Advanced Monitoring Techniques for Data Centers Using Virtual Reality

In project GreenLight, researchers at the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) have built an instrument to measure the energy usage of computing systems under real-world conditions. This instrument consists of clusters of CPUs and GPUs, storage systems, and a 10-Gigabit Ethernet network infrastructure. The power consumption of each component can be measured separately, and includes temperature sensors in various components, to study the energy flow through the system. The goal of this project is to learn how computer hardware and software can be made more energy efficient. This research is intended to have an impact on the power consumption of data centers such as those supporting financial, business, communication, or entertainment applications. This article reports on findings and experiences relevant to the movie industry.