A Training Network for Green Data Centres Operations Management Through Staff Exchange

Abstract

This paper introduces the GREENDC project which was funded by EU through H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions and aims at training early stage researchers for green data centre operations management. The project also enable experienced academic researchers to apply their research outcomes to real world data centre operations management processes. The project also contribute to greener data centres by developing a decision support tool that help data centre managers predict energy demands better and evaluate strategies to minimize energy waste and minimize CO2 emissions. GREENDC adopts non-linear energy forecasting model and provide a simulation tool based on dynamic simulation model to allow data centre managers conduct what-if analysis considering factors for energy demands and supply. GREENDC is implemented through knowledge exchange between two academic partners and two industrial partners. Academic partners transfer knowledge on non-linear energy demand forecasting and dynamic simulation to industrial partners while industrial partners transfer their knowledge on data centre operations through secondment activities. The outcome of the GREENDC activities are expected to reduce CO2 emissions and energy waste due to non-optimised energy load balancing from large number of data centres across the Europe. This paper explains how the knowledge exchange scheme make impacts on the career development of early stage researchers from academia and industry.