Conventional legacy data centers operate well below the efficiency that is possible using proven designs incorporating readily available power and cooling equipment. This paper provides an example of an improved architecture that incorporates high-efficiency power and cooling equipment, combined with configuration and operation strategies that optimize efficiency.

One key finding of this paper is that high-efficiency devices is not sufficient to ensure high-efficiency data center. An architecture and strategy that uses such high-efficiency equipment in an efficient manner, and reduces over-sizing, is just as important as efficient hardware itself. When high-efficiency equipment is combined with an effective, savings of 40% of the total electrical power of the data center are possible when compared with conventional designs.