Return on Investment
The image on the left describes the three complimentary components that, when implemented, comprise the key ROI for SynapSoft™ 4.0.
Before realizing the financial benefit of reduced downtime, you must first focus on air flow management, which will create the opportunity for cooling system improvements. Once this is done and combined with the SynapSoft 4.0 monitoring features, downtime reduction becomes a reality and your company begins to reduce energy costs.
Some of the cooling system reports SynapSense can provide include:
Zone Cooling Index Report
Shows % of Racks outside ASHRAE ranges
High or Low Rack TemperaturesCold Supply Infiltration (CSI) Report
Identification of degree & location of high air mixingCRAC Cooling Anomalies
CRAC Supply> Return temperatureThermal Map Imaging
Identified hot and cold spots outside OEM limitsCRAC Efficiency Report
Low return temperature
Low CRAC cooling efficiency capacity – Running more
Fiscal Return on Investment
Once the first three steps have been taken using the SynapSoft 4.0 Resiliency Solution, companies are typically able to reduce energy consumption by up to 10-20%.
A recent survey of industries revealed that, depending on the vertical, down time can cost as much as $5,000,000 per incident. In another study, 29% of respondents said “excessive heat” was the biggest single issue they faced in their data center. These data points suggest that managing heat in the data center can have a significant positive impact in reducing down time. As a result, data center managers are often forced to significantly overcool to compensate for underlying problems, such as:
- Hot PDU circuit breakers
- Poor data center visibility and alerts
- Missing blanking plates
- Inadequate sub-plenum air pressure
- Inefficient CRAC utilization and placement
- Misdirected air flows and air mixing
- Hot spots
- Thermal vortex,
Eliminating only a single incident of down time over a 24 month period of time translates into a return on investment of 9 months for the typical data center using a commercially-available resiliency solution.
To attain best practices, data center managers must get clear visibility to thermal issues, air flow anomalies and quick alerts when environmental parameters go out of recommended ranges.
> Wireless Sensors and Air Flow Management
Using a dense network of wireless sensors, data center operators are able to visualize air mixing, see trends, and identify hot spots. In addition, high-sensitivity sub-floor grids of pressure sensors target poor flow areas and floor leaks.& Empirical evidence shows that a four inch square opening in the floor used to route rack cabling is equivalent to an entire perforated tile. Plugging holes and adopting other airflow management steps cost very little but can make a huge difference in the effectiveness of the CRAC air supply efficiency. Estimates are that these basic steps can save between 1-3% on the total annual energy bill for the average data center.
> Wireless Sensors & Cooling Effectiveness
Once basic airflow management problems have been solved, the next step is to begin increasing CRAC set points. According to Ray Pfeifer, Silicon Valley Research Group,“ Each degree of increase in CRAC set point translates to about 1.5% savings in energy costs. This can add up to tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year for a large data center.”Also, if air flow management is improved, there is less fluctuation in temperature, causing less risk in the data center.
Contact Us
Please contact a SynapSense™ Representative to learn more about SynapSoft™ 4.0. Contact us by email or call us at (916) 294-0110.