Views and Opinions on Green IT

1. Do-it-yourself server hardware means manufacturers don't get it by Doug Mohney

   Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Feb 27 2013

   

   With Amazon, AOL, Google and Facebook building their own server hardware and even low-profile shops (i.e. little fish in the sea) like Backblaze are starting to bolt together their own hardware to save money and energy says one thing: Major hardware manufacturers are lazy and too enthralled by Intel calling the shots for so long. This failure to innovate is hurting everyone -- including the environment. Facebook and Google started the trend of do-it-yourself (DIY) server hardware as the companies realized they needed to pack more computing power into a rack footprint, along with the ability to efficiently power and cool all servers and network hardware necessary to run a large scale data center.

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   Mentions: Amazon.com Intel Google

2. Could the cloud evaporate? by Peter Judge

   Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Feb 24 2013

   

   The boom in data centers is based on the cloud. But what if the cloud fails to deliver? Last week, I was at a tech finance conference, and I seemed to be hearing someone suggesting exactly this.. Anthony Miller of TechMarketView gave one of the keynotes at the annual Cobalt Conference, presented by the UK technology industry body Intellect. And in his view 2013 will be “make or break” for software as a service (SaaS).

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   Mentions: Salesforce Peter Judge

3. Green in the desert? C'mon! by Doug Mohney

   Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Feb 21 2013

   

   Fewer companies are opening un-green data centers these days, if my non-scientific trend browsing through Google News key word searches is any indicator. If it's a new-build facility, odds are it is green labeled in some respects, boasting "free" cooling, hot-and-cold aisles and PUEs of less than 1.3. Meanwhile, those who already own and operate big data centers are busy trying to re-invent the server by building very customized hardware. Las Vegas is the latest area bragging about data center growth, with Cobalt, Switch, and ViaWest all touting they're in a "safe zone" away from the earthquake prone regions of California and bad weather along the East Coast and Southern regions of the U.S.

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   Mentions: Greenpeace Doug Mohney

4. Politicians Pit Privacy Against The Social Networks by Peter Judge

   Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Feb 17 2013

   

   Should we give some thought to what is being done with the data in our data centers? The big social media services are sailing very close to the wind on privacy - and while some politicians try to defend our rights. citizens are busy throwing their privacy away. Take the way people over-share on Facebook. That leaves a trail that can be easily followed, - even before Facebook made it easier with the new Graph Search function.

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   Mentions: Amazon.com Google Facebook

5. Climate change gets top billing in State of the Union, but-- by Doug Mohney

   Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Feb 13 2013

   

   During President Barak Obama's 2013 State of the Union address, climate change got top billing for the first time.  Obama called upon Congress to act to produce a "bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change."  If it doesn't, expect a series of executive orders, but unlike the threat of sequestration to the nation's budget, the President didn't set a deadline.

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   Mentions: Doug Mohney

6. Green Supercomputing Jumps Ahead by Peter Judge

   Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Feb 10 2013

   

   It’s not long since the Green500 list of energy-efficient supercomputers last came out, and already a new one wants to take a place at the top of the heap. In November’s Green500 list, the top spot went to the Beacon System belonging to the US National Institute for Computational Sciences (NICS) Beacon system in Tennessee, with nearly 2.5 billion floatinng point operations per second, per Watt (gigaflops/W) Fl.

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   Mentions: Nvidia IBM Peter Judge

7. U.S .renewable energy companies looking for oil & real estate tax advantages by Doug Mohney

   Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Feb 6 2013

   

   Instead of getting specific tax breaks, the renewable energy industry is looking to leverage specific investment structures used today by the oil, gas and real estate industries to raise money. Master limited partnership (M.L.P.) and real estate investment trust (REIT) structures could help make financing renewable energy projects easier and energy cheaper, reports The New York Times. Changing the tax code is an uphill battle under any circumstance, but enabling renewable energy companies to use the structures could cut the cost of electricity they deliver by a third. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is considering allowing at least one company to form a REIT for a group of renewable energy projects -- no doubt with some encouragement from the White House.

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   Mentions: New York Times The New York Times Barack Obama

8. UN climate change (in)action - the full misery by Peter Judge

   Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Feb 3 2013

   

   There won’t be much specifically about data centers this week: it’s time for a look at the bigger picture. We all know that international co-operation on green issues is not great. But how bad is it really? Back in November, the United Nations held the latest in its series of conferences aimed at dealing with climate change. It was generally held to be a disastrous failure. Last week I heard from some of those who were there, including a senior British negotiator - Ben Lyons, head of negotiations for the the UK Department of Energy (which has had “and Climate Change” tacked onto its name for some years).

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   Mentions: United Nations Peter Judge

9. "Green" data center - Seriously, what are you doing? by Doug Mohney

   Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Jan 29 2013

   

   Are we past the whole "Green cuz it looks good" phase yet? If you aren't, let me come over and give you a nice big smack on the head. The first green in "green" data center is money, cash, coin, whatever you want to call it. The second green is environmental, relating to resource consumption of power and water, plus the disposal/handing of "waste"-- trash and obsolete equipment. You may choose to put the second green in front of the first, but it all comes down to saving money at the end of the day.

