Data center energy use has grown annually by more than 13% between 2006 and 2007 according to researcher IDC.
The data center energy bill estimated by the researcher was 40TWh and Ôé¼4.4B in 2007 including servers, storage, networking and facilities (cooling, lighting, etc.) consumption.
"The calculation for the forecast took into account improving energy efficiency rates. For historical data, we have used a PUE of 2 (for each watt of IT power consumption, 1 watt is consumed by facility infrastructure), said Giorgio Nebuloni, research analyst with IDC European Systems and Infrastructure Solutions.
Nebuloni said power management tools included in server products are not being activated "in most cases they are not activated by unaware, not caring end-users. At a data center level, IDC estimates the consumption levels in Western Europe to have exceeded 40TWh in 2007, and this is expected to grow to more than 42TWh in 2008.
"What few companies seem to grasp though is the extent to which energy will impact the IT infrastructure bottom line in the next year. At a cost of 10.71 euro cents per kWh, electricity is a large source of costs. Last year, Ôé¼1.6 billion was spent on powering servers throughout Western Europe, which translated into Ôé¼4.4 billion for entire data centers," added Nathaniel Martinez, program director, European Enterprise Servers.
"Unless a drastic change in products and company practices occurs, things will not get any better in the future. In 2012, we could face a scenario where for every euro spent on buying new servers, more than Ôé¼0.80 will be needed to power the existing data center infrastructure."
"European organizations must also reconsider their organizational procedures if they are to cope with the impact that the data center energy bill has on the bottom line of their finance," said Nebuloni.