Wireless sensor network for data-center environmental monitoring

Data centers´ energy consumption has attracted global attention because of the fast growth of the information technology (IT) industry. Up to 60% of the energy consumed in a data center is used for cooling in wasteful ways as a result of lack of environmental information and overcompensated cooling systems. In this project, a wireless sensor network for data-enter environmental monitoring was developed to improve energy efficiency and to optimize data-center performance. The sensor network consists of a suite of sensor nodes for data sensing, a router node to relay sensed data, and a coordinator node to establish a network, receive the data, and process the data. The prototype sensor network was built on Arduino open source hardware with a seamlessly integrated XBee RF module and configured to operate within the ZigBee mesh network standard. A 24-hour test run at Argonne´s data center demonstrated that the wireless networked environmental monitoring solution is easy to integrate and manage with the existing IT infrastructure, while delivering better visibility into the data center´s 3D temperature and humidity distribution and substantial improvements in energy efficiency.