DHS Data Center Funding Tied to Efficiency

Congress has told the Department of Homeland Security that it must improve the power efficiency of its data center in Mississippi before it can get additional funds for an ongoing data center consolidation, NextGov reports.

The facility at NASA's Stennis Space Center is one of two sites where DHS hopes to consolidate its data centers by 2013. But the facility's power consumption is taxing the capacity of the Stennis campus, leading the House to restrict nearly half of the site's $83 million budget until it upgrades its power capacity and improves its power efficiency.

"None of the funds provided . . . shall be used for data center development other than for Data Center One until the chief information officer certifies that Data Center One is fully utilized as the department's primary data storage center at the highest capacity throughout the fiscal year," according to the conference report that accompanies a House bill.

The stipulation follows the recent executive order from President Barack Obama calling on federal agencies use ”purchasing preferences or other incentives” to encourage the adoption of products that minimize greenhouse gas emissions in their data centers.