A data center consumes a lot of energy
This is as obvious as it is unfortunately unavoidable. But where a lot of energy is consumed, there are of course also many ways to save energy. We would like to briefly outline here how we try to make use of these opportunities.
Of course, we only use certified green electricity both in the data center and in our offices. But the same applies to green electricity: nothing is better for the environment than not using energy in the first place.
The biggest energy consumers in the data center are, of course, the computers themselves. They account for around 80 percent of total consumption. Where possible, we use particularly efficient server systems and reduce the inefficient idling of individual components through consistent virtualization.
Since the electricity consumed by a computer is completely converted into heat, a data center requires high-performance cooling. Conventional data centers require almost as much energy for this as for the computers themselves.
Thanks to a solution for direct cooling with fresh air developed by us in collaboration with the company Stulz Klimatechnik, we can reduce the consumption of air conditioning systems by up to 70 percent, so that the share of total consumption is only around 15 percent.
In the meantime, the development is being continued by our data center employees on their own.
All of these measures require considerable investment in materials, but above all in know-how. However, they help us not only to counteract the constantly rising energy costs, but also to contribute to protecting the environment and the climate, especially in an energy-intensive industry.
