Articles from carol wilson

1. Data Centers in the downturn by carol wilson Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Aug 17 2009) While everyone expects data center traffic to continue to grow exponentially for the foreseeable future, the reality of the current economy is that some companies are cutting back on their IT and telecom spends, to match the decline in their own revenues. How will that affect hosted data center services? Two new studies from Forrester Research, released this week, show interesting trends in how businesses are cutting back. The two reports, “The State Of Enterprise Networks And Telecommunications: 2009” and “The State Of SMB Networks And Telecommunications: 2009” were based on interviews with enterprise and SMB IT executives in North America and Europe. (Read Full Article)

   Comment Mentions:   Forrester Research   Europe   Carol Wilson

2. Looking beyond the Kyoto Treaty by carol wilson Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Aug 10 2009) Carbon Footprint , Emissions Many within the environmental movement hoped Barack Obama’s election to the White House would mean U.S. ratification of the Kyoto Accord, the U.N. climate treaty that seeks to limit the carbon emissions thought to cause global warming. What President Obama has done instead is establish the U.S. as a leader in negotiating the next version of Kyoto, which expires in 2012. (Read Full Article)

   Comment Mentions:   U.N.   Barack Obama   Carol Wilson

3. Getting the right cloud by carol wilson Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Aug 3 2009) Cloud Computing As much as we all rail against hype in the world of technology, the truth is hype plays a significant role – it draws attention to innovations and enables those that ultimately succeed to get the focus, funding and market power they need. Gartner realized this years ago in defining the hype cycle. But the down side of hype is that it often renders once-meaningful terms into clichéd marketing gimmicks, which is what cloud computing seems headed for. (Read Full Article)

   Comment Mentions:   Carol Wilson

4. Falling for hydro all over again by carol wilson Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Jul 27 2009) Power and Cooling , Hydro You can’t deny there’s a romantic ring to the idea that Niagara Falls will power Yahoo!’s next data center, being built in Lockport, N.Y. And while this is a recent development, hydroelectric power was the first renewable source of energy sought by those building data centers. The reasons are obvious – there’s nothing uncertain about hydroelectric power – its costs and benefits are well established, as is the technology that enables man to convert moving water into electricity. Before there was a major environmental push, major data center builders such as Google sought out river-side location for their largest operations, such as Google’s Oregon data center complex on the banks of the Columbia River. (Read Full Article)

   Comment Mentions:   Google   Yahoo   The Green Grid

5. Finding the balance by Carol Wilson Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Jul 22 2009) One word that you hear repeatedly in any discussion of finding new energy sources is balance. Literally speaking, balance is a state of equilibrium, but in the context of the environment, it often means juggling multiple interests, priorities and forces to find a reasonable compromise. In most parts of the world, keeping things in balance where the environment is concerned means doing what can reasonably and affordably be done to conserve energy or shift energy usage to renewable sources. In Iceland, where geothermal energy, potentially an endlessly renewable source of energy, is abundant and cheap, there is another balancing act taking place. (Read Full Article)

   Comment Mentions:   New York Times   The New York Times   Iceland

6. A long-winded answer to powering data centers by carol wilson Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Jul 17 2009) Wind T. Boone Pickens goes on television to tout wind power. Warren Buffet says his Berkshire Hathaway investment firm will continue to invest heavily in wind energy, especially in states like Iowa, where 11% of the nation’s wind energy is generated. When big money men talk, people tend to listen. But they are not the only ones talking up wind energy. The U.S. Department of Energy has said the U.S. could get 20% of its electricity from wind energy by the year 2030. (Read Full Article)

   Comment Mentions:   Department of Energy   Carol Wilson

7. Finding the right incentives by Carol Wilson Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Jul 7 2009) Cap and Trade , Emissions , Fossil Fuel If you want to guarantee a flood of angry email responses, write something that appears to endorse the energy bill just passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. I did, and the stream of vitriol that followed was stunning. “Idiot” was the kindest remark and “You are absolutely batty” the most succinct. When I could get past the nasty comments, the thinking fell along a few lines: First, that global warming is a myth perpetrated by Al Gore and others; second, implementing cap and trade measures for U.S. businesses will jettison our economy and cost jobs; and three, if India and China aren’t going to do this, why should the U.S.? (Read Full Article)

   Comment Mentions:   Carol Wilson   Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act.

