Ecodesign requirements — servers and data storage products

SUMMARY OF:

Regulation (EU) 2019/424 on ecodesign requirements for servers and data storage products

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE REGULATION?

It aims to limit the environmental impact of servers and data storage products with a set of rules on energy efficiency.

KEY POINTS

The regulation establishes ecodesign* requirements for placing servers and online data storage products on the market and putting them into service.
The regulation does not apply to:
- servers* intended for embedded applications*;
- servers classified as small-scale servers under Regulation (EU) No 617/2013;
- servers with more than four processor sockets*;
- server appliances*;
- large servers*;
- fully fault-tolerant servers*;
- network servers*;
- small data storage products*;
- large data storage products.
The regulation amends Regulation (EU) No 617/2013 to exclude computer servers from its scope.
The ecodesign requirements are set out in Annex II.
The regulation specifies which conformity assessment procedures apply.
National authorities must apply the verification procedures laid down in Annex IV when carrying out market surveillance checks.
Annex V sets out indicative benchmarks for the best-performing servers and data storage products available on the market.
The European Commission must review this regulation in the light of technological progress and present its results, including, if appropriate, a draft revision proposal, by March 2022.

FROM WHEN DOES THE REGULATION APPLY?

It has applied since 7 April 2019. The regulation’s amendments to Regulation (EU) No 617/2013 have applied since 1 March 2020.

BACKGROUND

Directive 2009/125/EC establishes a framework to set ecodesign requirements for energy-related products. The Commission must set these requirements for products which are widely sold and traded in the EU and have a significant environmental impact.

For more information see:

Servers and data storage products — Ecodesign requirements (European Commission)
The new ecodesign measures explained (European Commission)
About the energy label and ecodesign — Energy savings (European Commission).

KEY TERMS

Ecodesign. Policy to improve, through better design, products’ environmental performance throughout their life cycle, especially their energy efficiency.

Server. A computing product that provides services and manages networked resources for client devices, such as desktop computers, notebook computers, etc.

Embedded application. A software application that permanently resides in an industrial or consumer device, typically stored in a non-volatile memory such as read-only memory or flash memory.

Server with more than four processor sockets. A server containing more than four interfaces designed for the installation of a processor.

Server appliance. A server that is not intended to execute user-supplied software, delivers services through one or more networks, is typically managed through a web or command line interface and is bundled with a pre-installed operating system and application software that is used to perform a dedicated function or set of tightly coupled functions.

Large server. A resilient server which is shipped as a pre-integrated/pre-tested system housed in one or more full frame racks and that includes a high connectivity input/output subsystem with a minimum of 32 dedicated input/output slots.

Fully fault-tolerant server. A server that is designed with complete hardware redundancy (to simultaneously and repetitively run a single workload for continuous availability in mission-critical applications), in which every computing component is replicated between two nodes running identical and concurrent workloads.

Network server. A network product which contains the same components as a server in addition to more than 11 network ports with a total line rate throughput of 12 Gb/s or more, the capability to dynamically reconfigure ports and speed and support for a virtualised network environment through a software-defined network.

Data storage product. A fully-functional storage system that supplies data storage services to clients and devices attached directly or through a network.

MAIN DOCUMENTS

Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/424 of 15 March 2019 laying down ecodesign requirements for servers and data storage products pursuant to Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and amending Commission Regulation (EU) No 617/2013 (OJ L 74, 18.3.2019, pp. 46–66).

Successive amendments to Regulation (EU) 2019/424 have been incorporated into the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.