Steps in getting closer to "The Data Center is the Computer"

Step 1: Measure
Step 2: Develop an action plan
Step 3: Prioritize Opportunities
Step 4: Create "Program of Improvement" with ROI and timeline
Step 5: Obtain approval for your initial project (from the Program of Improvement plan)
Step 6: Implementation Strategy
Step 7: Implementation Partners
Step 8: Communication
Step 9: On-going Operational Improvement based on a "Total Improvement Plan"

Step 1: Measure

Develop a baseline of what you’re using today:
- Measure total power delivered to the Data Center
- Divide total power by the power used by your computer infrastructure to come up with your current PUE (Power Utilization Efficiency)
- This initial PUE baseline will be what you measure any design improvements against

- Get your local power company involved.
- Many power companies are offering rebates and incentives for changes or upgrades that result in the reduced use of power
- It’s important to get the power company involved before your kickoff any project

- Meet with your corporate Green Team and or Sustainability Manager
- If your company doesn’t have a Green Team or Sustainability Manager it might be an opportunity for you to help get the team or role started

- Run a measuring/monitoring tool against your infrastructure to determine how your hardware is being utilized
- A good tool I’ve used is VMware’s Capacity Planner. The main reason I like it is because it doesn’t require an agent. However, the output in generates is extensive and extremely informative. You can obtain complete inventory of your environment all the way down to the number of Emulex cards or dual core Opterons you have
- Regardless of which tool you decide to use, the information you gather will give you specific opportunities to shut systems down, improve sharing and identify opportunities for further/new virtualization

It will surprise and amaze you when you realize that before buying anything you’re able to shutoff or otherwise repurpose 10-20% of your existing gear.