Challenges for Energy Efficiency in Local and Regional Data Centers

Abstract

This paper investigates challenges for achieving energy efficiency in local and regional datacenters. The challenges are divided into operational and planning categories that must be considered for the green transformation of the datacenter. The study shows that the standardization of the used metrics and guidelines are necessary for the reduction of the carbon emissions related to data centers. The paper presents a review of the available metrics and most modern techniques for energy efficiency. Numerous examples and reviews are discussed that introduce the reader to the most modern green technologies. Finally, the correlation of the energy efficient techniques to the overall carbon emissions is highlighted. It is shown that a green data center not only presents minimum operational expenditures but also produces low carbon emissions that are important to achieve sustainability in modern societies.