Government Technology

CNet Training is the first training provider to be awarded the EU Code of Conduct Endorser status and we will be showcasing our portfolio of internationally recognised data centre design courses, which include the CDCT, CDCD and the CDCDPat, at the Data Centre World Expo 2010. This portfolio also includes the new ISEB Qualification in the EU Code of Conduct on data centres.
    
The European Commission’s Code of Conduct on data centres’ energy efficiency comprises a series of voluntary, light-touch measures, expected to form the basis of more stringent legislation in the future, laying out a set of minimum standards for compliance. The move to introduce the code of conduct at the end of 2008 was recognition by the European Commission that data centres are heavy and often inefficient consumers of energy – and that this problem is only set to increase.
    
The EC organisation estimates that while in 2007 data centres in Western Europe alone used over 55 TWh of power, this figure is likely to almost double to 100 TWh by 2020. Growth rates in energy consumption will inevitably and negatively impact on the European Union’s ability to achieve its carbon reduction and climate change targets, therefore, such facilities are an obvious area on which to focus.
    
The aim of the code is to inform and stimulate data centre operators to reduce energy consumption in a cost effective manner without hampering the critical function.
     
A few years ago, most CIOs were simply unaware what their electricity consumption was and certainly did not have financial responsibility for it, however, now over 50 per cent do – and once they do, they focus attention to where power is being used and tend to take action because consumption is growing and energy prices are extremely unlikely to go down.
    
The code of conduct covers data centres of all sizes – from server rooms to dedicated buildings, both existing and new facilities and mechanical plant to software. It has been created with international expert input from the UK, USA, Europe and Japan and from vendors, operators and professional bodies. The code can be signed in two ways, as a participant (data centre owners and operators) or as an endorser (vendors, consultants and professional associations).
    
One of the requirements of signing up to the code as a participant is that interested parties with existing data centres must submit initial energy usage measurements of at least one month’s duration, before undertaking an energy audit to identify where savings can be made.
    
The next step is to submit an action plan, which includes a range of intended best practices that need to be implemented in a minimum of 40 per cent of the data centre’s floor space within three years of the plan being approved by the code of conduct secretariat.  Suggested measures include improving system resource utilisation via technologies such as virtualisation as well as optimising the design, configuration and management of energy-hungry cooling systems. This has resulted in the growth in free air-cooling systems and the heavily overused PUE metric.
    
A further commitment relates to monitoring energy consumption on a regular basis and providing the EC’s Directorate General Joint Research Centre with an annual report outlining any improved energy efficiency practices that have been introduced. The Directorate General Joint Research Centre compares these implemented practices with the promised measures set out in the action plan and has the right to suspend or cancel an organisation’s participation in the code if it believes that progress has been too slow or if the member organisation has failed to meet their reporting requirements.
    
A Data Collection Working Group has also been set up to collect and analyse information from all contributors in order to identify trends and potentially form the basis of future energy efficiency targets.
    
The Directorate General of the JRC has no powers of censure beyond the right to terminate participation, as the code is not mandatory, however, a number of approved auditors are now able to carry out compliance audits.
    
The number of organisations signing up as participants of the code continues to increase and include organisations such as Fujitsu, HP, Microsoft, TelecityGroup and Vodafone. Additionally, the code of conduct is being used as a procurement tool by a number of organisations and the UK government has requested that CIOs adhere to the code of conduct.
    
As the numbers of organisations increase so does the requirement for additional training to implement not only the best practices but all the overall design of the data centre facilities. CNet Training has been delivering the accredited CDCD (Certified Data Centre Design) and CDCDP (Certified Data Centre Design Professional) programs since 2006 and will in the first quarter of 2010 launch the CDCMP (Certified Data Centre Management Professional).

For more information
Detailed information on all the data centre courses offered by CNet Training can be found at www.cdcdp.com