Server Technical Committee
Final Scope Recommendations (7/30/12)
Introduction
This document summarizes the recommendations from the Server Technical Committee on
product scope for consideration by the standard development Working Group.
The document contains four sections:

Section 1: (Proposed) Technical Committee Majority Scope Recommendation (Product
and Performance Categories)

Section 2: Server Product Scope Recommendations & Rationale

Section 3: Key Questions on Product Scope Asked by the Technical Committee

Section 4: ENERGY STAR Background Information
Section 1: (Proposed) Technical Committee Majority Scope
Recommendation
This standard defines environmental performance criteria for computer servers as defined in
the Energy Star Server specifications, including managed servers and blade servers, relating
to reduction or elimination of environmentally sensitive materials, materials selection, design
for end of life, lifecycle extension, energy conservation, end of life management, corporate
performance, and packaging.
Server Technical Committee – Final Scope Recommendations
Section 2: Server Product Scope Recommendations
Majority Opinion - Product Scope: Servers as Defined by ENERGY STAR
A majority of the Technical Committee (11 of 14)1 supported a product scope to include
computer servers as defined in the Energy Star Server specification, including managed
servers and blade servers. Several of those in support of this scope noted that from an
environmental perspective they preferred a broader scope. However, due to logistical
considerations in drafting the standard, favored this recommendation.
Rationale:
The product scope covered by the Server Standard should align with ENERGY
STAR® specifications for the following reasons:

ENERGY STAR is the preeminent, globally-recognized standard for energy efficiency of
electronic products and is often required by purchasers, including businesses, institutions,
and government. Aligning the product scope of the Server Standard with ENERGY
STAR will ensure that purchasers can meet their requirements with one multi-attribute
standard, and avoid confusion among purchasers regarding the scope of these standards.

Use phase energy is a critical environmental aspect for computer servers. As such, the
presence of robust criteria for energy efficiency evaluation should be a requirement
before including servers (or other products) in the 1680 family of standards. ENERGY
STAR criteria have been developed using a rigorous and scientifically based process with
participation from virtually all major server manufacturers as well as government experts.
Stakeholders should not spend their time trying to reinvent energy efficiency criteria for
the Server Standard.

Servers with up to 4 processor sockets are expected to be included in the ENERGY
STAR server specification Version 2. These servers represent over 98% of the total
server market2. Servers with more than 4 sockets, which are not expected to be included
in the ENERGY STAR server specification Version 2, are typically very large and
expensive (>$500,000) specialty, high performance servers which are directed at specific
market niches. It would be difficult to develop robust energy efficiency criteria for these
servers, and thus should be left out of the Server Standard until energy efficiency criteria
are available.

The Server Standard should not include any server products beyond the scope of
ENERGY STAR specifications. Inclusion of additional server products would require the
creation of definitions within the Server Standard of these products which could result in
conflicting product scopes between and Server Standard and future ENERGY STAR
specifications.

There is no common efficiency metric for storage devices.
1
The following TC members did not participate in the 7/17 poll: Henry Wong, Roger Tipley, Mark Monroe, Melissa
Gray, and Osamu Namikawa.
2
IBM position statement, July 2012.
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Server Technical Committee – Final Scope Recommendations
Further, the product scope of the Server Standard should encompass only server products, and
not other data center equipment such as storage devices and network equipment. It was
acknowledged that there are some common attributes between servers and storage devices and
they may be purchased concurrently. As such, there may be benefits to having a single standard.
However, the majority of Technical Committee members agreed that there are more compelling
reasons to limit the scope of the standard to servers, at least initially, for the following reasons:

ENERGY STAR specifications only exist for computer servers at this time. An
ENERGY STAR specification for storage devices is in development. The development
of a storage device standard, or inclusion of storage devices in the Server Standard,
should be deferred until a final ENERGY STAR specification is available. According to
ENERGY STAR, development of a “large network equipment” specification is slated for
development at some point in the future.

Servers, storage devices and network equipment utilize sufficiently different
technologies, and as such, the inclusion of a broader scope of products may hamper the
efficiency and focus of the standards development process. Servers can be used as the
platform for the development of additional standards for other data center equipment in
the future and provide a roadmap for manufacturers in their designs of other data center
equipment in order to meet future standards. Storage has longer life cycle compared to
servers. Due to normal product development and lifetime, they need more lead time.

