What are you Green Data Resolutions? - By Peter Judge

Views and Opinions on Green IT (Jan 3 2010) Power and Cooling , Carbon Footprint , Cloud Computing

1. 

   If you are a data centre manager who wants to deliver sustainable and efficient services, you might be feeling a bit low right now. 

   Apart from the post-holiday blues, you're entering another year when resources are still scarce - a lot of countries are still in recession, and even those pulling out have a long way to go. So IT budgets will be tight, and you will be asked to deliver on new projects and services. You'll also be at the heart of moves to make your organisation more sustainable - just at the moment when the failed Copenhagen summit has made it quite clear that no-one, right up to the highest level of government, wants to face up to the real challenges that will involve. 

   So, what are your resolutions for 2010 going to be? Here's half a dozen ideas that might be on your list... 

   1. Keep your perspective. You can't save the world single-handedly, so focus on what you can do, and if projects start to address a bigger picture, make sure that you get buy-in from everyone else who is affected. 

   2. Take stock of what you have. A lot of wasted power is used by systems that have been forgotten about, or are lost in inefficient audits. See how much of your server and storage resources are actually required - or likely to be required in future. Some may have installed by the usual process of doubling capacity just in case, or may have been put in to serve a process that turned out not to be so demanding as was expected.  

   3. Instrument, measure and monitor.  That's the kind of thing data center people do well, and information is exactly what is needed to take a strategic view. Be ready for carbon accounting, at least by knowing what extra IT will be required, and when energy cuts are required have the information to hand so you know where the easy wins are.  

   4. Consider  outsourcing or cloud.  Cloud computing is now being sold on its reliability as much as cost, but also could have green credentials, as aggregated resources can be more efficient. Recent research reported here suggests that data centres between 5000 and 50,000 square feet should perhaps be closed in favour of colocation 

   5. Read up on useful research. Academics - bless them - do this well, so we should see some good ideas coming out of university data centres. The UK's JISC has produced a thoroughly useful round-up of good ideas, based on data centres in British colleges. Worth curling up with, or reading on a journey.  

   6. Turn things off! How much of your non-essential kit did you switch off before the holidays?  If you returned to a building full of humming printers and fax machines and blinking monitors, don't waste time feeling guilty, start a campaign to get more of them turned off next weekend. Build awareness, and aim to have a public evaluation of progress at the next big holiday. If that means putting new tech in place - remote control for desktops or printers, say - then start making the case. Take lighting and heating into account and most companies should be able to cut their bills by at least 75 percent over holiday periods. 

   Yes, that last point does step outside of the data center, but it's a job worth doing - as long as you remember point 1 above, and get the help you need!  

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