This movement toward greater environmental concern impacts every department and function in a company and IT is no exception. Many industry analysts, such as Gartner, have cited "Green IT" as a primary technology driver for the IT industry. The data center is one area of particular interest for IT departments looking to reduce their environmental footprint. According to the EPA Report to Congress on Server and Data Center Efficiency, the powering and cooling of data center equipment is estimated to account for up to 1.5% of all electricity consumed in the United States, Thus making efficiency in the data center a top priority that can result in not only a significant cost savings, but also reduce the impact on the environment.

This paper provides an overview of the challenges faced in today’s data centers; addressing the issues surrounding data center power, cooling and efficiency, with an emphasis on how specific networking tools and strategies can help address these issues. It will also highlight the HP ProCurve data center solutions that focus on efficiency in the data center and the benefits they provide. Read this paper to learn more.