Broadening the scope of the standard would require inclusion of storage and network
device manufacturers into the process, which could make the process unwieldy and
possibly create imbalance in stakeholder representation. While there is some overlap
among server and storage device manufacturers, storage device manufacturers are also a
distinct group.

Without an ENERGY STAR specification that establishes product scope, the standards
development process will likely spend a significant amount of time defining storage
devices and network equipment.

For storage there is no systematic method of determining the life cycle of these systems
because they are meant for accumulation. There are distinct technology transitions and
regulations for when data can be retired and therefore equipment recycled.
Minority Opinion #1 - Product Scope: Servers and Data Center Storage Devices as Defined
by ENERGY STAR
One Technical Committee member supported a product scope to include computer servers,
including managed servers and blade servers, and data center storage devices as defined in
the Energy Star specifications. This member also noted that from an environmental
perspective they preferred a broader scope to also include network equipment, however due to
logistical considerations supported this recommendation.
Rationale:
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Server Technical Committee – Final Scope Recommendations
Purchasers are likely interested in a broader scope that includes at least storage devices. There
are also environmental considerations beyond energy with commonality across equipment types.
Due to longer product development cycles and lifetime, standards development should start
sooner rather than later.
Minority Opinion #2 - Product Scope: Servers, Data Center Storage Devices and Network
Equipment
One Technical Committee member supported a product scope to include computer servers,
including managed servers and blade servers, data center storage devices and network
equipment. The computer servers, including managed servers and blade servers, and data center
storage devices could be defined according the ENERGY STAR specification. Since there is
currently no draft or final ENERGY STAR specification for network equipment, a definition
would need to be developed or found elsewhere.
Rationale:
This option supports the scope being as broad as possible without delaying the overall standard
development process. Stakeholders should consider the 3 main components of the data center in
this standard, that is, servers, storage devices and network equipment. This option supports the
use of the ENERGY STAR product scope for servers and storage equipment, and potentially
network devices, since developing alternative product scope definitions would potentially delay
the standards development process.
Recognizing that ENERGY STAR specifications are not currently available for all data center
equipment, this option would support language in the standard that provides for automatic
revisions to the standard as soon as a common product scope definition is available. Such
automatic revisions would result in a much shorter process than the full standards development
process.
Further, the main concern in making the availability of an ENERGY STAR specification a
prerequisite for storage and networks is the potential for delay in developing a 1680 standard in
the absence of a final ENERGY STAR product specification. As such, stakeholders should
consider creating a modular approach in the standard whereby the product scope and definition
in the 1680 standard can be based on alternative standards as available (for example, use the
SNIA definition for storage), if the ENERGY STAR specification is delayed.
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Server Technical Committee – Final Scope Recommendations
Section 3: Key Questions on Product Scope Asked by the Technical
Committee
1) What is the status and timing of ENERGY STAR specifications?
a. Computer Servers:
i. Final Specification: ENERGY STAR® Program Requirements Product
Specification for Computer Servers - Version 1.0
ii. Under development: ENERGY STAR® Program Requirements Product
Specification for Computer Servers - Draft 2 Version 2.0
ENERGY STAR is targeting finalizing this specification in September 2012.
b. Storage Devices:
i. Under development: ENERGY STAR® Program Requirements for Data
Center Storage - Draft 2 Version 1.0
ENERGY STAR is targeting finalizing this specification in October, 2012, but
acknowledged that it could a bit longer if an additional draft is needed.
(Will this standard define energy efficiency specifications?)
c. Network Equipment:
i. Under development: ENERGY STAR® Program Requirements for Small
Network Equipment – Draft 1 Version 1.0 (is this applicable to data centers?
If yes, need date of expected finalization)
ii. Planned for the future, but no launch date for large network equipment.
2) What is the extent of the overlap between those companies manufacturing servers vs.
storage devices vs. network equipment?
a. IBM mostly manufacturers servers, but also storage devices and network equipment.
However, there are also storage device and network equipment manufacturers that do
not manufacturer servers.
b. Dell manufacturers all three product types, but under separate business units.
c. The results of an internet search for the top server, storage device and network
equipment manufacturers is provided below for servers, blade servers, storage devices
and network equipment:

