Here’s a bit of light, feel-good news going into the holiday weekend: Data center energy and space problems plaguing IT managers are only going to get worse next year, according to the ever cheerful folks at Gartner.

Thankfully, they are pairing that dire news with some pragmatic tips for dealing with the problems.

The findings - and the tip sheet - are part of a report that’s due to be analyzed at Gartner’s Data Center Conference in Las Vegas next week.

“Energy costs are the fastest-rising cost element in the data center portfolio, and yet data center managers are still not paying sufficient attention to the process of measuring, monitoring and modeling energy use in data centers,” said Gartner analyst Rakesh Kumar in a statement introducing the report. “They need to realize that removing a single x86 server from a data center will result in savings of more than $400 a year in energy costs alone.”

Among Gartners tips for trimming costs in the data center.

• Rationalize Hardware. Get rid of underutilized or old systems and try to find places where the workload can be run on more-efficient hardware. Such rationalization and consolidation can result in up to 20 percent fewer servers deployed, Gartner says.
• Consolidate Sites. Bringing multiple small data ceneter sites together is an obvious way to save money.
• Manage Energy and Facilities Costs. Try raising the temperature of the data center to around 75 degrees and use outside air as an alternative to AC. Implement hot aisle/cold aisle configurations, and use server-based energy management software tools.
• Manage People Costs. People still account for the single largest cost element in most data centers, as much as 40 percent of overall costs, in most cases.
• Sweat the Assets. Delay procurement, especially as a server’s useful life often exceeds its amortized life.

Gartner, as usual, makes a strong case for using advanced monitoring, modeling and measuring techniques to improve overall data center energy efficiency.

“Metrics form the bedrock for internal cost and efficiency programs and Gartner urges data center managers and IT organizations to make this area a high priority, which will be essential for the adoption of so many new technologies and adherence to government policies,” The new report reads.