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
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.
