Title: Self-test Quiz: Section 2.1
Course: ICT Sustainability

Q: Which of the following apply to optimizing the layout of data centres to reduce unecessary cooling loads?
- Locate data centres within the office space away from exterior walls and heat sources such as kitchens.
- Incorporate insulation for floors, ceilings and walls.
- Seal leaks and cable cut-outs; remove airflow obstructions.
- Use zoned, energy-efficient lighting controlled by occupancy sensors.
- Locate equipment and air vents to optimize cooling efficiency for the whole data centre, such as the hot isle/cold isle architecture.
A: Locate data centres within the office space away from exterior walls and heat sources such as kitchens.; Incorporate insulation for floors, ceilings and walls.; Seal leaks and cable cut-outs; remove airflow obstructions.; Use zoned, energy-efficient lighting controlled by occupancy sensors.; Locate equipment and air vents to optimize cooling efficiency for the whole data centre, such as the hot isle/cold isle architecture.

Q: Which of the following are true of data centres?
- They generally incorporate specialized computer room air-conditioning (CRAC) units to cool the equipment.
- They consume a large amount of energy.
- They physically house various types of IT equipment and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS).
- The demand for them is starting to decrease with the use of cloud computing. (No, demand for data centres is increasing all the time, especially because of the cloud.)
- They cannot be cooled by less expensive use of natural air and water effects. (These options are being explored and used with varying degrees of success. Do some research on current initiatives.)
A: They generally incorporate specialized computer room air-conditioning (CRAC) units to cool the equipment.; They consume a large amount of energy.; They physically house various types of IT equipment and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS).

Q: If client equipment is not effectively managed,
- service can be degraded.
- energy and material resources can be consumed uncessarily.
- unacceptable toxic dispersion may occur.
- business as usual will be interrupted. (Unfortunately, unsustainable business goes on all the time although there is a good business case for sustainable practices.)
- stiff government penalties may be levied. (Not yet that we know of . . .)
A: service can be degraded.; energy and material resources can be consumed uncessarily.; unacceptable toxic dispersion may occur.

Q: Match the actions to the best description:
- Install meters at strategic positions in the electricity circuits of the target equipment and then monitor the output over time. | Assess energy consumption
- Count the number of non-consumable items and measure the consumption rate of consumable items over time; then compare these numbers to the number of users and services over time. | Assess materials consumption
- An assessment may reveal obvious unnecessary consumption of energy and materials, particularly during high consumption periods, during peak consumption periods and after business hours. | Identify waste
- Identify excess equipment, and reduce the number of desktop computers and printers, copiers, scanners in a client environment. Keep inventory current and nminimal. | Consolidate
- Right-sized equipment is often cheaper to purchase; operates near design loads, emit less heat and thus contribute less to cooling load; and is generally smaller, lighter and safer to handle. | Select appropriate client equipment
- Turn off equipment after hours; set equipment to consume minimal power when in use, and set it to turn off after just a few minutes of inactivity. | Use power management strategies
- Review the specifications for processors, monitors, power supplies, storage memory, computers, Internet communication, and choose the most energy-efficient and least toxic. | Use low-energy client equipment
- Replace inefficient equipment; recycle spent print cartridges and paper; monitor and report energy and materials consumption; introduce or update sustainable purchasing and procurement policies; schedule non-critical, high-energy activities off peak. | Manage and monitor the client environment

Q: Client equipment includes
- compuer towers
- network cables (This is part of the IT infrastructure.)
- printers
- scanners
- laptops
A: compuer towers; printers; scanners; laptops

Q: Which of the following apply to the client environment?
- It consumes a considerable quantity of materials.
- It introduces toxic substances into the biosphere.
- It is largely self-regulating with respect to energy use and materials consumption. (No, it needs management to reduce energy use, materials waste, and toxicity.)
- It should not be the concern of someone whose position focuses mainly on IT. (No! Information technology professionals are often in the best position to educate and lead in these matters.)
- It consumes a considerable quantity of energy.
A: It consumes a considerable quantity of materials.; It introduces toxic substances into the biosphere.; It consumes a considerable quantity of energy.

Q: Match the terms to the best description in the context of reducing energy consumption by  client equipment:
- Use metering to monitor client equipment and identify unnecessary energy consumption. | Assess
- Operate client equipment only when necessary and remove unnecessary equipment in order to simplify the client environment, reduce costs, and reduce energy consumption, e.g., desktop computers and imaging equipment. | Consolidate
- Incorporate the latest innovations in sustainable design and technology into client equipment to further reduce costs and energy consumption: use power management strategies, use low-energy equipment, look for equpment meeting low-energy standards. | Innovate
- For example, replace ineffiecient equipment, recycle spent materails, monitor and report consumption, schedule high-energy activities outside peak use periods. | Manage

Q: The seven steps in the process for creating and maintaining a data centre that provides high-quality service and minimizes energy consumption are given below.

Match each step with the best description of it.
- These mainly depend on the total number of users, the maximum number of simultaneous users, and the usage profile. Since future requirements can be difficult to estimate, it is best to choose infrastructure architectures that can adapt to changing requirements rather than oversized architectures. | Determine the required services.
- Turn off unused equipment, and incorporate virtual server technology. | Consolidate and virtualize.
- The efficiency of double conversion uninterruptable power supplies (UPS) (the most commonly used in data centres) is 86-95 percent. This efficiency can be increased by 5 percent. Flywheel systems are more efficient than a conventional UPS and do not require air-conditioning. | Invest in low-energy IT equipment.
- Reduce unnecessary cooling load by using equipment to enhance cooling and arranging equipment accordingly. | Optimize the layout.
- Reduce cooling load by orienting and spacing equipment accordingly. | Optimize airflow.
- At the rack level, one innovation in cooling is direct liquid cooling technology, which circulates chilled water rather than air. Water carries about 3500 times more heat per unit volume than air. At the room level, there are several ways to reduce CRAC unit energy consumption. | Invest in low-energy cooling technologies.
- Maintaining low energy consumption requires allocating accountability for energy consumption and costs, and providing feedback to those accountable. | Practise energy-conscious management.

Q: Which of the items below are the benefits of reducing the energy consumption of client equipment?
- reduced energy costs,
- extended equipment life
- reduced cooling load
- reduced greenhouse gas emissions
- reduced Internet bandwidth use (Reducing bandwidth use may reduce energy consumption, but not the reverse.)
A: reduced energy costs,; extended equipment life; reduced cooling load; reduced greenhouse gas emissions

Q: _________ physically house various types of IT equipment and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), and thus have critical requirements for security and reliability.
A: Data centres / Data centers / Data*cent*r*