Top 5 Corporate Family, Worldwide Server Systems Factory Revenue, First Quarter
of 2012 (Revenues are in Millions)
Vendor
1Q12 Revenue
1Q12 Market
Share
1Q11 Revenue
1Q11 Market
Share
1Q12/1Q11
Revenue
Growth
1. HP
$3,460
29.3%
$3,838
31.7%
-9.8%
2. IBM
$3,223
27.3%
$3,477
28.8%
-7.3%
3. Dell
$1,842
15.6%
$1,879
15.5%
-2.0%
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Server Technical Committee – Final Scope Recommendations
4. Oracle
$718
6.1%
$775
6.4%
-7.3%
5. Fujitsu
$614
5.2%
$573
4.7%
7.3%
$1,950
16.5%
$1,551
12.8%
25.8%
$11,808
100%
$12,093
100%
-2.4%
Others
All Vendors
Source: IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker, May 2012

The top manufacturers of blade servers by revenue share in the 4Q 2011 were: HP
(47.4%), IBM (21.5%), Cisco (11.0%) and Dell (8.7%). (Source: IDC, February 2012).

Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide External Disk Storage Systems Factory Revenue, First
Quarter of 2012 (Revenues are in Millions)
Vendor
1. EMC
1Q12
Revenue
1Q12
Market
Share
1Q11
Revenue
1Q11
Market
Share
1Q12/1Q11
Revenue
Growth
$1,733
29.0%
$1,515
27.2%
14.4%
2. NetApp
$841
14.1%
$757
13.6%
11.1%
3. IBM
$678
11.4%
$681
12.2%
-0.5%
4. HP
$609
10.2%
$584
10.5%
4.2%
5. Hitachi
$559
9.4%
$503
9.0%
11.0%
$1,547
25.9%
$1,529
27.4%
1.2%
$5,966
100.0%
$5,569
100.0%
7.1%
Others
All Vendors
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Server Technical Committee – Final Scope Recommendations
Source: IDC Worldwide Disk Storage Systems Quarterly Tracker, June 7, 2012
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Server Technical Committee – Final Scope Recommendations

The network equipment market includes switches and routers, network safety equipment,
WLAN equipment, fiber optic access equipment, ADSL equipment, hubs, modems, network
cards, etc. The two largest segments are switches and routers. Below is data showing the top
5 worldwide vendors for enterprise switches and routers.
Cisco Systems
HP
Alcatel-Lucent
Juniper
Huawei
ADTRAN
OneAccess
Other
Top Worldwide Ethernet
Switch Vendors, Revenue
Market Share, 1Q20121
65.1%
8.3%
2.6%
2.4%
2.1%
19.5%
Top 5 Enterprise Router
Vendors, Revenue Market Share
1Q20122
~74%
~7%
~6%
~3.5%
~1.5%
~8%
includes: Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya,
Juniper, others
Sources:1 IDC Worldwide Quarterly Enterprise Networks Tracker, May 21, 2012
(http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23496512); 2Infonetics Research, May 30, 2012
(http://www.infonetics.com/pr/2012/1Q12-Enterprise-Routers-Market-Highlights.asp)
3) How similar or different are the three product categories with regard to environmental
attributes? For example, is energy efficiency the major difference among the different
products or will inclusion of a broader scope of products require different/additional
criteria across multiple environmental performance categories?
Additional research would be required to respond to this question.
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Server Technical Committee – Final Scope Recommendations
Section 4: ENERGY STAR Background Information
This section provides the following background information to support the Server Technical Committee
discussion on product scope:
1) ENERGY STAR® Program Requirements Product Specification for Computer Servers – Version
1.0
2) ENERGY STAR® Program Requirements Product Specification for Computer Servers – Draft 2
Version 2.0 (under development)
3) ENERGY STAR® Program Requirements for Data Center Storage - Draft 2 Version 1.0
4) EXCERPT FROM 1680.1 REVISION STUDY GROUP #2: Scoping on the issue of whether a
product needs an ENERGY STAR specification to be in scope of 1680.1
1) ENERGY STAR® Program Requirements Product Specification for Computer
Servers
The ENERGY STAR specification for computer servers is currently under revision. Product scope of
Version 1.0 and Draft 2 of Version 2.0 are presented below.
Version 1.03:
Qualifying Products: A Computer Server must meet the definition provided in Section 1.A, above, to be
eligible for ENERGY STAR qualification under this specification. The Tier 1 specification coverage is
limited to Computer Servers having at most four processor sockets (i.e. Computer Servers with 1 - 4
individual processor sockets). Computer Servers with more than four processor sockets are currently
ineligible for ENERGY STAR qualification under the Tier 1 specification but will be considered for
inclusion under Tier 2 requirements.
In addition to those products that do not meet the strict definition provided in Section 1.A, the following
product types (as defined in Section 1, above) are explicitly ineligible for ENERGY STAR qualification:

