Yahoo's Data Center Future, Industrial Data Center Revolution

September 21, 2010 Dave Ohara

I had a chance to talk to Chris Page, Yahoo's Director Climate and Energy Strategy at Yahoo! Inc. I've had the opportunity to watch Chris's presentations over the years at various data center conferences, and I was curious on what she had to share after three years at Yahoo!.

There has been ample press coverage and the Yahoo! team pulled off data center PR that sets the standard for responsible citizenship. We don't have to name the others who throw data center events/openings, but few come close to what Yahoo has in being professional.

Yahoo opening buoys hopes for attracting more

By By Jonathan D. Epstein

NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER

Published:September 21, 2010, 7:33 AM

...

Carol Bartz, the Internet giant's CEO, joined Gov. David A. Paterson, Sen. Charles E. Schumer and a host of other state and local politicians in unveiling the new "server farm" at the Town of Lockport Industrial Park.

The project highlights the Sunnyvale, Calif., company's first use of a new environmentally friendly design that relies in large part on Western New York's cooler climate and the availability of low-cost hydropower to conserve energy and save on electricity costs.

"We're thrilled to unveil our world-class data center in Lockport and take an active role in the community," Bartz said. "Yahoo is serious about sustainability and is leading efforts to address climate change. That's why we believe in creating highly efficient data centers that minimize the impact on the environment."

So my first question to Chris was "what is next?"

Chris discussed how a low PUE is just a part of the effort. There are efforts in power supplies, UPS systems, reliability of systems, load balancing across sites, compute with less watts, and decreasing water.

The Yahoo chicken coop (YCC) design will support Yahoo's expansion into new site construction which logically would mean going to Europe and APAC with the design. And Chris said the engineering team was confident the YCC can work in many other regions.

But, going after the dozens of small changes is what is next. Which brings up the approach of holistic system design and Chris used the term the arrival of "Industrial Revolution in Data Centers."

But the danger of being an industrialists is the "robber baron" persona.

Robber baron is a pejorative term used for powerful 19th century United States businessmen and banker . The term may now relate to any businessman or banker who used questionable business practices to become powerful or wealthy.

Yahoo has demonstrated a socially responsible citizenship in data centers. And as Chris points out there is an industrial revolution in data center construction. Data centers are one of the fastest growing industrial segments, and the companies who have the most are the information industrialists.

Who are the companies who have the reputation of these industrialists/robber barons?

List of businessmen who were called robber barons

John Jacob Astor (real estate, fur) – New York City

Andrew Carnegie (steel) - Pittsburgh and New York

Jay Cooke (finance) – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Charles Crocker (railroads) - California

Daniel Drew (finance) – New York state

James Buchanan Duke (tobacco) – near Durham, North Carolina

James Fisk (finance) – New York state

Henry Morrison Flagler (railroads, oil, the Standard Oil company) – New York City and Palm Beach, Florida

Henry Clay Frick (steel) – Pittsburgh and New York City

John Warne Gates (steel)

Jay Gould (railroads)

Edward Henry Harriman (railroads) – New York state^[6]

Milton S. Hershey (Chocolate)

Mark Hopkins (railroads) - California

J. P. Morgan (banking, finance, steel, industrial consolidation) New York City

Henry B. Plant (railroads) - Florida

John D. Rockefeller (oil) Standard Oil

John D. Spreckels (San Diego transportation, water, media) – San Diego, California

Leland Stanford (railroads) – Sacramento, California and San Francisco, California

Cornelius Vanderbilt (railroads)^[6]

Yahoo has figured out they don't want to be on this list. Google too. The top financials - Wells Fargo, BofA, Citicorp, and JP Morgan are all sensitive to the environmental impact of their future data center construction.

Think about your data center impact to your companies brand. You don't want to be listed as a data center robber baron who exploits the environment.

Green your data center.

Yahoo scores PR win with Chicken Coop

September 21, 2010 Dave Ohara

I had a chance to interview Chris Page, Director Climate and Energy Strategy for Yahoo!

Part of what I was curious about was what others wrote. I'll write another post based on the interview.

Here are some creative headlines.

Yahoo Spreads its Wings with 'Chicken Coop' Data Center

Reuters - Matthew Wheeland - ‎8 hours ago‎

Yahoo's latest data center, which we first wrote about earlier this year, brings the decidedly low-tech ideas of ...

