Wireless Sensor Network for Improving the Energy Efficiency of Data Centers

Study was conducted to validate the premise that providing data center operators with detailed, realtime measurement of environmental parameters and power consumption enables them to establish baseline performance, discover areas of sub-optimal performance, and identify concrete opportunities for improvement. Real-time measured performance data was collected in a demonstration facility at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Information Technology Center (NITC) Data Center in St. Louis, Missouri, to validate the effectiveness of these improvements, enable further fine-tuning of systems, verify savings, and report results. Wireless sensor technology was selected because, in contrast to wired sensor technology, it can deliver the data in a cost-effective, facility-friendly way. Author(s): Mahdavi, R. and B. Tschudi