Scientists say they can cut data center energy use by changing just a few lines of code

Data center energy consumption could be cut by up to 30% simply by changing a few lines of code, according to new research.

Most data centers around the world use the open source operating system Linux, and researchers from Canada's University of Waterloo said this can create efficient data flows, thereby causing energy consumption to increase.

"Information arrives at data centers in ‘packets,’ and then the data center’s front-end, kind of like a receptionist at a front desk, figures out where to send those packets," said professor of computer science Martin Karsten, who led the research.

Karsten noted that through a small change to the Linux kernel, researchers were able to speed up this process and create a more efficient flow.

"We didn’t add anything," he said. "We just rearranged what is done when, which leads to a much better usage of the data center’s CPU caches. It’s kind of like rearranging the pipeline at a manufacturing plant, so that you don’t have people running around all the time."

Karsten teamed up with Joe Damato, distinguished engineer at Fastly, to develop a small section of code – a non-intrusive kernel change of just 30 lines – that would improve Linux’s network traffic processing.

The solution rearranges operations within the Linux networking stack, improving the efficiency and performance of traditional kernel-based networking. The change can in some cases increase throughput by up to 45% without compromising tail latency, researchers found.

A feature called ‘interrupt request suspension’ balances CPU power usage with efficient data processing. By reducing unnecessary CPU interruptions during high-traffic periods, this enhances network performance while maintaining low latency during quieter times.

All told, the team claims this could reduce the energy consumption of data center operations by as much as 30%.

The team has tested the solution’s effectiveness and submitted it to Linux, with the code now published as part of Linux’s newest kernel, release version 6.13.

Data center energy consumption is a serious problem

According to a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) last year, data centers currently account for between 2% and 4% of total electricity consumption around the world. In Ireland, it's 20%, placing significant strain on the country’s energy grid.

The IEA also warned that data center electricity usage is expected to rise from 460TWh in 2022 to between 650TWh and 1,050TWh by next year - though it noted that a lack of transparency from the companies makes demand estimates difficult.

"All these big companies – Amazon, Google, Meta – use Linux in some capacity, but they’re very picky about how they decide to use it," said Karsten.

"If they choose to ‘switch on’ our method in their data centers, it could save gigawatt hours of energy worldwide. Almost every single service request that happens on the internet could be positively affected by this."