Yahoo's Chicken Coop Data Center: Sometimes Low Tech Solutions Are Better

BNET (blog) - Kirsten Korosec - ‎9 hours ago‎

Kirsten Korosec has been a print and online journalist for more than 10 years covering education, politics and ...

Yahoo's new "Chicken Coop" server farm is a building that breathes

Core77.com (blog) - ‎11 hours ago‎

On a heavy Core77 blogging day, my laptop will become uncomfortably hot. And that's just one machine; you can imagine what kind of blistering heat a server ...

Inspired by the farm, Yahoo opens newest green datacenter

SmartPlanet.com (blog) - Andrew Nusca - ‎14 hours ago‎

The facility, just 20 miles from Niagara Falls and the Canadian border, combines the first implementation of Yahoo's “green ...

Yahoo Opens 'chicken Coop' Green Data Center

PC World - James Niccolai - ‎Sep 19, 2010‎

Yahoo is opening a data center in upstate New York that uses a radical new design to reduce energy costs by 40 percent, ...

Yahoo opens doors to self-cooled data center

CNET - Martin LaMonica - ‎Sep 19, 2010‎

Yahoo's Chicken Coop data center design takes advantage of the prevailing winds and outdoor air for almost all its cooling. ...

Yahoo Scores a Coop with Green Data Center Opening

Triple Pundit - Leon Kaye - ‎49 minutes ago‎

If you have ever visited a data center, you have to agree that they are pretty cool. ...

Data Center Poll asks who is right Greenpeace or Facebook?

September 20, 2010 Dave Ohara

DataCenterKnowledge has a poll that's been up for 3 days asking who's right? Greenpeace or Facebook. When I took the poll, it was about 60% Facebook, 20% Greenpeace, 20% neither.

Today.

Who’s Right? Greenpeace or Facebook?
September 17th, 2010 : Rich Miller
Greenpeace has been blasting Facebook over the fact that the company’s new Oregon data center will receive its power from a local utility that gets the majority of its power from coal. As Greenpeace steps up its campaign with letters and videos targeting Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, we thought we’d get your opinion. Who’s right in this dispute? Take our poll.

Who's right? Facebook or Greenpeace?

Facebook: Improved energy efficiency is the best way to reduce the carbon impact of data centers. 19.33%

Greenpeace: As major power users, data centers must shift to non-coal energy. 69.89%

Neither: Site selection is complicated. Can't we all get along? 10.79%

Comments (0) Return To Poll Share This

I went to the Facebook 100% renewable that Greenpeace has up. No mention. So, the 290,000 members didn't get a chance to fill out the poll in favor of Greenpeace.

Huh, 70% vs. 20% think Greenpeace is right. Who would have thought these results from a technical data center crowd.

If you go out to the mass public, what would be numbers be? The folks at Greenpeace must be feeling good.

Their Facebook: Unfriend Coal is up to 150, 751 views.

How Green is Green enough in a Data Center?

September 20, 2010 Dave Ohara

A green data center is not exactly defined. Being energy efficient, a low PUE, and renewable energy are all good, but even if you had no carbon footprint for operations, there are others areas of environmental impact that environmentalist could point out.

Data Center Journal has an editorial post on being green.

How Green is Green Enough?

Design Editorial

THURSDAY, 16 SEPTEMBER 2010 16:41

WRITTEN BY JEFFREY CLARK

The recent (and ongoing) dispute between the social-networking giant Facebook and environmental advocacy group Greenpeace (“Greenpeace Versus Facebook”) illustrates the growing strain between the data center industry and some groups and individuals seeking to protect the environment. Ignoring the extremes of “man can do no right” and “man can do no wrong” with regard to the environment, the question in the data center context becomes how far must companies go to earn the title of “environmentally friendly.

And being the voice of reason.

The quest for environmental friendliness is, in some sense, a quest for perfection: a data center, or any system that uses energy, can always become more efficient (perfect efficiency is impossible, courtesy of the second law of thermodynamics) and can always make better use of its available resources. Even if a data center reached 100% efficiency, someone, somewhere, would likely still fault it for using too much energy. As the above-mentioned blog article states, “In short, can we ever be green enough? The short answer is no.”
Thus, data center managers must decide what their own goals for environmental friendliness are and in what time table these goals are achievable. With energy prices rising and public concern about the environment growing, companies have little choice but to take action in this regard, but what actions they take may well be limited by available resources. Some new efficiency technologies may well reduce a data center’s power consumption, but the cost of these technologies may well be out of reach for some companies. But to be responsible and to avoid being hectored by environmental groups, some action is required.

