Gartner - Boosting Green Data Centers After All - by Peter Judge

Views and Opinions on Green IT (Nov 22 2010)

1. 

    A month or so back, it emerged that Green data centers were off Gartner’s list of the top issues for CIOs this year. Now it looks like they’re back.

    

   It seemed odd that the analyst firm took “reshaping the data center” and “Green IT” off its list of CIO priorities, given the backing Gartner gives for things like the WWF awards for Green IT. Was the firm unaware of the big potential for change in virtualising and consolidation? Had it missed the urgent necessity in doing so - both for reasons of energy economy, and lowering emissions?

    

   It turns out, maybe not.

    

   Next week, Gartner has its data center summit in London, and it looks like being time for Gartner to cosy up again with the idea of green IT.

    

   (in passing, London does seem to bet getting some pretty good events at the moment - though both Gartner’s summit and the DataCenterDynamics event earlier in November are being followed by US events).

    

   Before Gartner’s summit opens, it is obvious the analyst is getting back behind the message of greening data centers. Rather than becoming less important, “the issue will move up the corporate food chain,” says Gartner’s summit press release, “as executives realise that the substantial energy costs for IT today are but a fraction of what future costs will be at current growth rates.”

    

   At current energy prices, the operating cost of an x86 server will exceed the cost of the server itself within three years. When energy costs increase, that figure will shift further. Organisations won’t be able to afford to buy kit they won’t use, and won’t be able to leave it running when it’s not needed, according to Dave Cappuccio, chief of infrastructure research at Gartner.

    

   “The days of idle machines sitting on the data centre floor during off peak hours will be a thing of the past,” says Cappuccio. “At current energy rates a 40kW rack could cost upward of $5,400 per server, per year.”

    

   For the green data center movement, he’s only saying the obvious, of course, But given Gartner’s uncertain attitude to greening the data center, it’s good to hear it said that definitely.

    

   The other prediction I saw last week that I definitely agree with is a Verdantix report that says there will be a boom in carbon-reporting software,

    

   The UK’s CRC scheme has become a carbon tax, and given the increase in austerity and the difficulty of finding government funds, that could be repeated elsewhere. One way or another, a lot of companies are going to have to cut their energy use - and they will also have to account for it.

    

   At the corporate level, carbon accounting has gone from tactical to strategic. Companies need to predict their energy use, and watching their emissions is no longer just an optional extra.

    

   Inside the data center itself, as Gartner is now saying, that is even more true.  

   -->

   -->

   Bookmark or Share this article

Login to comment.