Blade Systems including Blade Servers and Blade Chassis,

Fully Fault Tolerant Servers,

Server Appliances,

Multi-Node Servers,

Storage Equipment including Blade Storage, and

Network Equipment.
Definition of a Computer Server (Section 1.A): A computer that provides services and manages
networked resources for client devices, e.g., desktop computers, notebook computers, thin clients,
wireless devices, PDAs, IP telephones, other Computer Servers and other networked devices. Computer
Servers are sold through enterprise channels for use in data centers and office/corporate environments.
Computer Servers are designed to respond to requests and are primarily accessed via network
connections, and not through direct user input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, etc. In addition,
Computer Servers must have all of the following characteristics:
3
http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/product_specs/program_reqs/computer_server_prog_req.pdf
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Server Technical Committee – Final Scope Recommendations

Marketed and sold as a Computer Server;

Designed for and listed as supporting Computer Server Operating Systems (OS) and/or
hypervisors, and targeted to run user-installed enterprise applications;

Support for error-correcting code (ECC) and/or buffered memory (including both buffered
DIMMs and buffered on board (BOB) configurations);

Packaged and sold with one or more AC-DC or DC-DC power supply(s); and

All processors have access to shared system memory and are independently visible to a single OS
or hypervisor.
2) Draft 2 of Version 2.0 (under development)4:
2.1 Included Products
A product must meet the definition of a Computer Server provided in Section 1 of this document to be
eligible for ENERGY STAR qualification under this specification. Eligibility under Version 2.0 is limited
to blade-, rack-mounted, or pedestal form factor computer servers with no more than four processor
sockets. Products explicitly excluded from Version 2.0 are identified in Section 2.2.
2.2 Excluded Products
2.2.1 Products that are covered under other ENERGY STAR product specifications are not eligible for
qualification under this specification. The list of specifications currently in effect can be found at
www.energystar.gov/products.
2.2.2 The following products are not eligible for qualification under this specification:
i.
Fully Fault Tolerant Servers;
ii.
Server Appliances;
iii.
Storage Equipment including Blade Storage; and
iv.
Network Equipment.
Definition of a Computer Server (Section 1.A): A computer that provides services and manages
networked resources for client devices (e.g., desktop computers, notebook computers, thin clients,
wireless devices, PDAs, IP telephones, other computer servers, or other network devices). A computer
server is sold through enterprise channels for use in data centers and office/corporate environments. A
computer server is primarily accessed via network connections, versus directly-connected user input
devices such as a keyboard or mouse. For purposes of this specification, a computer server must meet all
of the following criteria:
a) is marketed and sold as a computer server;
b) is designed for and listed as supporting one or more computer server operating systems (OS)
and/or hypervisors, and is targeted to run user-installed enterprise applications;
c) provides support for error-correcting code (ECC) and/or buffered memory (including both
buffered DIMMs and buffered on board (BOB) configurations)-systems with greater than 50
nodes sharing the same chassis are exempt from this requirement; and
d) is packaged and sold with one or more ac-dc or dc-dc power supplies; and
4
Expected Fall 2012; to view Draft 2 see:
http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/prod_development/revisions/downloads/computer_servers/Servers_Draft_2_v
2_Specification.pdf?da02-e54b
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Server Technical Committee – Final Scope Recommendations
e) is designed such that all processors have access to shared system memory and are independently
visible to a single OS or hypervisor.
3) ENERGY STAR® Program Requirements for Data Center Storage - Draft 2
Version 1.0
2.1 Included Products
2.1.1 Products that meet all of the following conditions are eligible for ENERGY STAR qualification,
with the exception of products listed in Section 2.2:
i.
meet the definition of a storage product provided in Section 1 of this document;
ii.
not fall within the exceptions identified in Section 2.2 of this document;
iii.
be comprised of one or more SKUs and be able to be purchased in a single order from a
system vendor;
iv.
