Virtualization helpful but no cure-all for documents center energy crunch

Virtualization gave input center managers some breathing room in their battle against rising energy use, but more changes are needed to keep pace with the demands of IT departments, speakers at an industry conference said Friday.

Those changes include tighter integration amoung IT equipment and building management systems — so that temperature readings from servers can be used to directly control cooling systems, for example — and better communication amidst IT staff and the facilities teams that run the details center.