To Monitor or Not: Lessons from Deploying Wireless Sensor Networks in Data Centers

Today’s data centers (DCs) consume up to 3% of the energy produced worldwide, much of which is wasted due to over-cooling and under utilization of IT equipment. In this paper, we deploy a custom-designed wireless sensor network (WSN) in one high-performance computing (HPC) DC and one modular DC featuring in-row cooling units. The measurement study provides insights on the fidelity and utility of WSN-based solutions to DC monitoring as well as the interplay between IT and cooling equipment in DCs.