8. Geothermal Energy- A Two-way Proposition By Carol Wilson Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Jul 5 2009) Carbon Footprint , Geothermal The quickest way for data center technology to gain credibility is for Google to adopt it. So when Google announced in 2008 that it was investing $10 million in three companies pursuing enhanced geothermal energy systems, interest in this form of powering data centers spiked. Geothermal technology is not new – it exists today even to heat and cool individual residences by using the relatively stable core temperature of the earth to regulate a home’s temperature. But geothermal powering at utility scale is a different animal. (Read Full Article)

   Comment Mentions:   Iceland   Google   Department of Energy

9. Are all renewable energy forms created equal? by Carol Wilson Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Jun 29 2009) Carbon Footprint , Solar Each form of renewable energy – solar,wind, geothermal, hydroelectric and even biomass – has its advantages, but when it comes to powering data centers, not every renewable energy source has equal value. Until very recently, solar power was considered too expensive to adequately power data centers and it remains impractical except in areas where sunny days vastly outnumber cloudy ones. Just this week, i/o Data Centers made headlines by announcing its plans to put solar panels on the 11-acre roof of its new 538,000-square foot Phoenix ONE data center. (Read Full Article)

   Comment Mentions:   Carol Wilson

10. Economic Concerns Have One Exception by Carol Wilson Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Jun 21 2009) Emissions Economic concerns have one exception There is no doubt that the economy has supplanted environmental concerns as a priority in the minds of most if not all business leaders over the last six months. Many companies had the best of intentions at the beginning of 2008 of pursuing “greener” pastures--more telecommuting to reduce driving; lower electricity consumption in offices; less non-essential business travel and incentives to encourage car-pooling and other employee energy-saving measures were all hot topics. (Read Full Article)

    Comment Mentions:   Verizon Business   Carol Wilson   Fran Shammo

11. Beyond Going Virtual by carol wilson Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Jun 9 2009) Cloud Computing , Grid Computing Last week, I talked about how today’s data centers can be located almost anywhere, through the power of virtualization. We are certainly seeing this trend play out in the news. Just this week, Apple ended weeks of speculation by announcing its plans to base a data center in North Carolina. That state, and many others, are competing for these projects, offering tax incentives and more, because of the jobs they bring to the region. While Apple is saying the new facility will mean about 50 jobs, North Carolina officials expect the Apple data center project to generate more than 3000 total jobs, including construction jobs to build the facility – not something to sneeze at in this economy. What’s good for economic development isn’t always what’s best for the environment, however. One part of the appeal of the North Carolina site is the available power grid, as ... (Read Full Article)

    Comment Mentions:   Carol Wilson

12. Virtues of Virtual by Carol Wilson Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Jun 5 2009) Cloud Computing , Grid Computing , Networking , Servers Virtual reality is one of those terms forever associated with science fiction and gaming – I immediately think of the hologram deck on the USS Enterprise of the Star Trek: The Next Generation series. But “going virtual” as a networking and data center concept is a powerful idea that can reshape how and where data centers are built, and the way in which networks are used. By making more intelligent use of virtualization and smart networking, network operators and enterprises alike can not only save money but also reduce carbon emissions. The key is to consider the network as a seamless whole, and the data resources hanging off that network as shared facilities. Virtualization already does this within the data center – servers are no longer dedicated to individual applications, rather the virtualized server resources are shared across applications and thus used more efficiently. There is no under-utilized server capacity sitting idly ... (Read Full Article)

    Comment Mentions:   Carol Wilson

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