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SynapSense Nabs SMUD Contract for Energy-Saving Technology
SMUD is purchasing the wireless-sensor network technology for about $18,000, and the publicly owned utility is spreading the word about the technology. SMUD is looking at an incentive program for customers that purchase this type of technology. Three SMUD business customers have deployed the SynapSense technology in data centers in separate pilot programs. SynapSense chief executive officer Pete Van Deventer declined to identify the other three companies.
The SMUD pilot program was conducted from October to December with a goal of illustrating how the utility could improve operational and energy efficiencies. "We found that, yes, (the technology) definitely has value," said Ed Sanchez, a program manager in energy efficiency, customer research and development for SMUD. Sanchez, though, doesn't endorse any particular company. SMUD regularly tests new energy-efficiency technologies, but there are more failures than successes, Sanchez said.
For the pilot project, SynapSense deployed 80 wireless-sensor nodes -- some of which are smaller than a fingernail -- in SMUD's 5,000-square-foot data center. The sensors, hooked up to the network, sample environmental conditions, such as air temperature and humidity, every five minutes, and make sense of the data. At first, Sanchez said, he was skeptical about deploying wireless technology in a fully wired data center. "Then I understood the real issue was you could gather real-time information on the energy use within a data center," he said. "This was something really new. You cannot do that today."
The pilot projects come as energy costs are driving companies to seek ways to create more efficient data centers. Data centers consume 40 percent to 60 percent of the energy in a typical office building, Sanchez said.
Power-hungry servers packed into data centers run constantly, and the heat-generating servers have to be cooled, which adds to the energy load.
Sanchez said he asked other utilities what they're doing to conserve energy.
"A lot of folks don't have programs," he said, adding that some, including SMUD, started developing programs in the past year. "It's relatively new ground." The growth of data centers, coupled with the rising cost of electricity, has companies such as SynapSense looking for ways to help companies cut carbon emissions.
It's too risky for companies to simply experiment with shutting off a cooler, for example, without knowing whether it's safe to do so. The SynapSense technology provides the information data center operators need to safely make changes. "Without this type of instrumentation it would be risky to make big changes in your data center," Sanchez said. The technology includes an alarm system to ensure servers are kept properly cooled, he said.
SMUD leased the equipment for $1 a square foot and is now purchasing it for $6 a square foot over 3,000 square feet of the data center.
During the pilot project, the SynapSense network identified places in the center that were being over-cooled. SMUD also found that the air pressure on the floor was too low. Air flows from underneath a sub-floor and up through the server racks. But because SMUD had placed perforated floor tiles in areas of the floor where no racks sit, air leaked out where it shouldn't.
"The technology showed us the impact of having the perforated tiles in the wrong location," Sanchez said.
SMUD officials said the utility might be able to shut down one of the cooling units as a result of the study.
"The energy savings potential in data centers is pretty tremendous," Sanchez said.
SynapSense has deployed its technology in dozens of data centers operated by Fortune 500 companies. IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is conducting a pilot program with SynapSense technology.
SynapSense was launched in 2006 by former Intel Corp. executive Van Deventer and University of California Davis computer science associate professor Raju Pandey. The company employs 35. Van Deventer declined to disclose revenue.
Sacramento Business Journal - by Melanie Turner Staff writer