It goes without saying that data centers and server rooms use a significant amount of energy. This is true even with smaller locations. Luckily, you don't have to be out an arm and a leg to power your data center, as there are ways to help control energy consumption and save on energy costs. Here are three:

1. Try to Reduce the Overall IT Load.

Yes, this may be easier said than done. However, even just a single watt of power saved on a server can result in a significant total savings throughout the entire data center. In fact, the United States Department of Energy states that one watt-hour at the server level can equal almost double that for the entire facility. This is because there is less power being consumed overall to support the cooling of hot equipment, infrastructure and electrical. You could ultimately save thousands of dollars annually by reducing the load.

One idea for reducing your IT load is to implement server virtualization, which is when you have a single host server running numerous workloads, according to the Department of Energy. Other options include purchasing Energy-Star servers that are more energy-efficient, removing unused servers, implementing smart data storage and combining lightly used servers.

2. Properly Manage Airflow.

When it comes to your data center, adequate airflow management is crucial to successful and efficient operation. The purpose of airflow management in the data center boils down to this: getting cold air to the fronts of all servers and removing hot air from the backs of all servers. Server racks are very popular items used to keep the airflow moving adequately. Many server racks are enclosed in order to further reduce the mixing of cold and hot air. Aisles can also be set up to block cold air from entering the hot aisles and vice versa. Blanketing plates should be used whenever possible for any empty rack slots to prevent any hot air entering into the cold air aisles.

3. Control Humidity Levels and Temperatures Efficiently.

Equipment in the data center is extremely sensitive and can easily be damaged by excessively dry or damp conditions as well as high temperatures. Therefore, you must take steps to manage humidity levels and temperatures within your data center. Luckily, today's equipment is better equipped at handling temperature and humidity fluctuations. With that being said, one strategy for helping to reduce your overall cooling costs inside the data center is to deploy an economizer, which uses the lower temperatures outside to cool inside and distributes the hot exhaust air outside. Alternatively, you could also use water to cool your data center, like one big corporation does.

For more advice on how to keep your server room as energy-efficient as possible or if you're in need of an energy-efficient data center, contact a data center professional in your local area.