Datacenters, essential to ensuring the availability of critical IT services, are unfortunately energy-guzzling and polluting. True to its environmental charter, Infomaniak now operates the greenest data center in Switzerland with an energy efficiency indicator (PUE) of less than 1.1!

Green technologies and energy

To minimize power consumption and reduce its environmental impact, Infomaniak only buys servers that employ so-called “low voltage” technologies. The company uses “L series Xeon” processors that consume 40% less energy than older generations, even at full power. In addition, all servers are replaced before their end of life (every 4 years) and fully recycled. This renewal policy makes it possible to constantly acquire more powerful, more energy-efficient servers, and reduce land-use requirements.
 
To ensure the stability of the power supply, Infomaniak uses an “eBoost” inverter which offers a yield of 99% (compared to 92% usually), which is exceptional for a data processing center. Thus, for 100 watts of power consumed by a server, only one watt is used by the inverter, which runs only when needed, in contrast to conventional devices that operate continuously.
 
Finally, keep in mind that Infomaniak uses energy exclusively from renewable sources, with 80% of its energy coming from hydroelectric power (“TÜV SÜD EE01” certified) and 20% of renewable energy sources (“Naturemade Star” certified). This will increase to a ratio of 60% hydro and 40% renewable energy by 2015.
 

Bye Bye air conditioning

For years, Datacenters were kept at temperatures not exceeding 20°C, in order to ensure the proper functioning of the machines. The air conditioning required for the production of cold air consumed much of the energy resources used.
 
Good news: Those days are now over, thanks to new servers that can withstand temperatures of up to 35°C or even 45° C if it does not exceed 20% of the time of use. Infomaniak’s new Datacenter , commissioned in December 2013, is therefore cooled with outside air and does not have an air conditioning system. In winter, the heat generated by the machines is even recycled to heat the facilities.
 
The temperature of the two other Infomaniak data processing centers is set to 29°C. If this temperature is high compared to data centers of the same generation, it nevertheless reduces power consumption without compromising machine performance. Finally, it should be noted that since 2007, our two Datacenters are cooled by injecting outside air.