Power Management and have since saved our clients over $300m in energy costs alone. We are delighted to share our latest research findings on server energy and efficiency with you and hope that the results provoke action,” added Karayi.
The key findings from the 1E/Alliance to Save Energy study are:
• 15 percent or more servers are not doing anything useful according to 72 percent of server managers
• Over eight in ten (83 percent) admit that they do not have an adequate grasp of server utilisation
• 72 percent of server managers polled admitted that they rely on CPU utilisation as their measure of server efficiency. It was noted a CPU is busy whether the server is providing a service to the business or doing routine maintenance tasks which provide no business value.
• 63 percent rely on manual checks, trial and error or wait until something is broken to find unused servers
• 65 percent have virtualiced unused servers and almost one in three (32 percent) state that they are actively seeking a solution to virtual server sprawl
• 41 percent are concerned about and a further 43% are using change control procedures or software to manage virtual server sprawl, a phenomenon where a disproportionate number of virtual servers have low or zero utilisation
• 75 percent admit that their company’s mandate to deliver high levels of IT service internally get in the way of measuring and improving server efficiency
Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, said: “With US data centre energy consumption at an all time high, it’s only logical that we reconsider how we are using IT resources.
“An unnecessary amount of data servers are ‘plugged in’ 24/7 in an age when power-saving tools are available to businesses. Faced with a fast-moving regulatory environment - including the US climate bill, pending EPA data center initiatives and the upcoming climate talks in Copenhagen - the US IT sector may soon be under greater scrutiny for its power consumption.
“We’ll want to say ahead of the curve and make smart, energy-efficient changes where we can.”
The study of global server managers was conducted by Kelton Research in September 2009
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