2023-08-11 16:30:54
The Dutch internet exchange AMS-IX has managed to reduce the power consumption of one of its data centers by 85 percent. Previously, the location used as much electricity as 185 households. Thanks to new equipment, that is now as many as 29 homes.
The Amsterdam Internet Exchange, AMS-IX for short, is one of the most important internet hubs in the world. Large internet cables from, for example, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Scandinavia come together there.
A lot of international internet traffic ‘travels’ via the internet hub in Amsterdam. Our country is also connected to the worldwide web via AMS-IX. This allows us to visit websites from the United States or, for example, make video calls to someone in Australia.
In order to process all that internet traffic, AMS-IX has sixteen data centers in and around Amsterdam, containing so-called switches. These are large routers to which the networks of KPN and Ziggo, for example, are connected. The switches provide the connection to the major international internet cables.
Processing all Dutch and international internet traffic consumes a lot of power. Previously, the switches in the AMS-IX data center Equinix AM5 consumed the same amount of power as 185 households.
Energy savings exceed expectations
The switches in the Equinix AM5 data center were due for replacement. The new equipment can process even more internet traffic, but consumes 85 percent less power. As a result, the power consumption of the data center now corresponds to approximately 29 households.
“It is always difficult to determine in advance what kind of energy savings you can achieve by using new technology,” says AMS-IX CEO Ruben van den Brink. “But this result was beyond expectations.”
Equinix’s AM5 data center is the first of the Amsterdam internet hub’s sixteen locations where equipment has been upgraded. Later this year, the replacement of switches in two more data centers is planned.
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