1. My Ton – Ecos Consulting Brian Fortenbery – EPRI Solutions Bill Tschudi – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Sponsored by: California Energy Commission (CEC)─Public Interest Energy Research (PIER), California Institute for Energy Efficiency (CIEE). DC Power for Data Centers – demonstration summary

2. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 2 Overview – Phase 1 Background on power conversions and their efficiencies Demonstration objectives Configurations Industry partners Results Rationale for the study

3. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 3 Thomas Edison: “My personal desire would be to prohibit entirely the use of alternating currents. They are as unnecessary as they are dangerous. I can therefore see no justification for the introduction of a system which has no element of permanency and every element of danger to life and property.”

4. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 4 Research, develop, and demonstrate, innovative energy efficient technologies 10-year initiative focusing on high- tech industries – e.g. data centers Help move the market to more efficient technologies Research and demonstration projects include technology transfer California Energy Commission Public Interest Energy Research High-tech Buildings Project Objectives

5. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 5 Why look at Data Centers? Data center power use nationally is large and growing. Two prior studies estimated data center energy use: 2004 EPRI/Ecos estimated 14.8 TWh 2000 Arthur D. Little estimated 10.1 TWh 0ne terawatthour = 1,000,000,000 kilowatthours or one million megawatthours Saving a fraction of this energy is substantial

6. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 6 6 Representative Data Center Power Use Source: Intel Corp. ~50% Power Efficiency LoadsPower deliveryCooling Cumulative Power

7. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 7 7 Power to meet a 100 W Computing Load Source: Intel Corp. Server fans 15W UPS +PDU 20W PSU 50W Load 100W VR 20W Room cooling system 70W Total 275W source: Intel Corporation

8. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 8 DC Demonstration – Timeline Stakeholders first met – Fall 2005 Kick-off meeting – April 2006 Equipment assembly – May 2006 Initial “Team Open House” June 7, 2006 Public Open House events: June 21, July 12, 26; Aug 9, 16 End date – August 16, 2006

9. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 9 Industry Partners Made it Happen  Alindeska Electrical Contractors  APC  Baldwin Technologies  Cisco Systems  Cupertino Electric  Dranetz-BMI  Emerson Network Power  Industrial Network Manufacturing (IEM)  Intel  Nextek Power Systems  Pentadyne  Rosendin Electric  SatCon Power Systems  Square D/Schneider Electric  Sun Microsystems  UNIVERSAL Electric Corp. Equipment and Services Contributors:

10. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 10 Other Partners Collaborated  380voltsdc.com  CCG Facility Integration  Cingular Wireless  Dupont Fabros  EDG2, Inc.  EYP Mission Critical  Gannett  Hewlett Packard  Morrison Hershfield Corporation  NTT Facilities  RTKL  SBC Global  TDI Power  Verizon Wireless Stakeholders:

11. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 11 Data Center Power Use Data center power use nationally is large and growing. Two studies estimated data center energy use: 2004 EPRI/Ecos estimated 14.8 TWh 2000 Arthur D. Little estimated 10.1 TWh 0ne terawatthour = 1,000,000,000 kilowatthours or one million megawatthours Saving a fraction of this energy is substantial

12. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 12 This demonstration focused on reducing power delivery and conversion losses observed in our prior work: Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) Power Supplies in IT equipment

13. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 13 UPS and Power Supply efficiency We observed a wide range of performance from the worst to the best Our original goal was to move the market to the higher performing systems Incentive programs, labeling, education programs were all options – and still are

14. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 14 Data Center Power Delivery System Power Dist 98 - 99% UPS 88 - 92% Power Supply 68 - 72% DC/DC 78 - 85% The heat generated from the losses at each step of power conversion requires additional cooling power HVAC: Power for cooling can equal or exceed the direct losses

15. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 15 The questions we were addressing: Could some of the conversion steps be eliminated to improve efficiency? Could a demonstration be devised to measure actual savings?

16. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 16 DC Demonstration - Objectives 1.DC powered server equipment exists in the same form factor or can readily be built from existing components 2.DC powered server equipment can provide the same level of functionality and computing performance when compared to similarly configured and operating AC server equipment 3.Efficiency gains from the elimination of multiple conversion steps can be measured by comparing traditional AC delivery to a DC system 4.DC system reliability could be as good or better than AC system reliability The demonstration’s original objectives were to show a rack level solution:

17. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 17 The project team soon defined additional objectives: 1.Demonstration of 380 V. DC distribution at the facility level compared to conventional AC systems 2.Demonstration of other DC solutions (48 volt systems) 3.Evaluation of safety considerations 4.Demonstrate ability to connect alternative energy solutions (PV, fuel cells, etc.)

18. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 18 What the demonstration included Side-by-side comparison of traditional AC system with new DC system – Facility level distribution – Rack level distribution Power measurements at conversion points Servers modified to accept 380 V. DC Artificial loads to more fully simulate data center

19. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 19 Additional items included Racks distributing 48 volts to illustrate that other DC solutions are available, however no energy monitoring was provided for this configuration DC lighting was included!

20. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 20 Typical AC Distribution Today

21. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 21 Facility-Level DC Distribution 380V.DC

22. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 22 Rack-Level DC Distribution

23. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 23 Demonstration Layout

24. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 24 Details Safety was reviewed by a committee of the partners. No significant issues were identified. Only concern was whether fault currents would be large enough to trip protective devices. Final report will address safety and applicable codes and standards All distribution equipment is UL rated for DC applications No standard connector has been agreed upon for the server DC connection With widespread adoption, reliability should be improved – fewer potential points of failure. Eliminating heat sources should help.

25. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 25 Measured Results Facility level overall efficiency improvement: 10 to 20% Smaller rack level overall efficiency improvement but other benefits include: –Thermal benefits –Smaller power supply in server – Transition strategy for existing centers

26. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 26 AC system loss compared to DC 9% measured improvement 2-5% measured improvement

27. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 27 Implications could be even better for a typical data center Redundant UPS and server power supplies operate at reduced efficiency Cooling loads would be reduced. Both UPS systems used in the AC base case were “best in class” sytems and performed better than benchmarked systems – efficiency gains compared to typical systems could be higher. Further optimization of conversion devices/voltages is possible

28. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 28 Data Center Power Delivery System XFMR 98% - NA UPS 87 - 92% Power Supply 90 - 92% UPSXFMRPSTotal Efficiency System Efficiency87.00%98.00%90.00%76.73% High Efficiency (DC Option)92.00%100.00%92.00%84.64% Compute Load (W)Input Load (W)Difference System Load10,00013032.03 High Efficiency (DC Option)10,00011814.749.34%

29. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 29 Data Center Power Delivery System Power Dist 98% - NA UPS 85 - 92% Power Supply 73 - 92% UPSXFMRPSTotal Efficiency Typical System Efficiency85.00%98.00%73.00%60.81% High Efficiency (DC Option)92.00%100.00%82.00%75.44% Optimized DC Option92.00%100.00%92.00%84.64% Compute Load (W)Input Load (W)Difference Typical Load10,00016444.93 High Efficiency (DC Option)10,00013255.5719.39% Optimized DC Option10,00011814.7428.16%

30. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 30 Results What does 15% increase in efficiency mean to the electrical power grid?

31. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 31 DC Power - next steps: DC power pilot installation(s) Standardize distribution voltage Standardize DC connector and power strip design Server manufacturers develop power supply specifications Power supply manufacturers develop prototypes UL and communications certification Address other types of IT equipment (storage, switches, etc.)

32. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 32 Follow progress on DC power in data centers on-line Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory websites for more information –http://hightech.lbl.gov/ –http://hightech.lbl.gov/dc-powering/

33. High Performance Buildings for High-Tech Industries 33 Additional Information Project Coordination & Contacts: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Bill Tschudi, Principal Investigator wftschudi@lbl.gov Ecos Consulting My Ton mton@ecosconsulting.com EPRI Solutions Brian Fortenbery bfortenbery@eprisolutions.com