Jeffrey closes with this advice.

Perhaps the best approach for companies attempting to “green” their data centers is moderation. Reduce energy waste, yes; reduce inefficiency, yes; be responsible, yes; but don’t break the bank attempting to achieve perfection when perfection is not even needed.

But, be careful this last advice is what Facebook did. What data center managers need to be aware of is if you work for a big brand company which almost all the big data center companies are, then you could be a target identified by Greenpeace.

So, when you green your data center, you need to think about how others view your efforts as their view of green may not be the same as yours.

Yahoo's Greenest Data Center opens, PUE 1.08

September 20, 2010 Dave Ohara

Yahoo opens its greenest data center today with a PUE of 1.08.

PCWorld reports.

Yahoo Opens 'chicken Coop' Green Data Center

By James Niccolai, IDG News

Yahoo is opening a data center in upstate New York that uses a radical new design to reduce energy costs by 40 percent, the company said Monday.

The data center in Lockport, near Niagara Falls, is cooled almost entirely by outside air that blows through the long data center halls to keep server equipment cool.

That means the data center doesn't need a chiller to provide cold water for cooling, avoiding one of the most energy-intensive pieces of equipment in a traditional data center.

The IT gear will be run primarily by hydroelectric power from the local utility, New York Power Authority. Yahoo says it's the most eco-friendly data center it has built.

The official Yahoo press release is here, and they are playing the green/sustainability card.

Yahoo! Opens State-of-the-Art Data Center in Western New York

Yahoo!'s Lockport Facility Was Awarded a $9.9 Million Sustainability Grant from the Department of Energy for Its Leadership in Designing Energy-Efficient Data Centers

SUNNYVALE, Calif. & LOCKPORT, N.Y., Sep 20, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) today unveiled one of the world's most energy-efficient, environmentally friendly and cost-effective data center buildings in Lockport, Niagara County, New York. The state-of-the-art facility uses a combination of innovative data center design and Lockport's naturally cool climate to dramatically decrease its electricity use throughout the year.

Yahoo! is hosting a ribbon cutting event with Yahoo! executives and elected officials, including Yahoo! CEO, Carol Bartz; Yahoo! Executive Vice President of Service Engineering and Operations, David Dibble; U.S. Senator for New York, Charles E. Schumer (D-NY); New York Governor, David Paterson; U.S. Representative, Christopher Lee (R-NY-26); New York State Senator, George D. Maziarz (R-62); New York State Assemblymember, Jane Corwin (R-142); and New York Power Authority (NYPA) President and CEO, Richard M. Kessel.

"We're thrilled to unveil our world-class data center in Lockport and take an active role in the community," said Yahoo!'s Carol Bartz. "Yahoo! is serious about sustainability and is leading efforts to address climate change. That's why we believe in creating highly efficient data centers that minimize the impact on the environment."

Yahoo has successfully positioned itself as a leader in green data centers, and becomes the benchmark others are measured against.

The Lockport facility will have the first implementation of Yahoo!'s green data center design, called the Yahoo! Computing Coop (YCC). The best-in-class, energy-efficient design was recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 2010 with a sustainability grant of $9.9 million, the largest award received from the DOE's recent Green IT grant program. The facility uses a combination of Lockport's cool climate, prevailing winds and hydropower to keep the 120-by-60-foot server buildings cool. The YCC design, dubbed the "Yahoo! Chicken Coop," mimics the long, narrow design of a chicken coop to encourage natural air flow 100 percent of the time, resulting in an annualized average of less than 1 percent of the buildings' total energy consumption being required to cool the facility. Yahoo!'s Lockport data center is among the most efficient data centers in the world, with a low power usage effectiveness¹ (PUE) of 1.08, compared with the industry average of 1.92².

Thanks to CNET is a picture supplied by Yahoo of the chicken coop design.

Yahoo opens doors to self-cooled data center

by Martin LaMonica

Yahoo's Chicken Coop data center design takes advantage of the prevailing winds and outdoor air for almost all its cooling.

(Credit: Yahoo)

Looks a little different than what Yahoo has done in the past.