Machine room
All 4 isidaten articles on Machine room, newest first.
A forgotten server still draws power
Machine room, part 4: almost every server room has a device that nobody needs any more and nobody wants to switch off. It draws power, has to be cooled and occupies rack units. What the Energy Efficiency Act requires, why switching off fails on ownership, and how to find ghost servers without hitting a production server.
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A/B is only redundant when each side carries the load alone
Machine room, part 3: two power rails, two strips per rack, every server with two power supplies. On the plan, that is redundant. Whether it really is depends on three things: the load on each side, where A and B join, and the devices whose second power supply is plugged into the same strip. What IT-Grundschutz says about it and how to check.
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A data centre for the BSI, not for the Energy Efficiency Act
Machine room, part 2: three racks in the basement, forty kilowatts, "we don't have a data centre". For the German Energy Efficiency Act that is true, because it counts kilowatts and starts at 300. IT-Grundschutz counts something else: importance for the organisation's tasks. On that basis, the only central server room is generally to be treated like a data centre. Two definitions, two different answers to the same question.
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A PUE from the data sheet is not a measurement
Machine room, part 1: from 1 July 2027 a statutory PUE limit applies to existing data centres in Germany, as an annual average. Many have a PUE, but often from the data sheet, from rated power or from a cool day in February. What the Energy Efficiency Act means by the metric, where it can be flattered, and why the amendment does not change that.
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