Special Studies on Power & Cooling Practices, Requirements, Issues and Concerns for Data Centers Roger A Panton, Avetec Executive Director DICE HPC User Forum Sept 2009

Background: The Growing Issue Power & cooling demand is a world-wide major concern Exponential growth in HPC system size and performance have increased energy requirements Estimates are that the energy use has increased nearly 100% for data centers over the last six years If data center energy usage continues at the current rate, the nation will need to build two large power plants per year to meet demand Energy prices have risen substantially Aging data center infrastructure is an issue In this “perfect storm” the challenge is how to increase energy efficiency without compromising performance improvement

Two Related Studies on Power & Cooling Study #1: Power & Cooling Practices and Planning at HPC Data Centers Status: Completed late Spring 2009 REPORT AVAILABLE TO ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED! Study #2: Power & Cooling Solutions for Enterprise and HPC Data Centers Status: Complete report by end of September 2009 Both studies are being conducted via a new Avetec-IDC partnership

Phase 1 Study: Power & Cooling Practices and Planning at HPC Data Centers

Background and Objective Avetec was tasked to evaluate power and cooling planning, constraints, requirements and how HPC data centers are coping Avetec contracted with IDC to survey HPC data centers and vendors to assess:  Current power and cooling situation  Planning in place to address requirements  Solutions currently being used  Forecasted solutions over the next three to five years Respondents included HPC data centers and vendors including HPC systems, equipment and facilities

Survey Sample and Methodology Survey includes 41 respondents: 28 HPC data centers 13 vendors of HPC products and services Response rate was approximately 40% of sites contacted Respondents were from the US, Europe and Asia HPC data centers were selected from the “Top500” list Centers selected fell between number 50 and 250 Interviews were conducted by phone or in person Respondents also had the option to complete the survey on their own

Sample Respondent Mix HPC Data Centers HPC System and Service Vendors Government 28.5% Industry 28.6% Academic 42.9% Vendor Power & Cooling 30.8% Vendor HPC Systems 53.8% Construction / Service 15.4%

Study #1 Highlights

Current HPC Data Center View Over 96% considered “green” design important Majority of sites expect power and cooling to impact future HPC center planning Majority of respondents have studied or implemented “greener” operations Most centers have used software models to analyze heat flow and/or power consumption Approximately half of the centers paid for power and cooling out of their budgets

General Findings HPC data centers’ average per site: Available floor space over 26,000 ft 2 Used floor space about 17,000 ft 2 (63% of available space) Cooling capacity 22.7 million BTUs or 1,839 tons Annual power consumption MW HPC data center cost Annual power cost was $2.9 million or $456 per KW Ten sites provided the percentage of their budget spent on power—average was 23% Two-thirds of the sites had budget for power and cooling upgrades  Average amount is $6.87 million

Challenges and Expansion Constraints Majority of centers are starting to consider power and cooling efficiency equal to or more important than HPC computing performance Power and cooling issues are becoming the biggest barriers to expansion and upgrades Most HPC vendors are starting to see power and cooling as a brake on performance Power and cooling costs are becoming a key factor in upgrade decisions

Current Approaches Power and cooling are becoming a key factor in upgrade decisions Majority of centers have accomplished an air flow analysis to improve air cooling efficiency Majority of centers have analyzed power consumption Use of chilled water for cooling is increasing The power and cooling issues are being discussed across the HPC community Other approaches include: Hot/cold aisle containment Re-directing/reusing excess heat Facility modifications/equipment refurbishment Raising temperatures DRILLING DEEPER INTO THIS IN STUDY #2

Future Solutions and Technologies Approximately two-thirds of centers plan to expand or build new data centers About half of the data centers have or are planning to distribute HPC resources Liquid cooling is most frequently cited future alternative being considered (centers & vendors) Other potential solutions included combination of air/water cooling In-row cooling Use outside air ambient DRILLING DEEPER INTO THIS IN STUDY #2

Specific Questions

Belief in Game Changing Technologies Question: Do you anticipate any changing cooling technologies that will significantly change the way HPC systems and data center are cooled in the next 5 years? Response %GovernmentIndustryAcademiaAll Sites Yes62.5%50.0%8.3%35.7% No25.0%50.0%58.3%46.4% Not certain12.5%0.0%33.3%17.9% Total100% Government respondents more optimistic about game changing technologies