be characterized within the SNIA-defined Online 2, 3, or 4 storage taxonomy categories;
v.
Contain a storage controller within the storage device.
2.2 Excluded Products
2.2.1 Products that are covered under other ENERGY STAR product specifications are not eligible for
qualification under the ENERGY STAR Data Center Storage specification. The full list of specifications
currently in effect can be found at www.energystar.gov/products. Also excluded from qualification under
this specification are products which are being considered for future ENERGY STAR programs.
2.2.2 The following products are specifically excluded from qualification under this specification:
i.
Personal / Portable Data Storage Products;
ii.
Computer Servers;
iii.
Storage devices in the Near-online, Removable Media Library, Virtual Media Library, Adjunct
Storage Products, and Interconnect Elements;
iv.
Online Storage Devices without an included controller, e.g. a collection of disks which rely on a
PCI add-in card in a server for RAID functions (JBODs).
Definition of a Storage Product (Section 1.A): A fully-functional storage system that supplies data
storage services to clients and devices attached directly or through a network. Components and
subsystems that are an integral part of the storage product architecture (e.g., to provide internal
communications between controllers and disks) are considered to be part of the storage product. In
contrast, components that are normally associated with a storage environment at the data center level
(e.g., devices required for operation of an external SAN) are not considered to be part of the storage
product. A storage product may be composed of integrated storage controllers, storage media, embedded
network elements, software, and other devices. For purposes of this specification, a storage product is a
unique configuration of one or more SKUs prepared for sale to an end user.
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Server Technical Committee – Final Scope Recommendations
4) EXCERPT FROM 1680.1 REVISION STUDY GROUP #2: Scoping on the issue
of whether a product needs an ENERGY STAR specification to be in scope of
1680.1
BACKGROUND:
The mini-group on energy conservation in SG 4 discussed whether a product needs to have an ENERGY
STAR specification in order to be in scope of IEEE 1680.1. Currently, the scope of IEEE 1680.1 reads:
…personal computer products, including desktop computers, notebook computers and computer
displays.
The definitions for the terms in the scope statement of IEEE 1680.1 are from the ENERGY STAR PC
specification. However, within the scope, purpose and definitions sections of IEEE 1680.1, there is no
explicit link to ENERGY STAR. Additionally, the energy conservation criteria of IEEE 1680.1 contain a
required criterion of qualification to ENERGY STAR (IEEE 1680.1-2009 criterion 4.5.1.1). Currently,
because of this required criterion, products that do not have an ENERGY STAR specification are unable
to register in the EPEAT registry.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Option 1:
Because energy use is integral to the environmental impact of a product, an ENERGY STAR
specification that applies to the energy use of the product must be in place for any products covered under
the IEEE 1680.1 standard. In the absence of a specific specification, stakeholders should first look to
participating in an ENERGY STAR effort to develop an applicable ENERGY STAR specification.
Option 2:
An ENERGY STAR specification should not be required in order to include a product in the scope of
1680.1. However, the Group also recommends very strongly that IEEE 1680.1 should not develop its
own energy criterion.
IEEE 1680.1 should default to ENERGY STAR for energy conservation criteria, and if an ENERGY
STAR specification is not available, the Work Group should look for alternative energy conservation
measures that:
1. Include established and accepted test methods
2. Include energy measurements of, and limits related to, the most significant uses of energy
associated with the product
3. Be authoritative, to include being widely adopted and recognized by industry
4. Developed using an open, consensus-based, stakeholder process
5. Reflect real-world use of the product, and be designed to recognize the full scope of features and
performance of the product.
The Group noted that verification of non-ENERGY STAR specifications may be difficult, but saw this as
an issue for the working group to consider in evaluating specific proposed criteria. The Group noted that
there may be a need for specific energy criteria for devices that do not have an ENERGY STAR
specification.
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