Data Center & Green Initiatives

Butler Data Center

Butler University’s 1,500 square foot data center opened in 2009 and houses all major systems including BigDawg, Butler’s supercomputer, and connections to iLight and the Internet.Butler strives to use efficient and environmentally friendly equipment (more information below) in the data center. A carefully engineered power infrastructure, use of recyclable materials, heat recovery, and high efficiency servers are a few of the ways Butler reduces the data center’s environmental impact.Redundant cooling, uninterruptible power supply, diesel generator, and gas fire suppression protect the data center from unplanned downtime. 

Green Initiatives

As part of Butler’s overall program to become a more sustainable campus, IT continually works to improve the sustainability of our operations and infrastructure. By looking at everything from our data center to the paper used in printers we continue to make strides toward reducing our environmental impact.

Power Settings on Butler Computers

In accordance with the Butler University Sustainability and Clmate Action Plan (BUSCA), the ability to change the sleep settings on Butler-owned machines has been disabled and the time before a computer goes to sleep has been changed to 10 minutes. This initiative will reduce energy use and increase efficiency and cost effectiveness. 

In the Butler Data Center

  • Using industry standard hot aisle/cold aisle design to improve cooling efficiency and save energy 
  • Using much of the heat generated by servers and other equipment for re-use elsewhere in the building
  • Using high voltage power distribution to improve efficiency
  • All furniture in the network operations center (NOC) is made with recycled materials

Using Blade Servers (Details)

  • Fewer, more efficient power supplies than traditional rack mount servers
  • Fewer power supplies and less wasted energy
  • Less packing material and less waste when the equipment is recycled at the end-of-life

Server Virtualization (Video)

  • More than 99% of our servers are virtual
  • Improved resource utilization and efficiency

Storage Virtualization and SSD Technologies

  • Using thin provisioning to reduce the number of required disks – will grow and use power as necessary instead of provisioning everything in advance
  • Increased use of solid state storage (SSD’s use less than 10% of the power of traditional disks)
  • Continued use of cloud storage to improve flexibility and decrease costs.

Decreasing Reliance on Paper

  • Many offices are beginning to use document imaging and scanning to PDF instead of making paper copies of documents required for University processes.
  • Promote the use of duplex when printing.
  • Continue to promote and develop processes that are paperless by taking advantage of tools like Peoplesoft, OnBase, Salesforce, Formstack, and Qualtrics.

Things You Can Do

  • “Think Before You Print”
  • Turn off or put your personal computer to sleep when you aren’t using it. If you are using a Butler computer, log off when you leave for the day, but leave the computer on to facilitate the updating process.
  • Always recycle paper and e-waste instead of throwing it away.