With the pandemic, most of our activities have moved online. In a way, we are addicted to screens. Though we carry out most of our activities in the form of apps or software, the back-end support to such architecture is powered by the hardware in the form of servers. Most of the servers can be found in a Datacenter
There are an estimated 400 million servers across the world as of 2020. That’s a lot, right? Ever wondered about the energy consumption pattern of servers, as they are playing a crucial part in our daily life, right from Google search to watching sports & movies on OTTs?
Here’s something about the servers:
Servers usually come with a single or two-socket. A single-socket server consumes 118W and a two-socket server 365W.
Each server runs at a different capacity, depending on the load we put on them.
Let’s calculate the power consumption of a single server for a year:
For a single socket which is rated at 118W at running 10% capacity, 24 hrs a day consumes 118W*10%*24*365 days = 103368 Wh or 103 units/yr
For two-socket server, it consumes 319740 Wh or 320 units/ yr
But all the servers need not run at 100% capacity all the time, right? From a study, it is estimated that most of the servers run at 50% capacity.
So a single socket server running at 50% capacity consumes 515 units/ yr and a two-socket server consumes 1600 units/ yr
As we have 400 million servers across the world, let’s assume they all run at the 50% capacity. Also, let’s assume that the mix to be 75:25 with 75% of the servers (300 mn) to be single socket and 25% of the servers (100mn) to be double-socket.
The power consumption of the servers across the world:
Single-socket: 300mn * 515 units/ yr = 154500 mn units/ yr or 154.5 TWh
Double-socket: 100mn * 1600 units/ yr = 160000 mn units/ yr or 160 TWh
The total consumption of servers across the world=154.5+160= 314.5 TWh**
For comparison, the total power consumption of India is 1400 TWh and the above consumption stands 11th if it were a country.
It’s a pleasure to share such information with you because we believe sharing and understanding such information will make this world a better place. Please do let us know your thoughts in the comments below and share this article with those you feel would find it useful.
We are Zodhya, a start-up that provides solutions to reduce energy bills at zero investment to commercial buildings and establishments. Please do visit us at the website and maybe tell your friends about it too. It will go a long way in keeping our environment managed better.
A recent feature of our entrepreneurial journey on Outlook India here.
**The exact consumption may not be precise as above. We have used a simple and step-by-step approach in order to know where the consumption stands at.
