Oct. 24, 2007 The Green Grid, a nonprofit consortium focused on advancing energy efficiency in data centers and business computing, has released three new white papers on energy efficiency metrics for IT operations.

Qualitative Analysis of Power Distribution Configurations, identifies seven high-level configurations for power distribution in the data center. The paper is one of the first to consolidate the advantages and disadvantages of each of these power distribution configurations, according to Green Grid.

Existing Data Center Energy Efficiency Metrics offers a consolidated look at all existing organizations and metrics that address energy efficiency in data centers and related information technology equipment. Green Grid says it will use this research to determine what areas are currently being addressed and have the greatest need for energy efficiency metrics.

Data Center Efficiency Metrics, an update of metrics released in February, highlights infrastructure efficiency. Green Grid recommends that the report's Power Usage Effectiveness and Datacenter Efficiency metrics be adopted by the industry and that, moving forward, all data centers track and report their efficiencies using these metrics.

The new white papers are available to Green Grid member companies. Click here to download free guidelines and metrics, including "Guidelines for Energy Efficient Data Centers" and "
Describing Data Center Power Efficiency."

Last month, Green Grid and the Energy Departments Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy announced a collaborative effort to improve energy efficiency by educating IT managers on both the technical implementation of a greener data center and the associated financial benefits. Green Grid and DOE will develop a common set of best practice information, terminology and tools to promote increased energy efficiency in U.S. data center facilities.