February, 2008
by The MeasureIT Staff
Whether driven by a desire to save the planet from global warming or simply to reduce energy costs, it is clear that energy efficiency is becoming an extremely important topic for IT. The published reports are certainly alarming. Reportedly, carbon emissions from IT can be measured in multiple percentage points of all global carbon emissions (1) and IT in the UK alone consumes significantly more power than all of Luxembourg (2). Clearly IT could be much "greener" (3). Perhaps someday creative companies will be able to combine their employee wellness & datacenter power efficiency initiatives (4). More likely, companies will turn to consolidation, virtualization, and maybe even platform choice to help them become more energy efficient (5, 6, 7). However, the quest for efficiency likely should be extended beyond a few servers on a raised floor (8). Those interested in measuring their IT energy efficiency will likely be interested in the work done by The Green Grid to define metrics and guidelines (9). Proper disposal of outdated equipment is also a significant issue (3c)-and something that is becoming increasingly regulated. Get started thinking about greening your data center by reading the following articles.