Greener Computing in the Cloud

Featured « zikkir (Sep 25 2009) Cloud Computing

1. Cloud computing may raise privacy and security concerns, but this growing practice–offloading computation and storage to remote data centers run by companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo–could have one clear advantage: far better energy efficiency, thanks to custom data centers now rising across the country. “There are issues with property rights and confidentiality that people are working out for mass migration of data to the cloud,” says Jonathan Koomey, an energy-efficiency expert and a visiting professor at Yale University. “But in terms of raw economics, there is a strong argument,” he adds. “The economic benefits of cloud computing are compelling.” The issue of surging worldwide IT-related energy consumption is both a bottom-line concern to the companies involved and, increasingly, an environmental worry. Energy consumption from data centers doubled between 2000 and 2005–from 0.5 percent to 1 percent of world total electricity consumption. That figure, which ... (Read Full Article)

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