ACADEMIA

Company Lists Power-Efficient Servers and Data Centers Among Ongoing Efforts to Shrink Environmental Footprint: SGI today extended its long-held commitment to environmental stewardship by joining the Climate Savers Computing Initiative (CSCI). CSCI is a nonprofit group of consumers, businesses and conservation organizations dedicated to improving the power efficiency and reducing the energy consumption of computers. To qualify as an associate member of CSCI, SGI agreed to design and sell products that meet efficiency targets established by CSCI. In addition, SGI will deploy IT equipment within its own data centers that conform to CSCI targets, while implementing power management tools to reduce the company's overall energy expenditures. Power-Efficient Altix XE Servers and Clusters Three SGI server models already meet or exceed current CSCI targets. SGI Altix XE250, XE310 and XE320 servers, based on Dual- or Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors, are available today, and serve as the building blocks for energy-efficient Linux clusters from SGI. In fact, all SGI servers and clusters incorporate power supply units that attain real-world power efficiency of 88 percent or better— a significant advantage over most servers, whose power supplies are only 60 to 70 percent efficient, according to Ecos Consulting. Efficiencies like these translate into significant environmental benefits: Compared to a typical Linux server, a single 1U SGI Altix XE320 system can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 5 metric tons every year. When deployed as a large-scale cluster, the platform's lower power and cooling profile also can save organizations thousands of dollars in operating costs annually. "Since introducing our first Linux servers in 2003, SGI has consistently integrated power-efficient components within a server architecture that maximizes performance while minimizing the system's impact on the data center and the environment," said Tim McCann, chief engineer for SGI. "Even better, these SGI Altix XE models have achieved CSCI compliance with no special enhancements or additional costs to customers. That means SGI delivers premium efficiency without requiring customers to pay a premium for it." SGI also intends to offer new server models that will meet or exceed more stringent targets that CSCI plans to adopt in the future. Commitment to Energy Efficiency Enterprise-Wide As part of its membership in CSCI, SGI will further its dedication to maintaining energy-efficient corporate data centers and enterprise-wide power management policies. SGI intends to ensure that all new corporate-owned PCs are Energy Star rated, and that new servers incorporate power supplies that meet CSCI energy efficiency targets. The company also has begun upgrading to new, more efficient LCD flat panel monitors for all employees. "SGI is proud to be counted among the market leaders who have committed to reducing their environmental footprint by implementing company-wide improvements in power management and data center efficiency," said SGI CIO Diane Gibson. "Of course, as a manufacturer of servers that qualify under CSCI efficiency standard, SGI has the built-in advantage of looking to our own product line for many of the components required to build an energy-smart data center. As customers already know, SGI is a natural choice for solutions that deliver energy efficiency, performance and scalability." In addition to joining CSCI and maintaining its own strict product manufacturing guidelines, SGI is a member of The Green Grid, a consortium of information technology companies and professionals seeking to lower the overall consumption of power in data centers around the globe. For more information on CSCI, visit its Web site.