Question: How do your power and cooling costs divide among your HPC compute, storage, and visualization sub-systems? Power and Cooling by Sub-systems Response %GovernmentIndustryAcademiaAll Sites % Compute 92.6%81.7%90.1%89.7% % Storage 4.9%18.3%8.2%8.6% % Visualization 2.1%0.0%1.1%1.3% Don’t know or not sure 0.4%0.0%0.6%0.4% Storage costs greater among non- government sites

Expected Changes by Sub-systems Question: In which of the three basic HPC data center sub- systems defined do you expect power and cooling to grow the most rapidly in the next five years? Response %GovernmentIndustryAcademiaAll Sites % Compute87.5%25.0%75.0%64.3% % Storage12.5%50.0%0.0%17.9% % Visualization0.0%12.5%0.0%3.6% Don’t know or not sure 0.0%12.5%25.0%14.3% Total100% Government & academic centers forecast most growth in compute whereas industry sees most growth in storage

Guidance for Users Improving a site's power and cooling profile is a multi- dimensional process of stepwise refinement that begin at any time The most efficient and progressive HPC data centers surveyed are already using metrics to measure their performance in power and cooling A handful of power and cooling efficiency drivers will govern how HPC data centers take to greater efficiency HPC system upgrades will stimulate demand for detailed efficiency analysis services

Guidance for Vendors The recession will elevate the importance of the "green" design features of HPC systems, especially in Europe The next round of HPC system upgrades will stimulate demand for HPC data center efficiency analysis services Future multi-Pflop HPC data centers will require as much power as a small to mid-sized city and stimulate greater public policy concerns

Public Policy Implications from Study #1

Public Policy Implications for Discussion Should the community take a proactive position through collaborative discussions and then recommend a set of Public Policies? To start the discussions should: The Federal Government establish a timeframe and fund the following research areas:  Invest to maintain the current performance growth in HPC?  Invest in new cooling technologies to improve efficiencies?  Invest in lower power, higher performance processor(s)?  Invest in new material research for chips? HPC data centers will have to become more accountable for power and cooling consumption

Phase 2 Study: Study of Power & Cooling of Enterprise Data Centers

Study #2 Objectives "Potential Solutions to Address and Improve Power and Cooling for HPC Servers” Study to explore data center power and cooling technologies:  Practices, and future plans/solutions  Exploring energy efficiency management tools—being used today and emerging solutions. The study will focus on new products and solutions  Near term horizon, that can reasonably expect to be able within the next 1 to 2 years. Study will include surveys of providers of solutions and HPC vendors, in addition it will include a "testing" of how likely each solution will actually become available in the market in the near term.

Study #2 Objective (cont’d) The study intends to leverage the recent IDC/Avetec study Identified the key strengths and shortcomings of current cooling approaches Identify those that are under research by suppliers As an important side benefit, the study will also document user pain points and concerns about future HPC data center cooling solutions.

Potential Impact and Outcomes Create a policy document that will assist US government and manufacturers to develop new products and perhaps laws to enhance overarching computer and communications facilities in conjunction with improvements in power and cooling demands. Compare and contrast solutions and approaches among the communities. Approaches that work across communities have strong potential to be leveraged for economies-of-scale that can lead to lower costs. Recommend a set of test tools (hardware and software) and a methodology to assist centers in self- assessment.

Future Solutions and Technologies Potential technology solutions Advanced power management in hardware Dynamic network power management New data storage technologies Hardened equipment Novel computing architectures Game-Changing Technologies All-optical networks Superconducting components Nano-electronic circuitry Eliminate voltage conversion steps Liquid cooling of hardware components Transition to DC operations

Conclusion and Recommendations Data Centers: Proactively work with vendors, researchers and the HPC community to identify and pursue breakthrough power and cooling technologies. If not currently monitoring power and cooling consumption and cost, implement an approach and methodology to measure and track consumption. Identify and implement methods to reduce consumption. Install new air conditioning and power systems that reduce power consumption. Establish comprehensive performance metrics to track and report results of new initiatives. Investigate enhancing cooling methodologies through the use of liquid technology.

Conclusions and Recommendations Vendors: Develop technologies that will drive down power and cooling demands by using technologies that dynamically power up processors on demand. Technology vendors need to design their systems requirements to address end-to-end data center infrastructure in order to develop the most efficient center possible.