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   Mentions: Apple Iceland Doug Mohney

10. Time for a festival of LED lights? by Peter Judge

    Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Jan 28 2013

    

    Winter festivals often centre around lights. There’s Hinduism’s Diwali and the Jewish Hanukkah, while Christianity places all sorts of stars and candles around Christmas, everyone lights fireworks on New Year’s Ever, and people fill New York’s Times Square to watch a Ball of light.. These lights now use less energy. The Times Square Ball uses 32,000 LEDs. And this year, that low-energy light could shine further into business premises, including data centres.

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    Mentions: The Green Grid Peter Judge

11. Green policy an uphill battle for Obama's second term by Doug Mohney

    Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Jan 23 2013

    

    U.S. President Barak Obama is making climate change a priority in his second term in office, judging from his recent inaugural speech and the buzz from cabinet members. There's a lot of talk with more concrete policy expected to arrive in February. “We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generation," Obama said on the steps of the Capital on January 21, 2013, "Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms."

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    Mentions: Doug Mohney

12. Open Compute Gets Down To Maximising LOLs per Watt by Peter Judge

    Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Jan 20 2013

    

    Nearly two years ago, in April 2011 Open Compute appeared. It was a Facebook initiative for greener servers, which some saw as a publicity stunt, or some kind of greenwash-style response to Greenpeace, which was then laying into the social media giant for its energy consumption. After all, Facebook generally speaking looks like a very cynical company, fiercely focused on extracting value from the trivia uploaded by its users. Its job is monetising its customers’ lives.

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    Mentions: Apple Greenpeace Amazon.com

13. The better battery quest continues by Doug Mohney

    Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Jan 16 2013

    

    There are a flock of start-ups working on newer better battery technology, looking to drive down cost and/or add higher density storage capacity. I'm skeptical, since I've seen numerous bits and pieces of "better" on-demand power technologies come and go over the past decade -- not to mention the flame out of government-sponsored lithium ion battery production. Maybe what's needed is a benevolent overlord/sugar daddy to force/stimulate more rapid progress.

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    Mentions: Department of Energy Doug Mohney

14. The Green Grid Says Turn Down Your UPS by Peter Judge

    Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Jan 14 2013

    

    This week, I have a special treat which I know you will all enjoy reading about. The Green Grid has produced a White Paper on how to get the best out of your Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)! Seriously, the Green Grid is the industry body we know and love, whose members want us to think in great detail about the energy use and emissions footprint of every single aspect of data centers.

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    Mentions: Europe The Green Grid Peter Judge

15. Dim hopes for U.S. carbon measures by Doug Mohney

    Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Jan 9 2013

    

    With the dawn of 2013, the U.S. Congress and the Obama Administration barely muster enough leadership for a bridge gap solution to a "fiscal cliff" problem of their own making.  There's a lot of grassroots buzz for a carbon tax and maybe a national cap-and-trade scheme, but it's unlikely to happen given the continued chaos on the most basic issues of running the U.S. government.

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    Mentions: Doug Mohney

16. Recycling is a supercomputing issue by Peter Judge

    Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Jan 7 2013

    

    We start the New Year with a story that combines energy usage and recycling - and it’s grim reading. If your supercomputer falls behind in the power-efficiency race, you will find it difficult to dispose of, even if you are giving it away. New Mexico’s plan to raise money and boost the State’s profile with a supercomputer-for-rent was ambitious. Even in 2008, when it launched its Intel-based Encanto machine, sites including The Register were sceptical. How could it cover a cost which would grow to $20 million, by renting out its capacity, when other supercomputers would quickly overhaul its performance?

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    Mentions: Intel Peter Judge

17. U.S. wind power catches fiscal cliff updraft by Doug Mohney

    Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Jan 4 2013

    

    Facing gloom and doom like the rest of the country, the U.S. wind industry caught a major lift in the last-minute tax patch in Congress. Not only is there a one year extension of existing tax credits, but wind projects simply need to be started by the end of 2013 to qualify, reports a New York Times blog. -- a development worth watching.

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    Mentions: New York Times Doug Mohney

18. 2012 - the year energy mattered by Peter Judge

    Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Dec 31 2012

    

    This is my third year here, and there’s been no trouble finding something to say each week. This year, as the Greenwash sluiced down the plug-hole, there’s been more actual News about green data centers - and this year, energy was a key factor. Let’s take a look - in the only British news roundup of 2012 that won’t mention Royal Jubilees, babies or the London Olympics.

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    Mentions: New York Times Apple Greenpeace

19. Data center growth in 2013 by Doug Mohney

    Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Dec 26 2012

    

    Large or small, retail, wholesale, or enterprise, expect net growth in data centers and storage in 2013. Many companies are consolidating, virtualizing, and rolling in more efficient servers to downsize existing facilities, but there are a number of areas that will drive society's insatiable need for more cloud storage. TVs and entertainment video are going to push the bar upward for both content creators and distributors.

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    Mentions: Apple Amazon.com Google

20. 2013 - an uncertain climate by Peter Judge

    Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Dec 24 2012

    

    Predictions aren’t always accurate. The Mayans could tell us that...if their civilisation hadn’t collapsed in the 9th century due to entirely unforeseen circumstances The Mayan calendar supposedly predicted the end of the world in our year 2012. This didn’t happen of course. Other predictions, like global warming, are also not “accurate” in terms of specifying times and places. We know that weather patterns will change as the global temperature goes up, but climate scientists don’t yet predict specific events such as Superstorm Sandy.

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    Mentions: Peter Judge

21. Greening 2013 by Doug Mohney

    Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Dec 19 2012

    

    No "Top 5 reasons to build a green data center" here, my friends. If you need convincing that saving money , cutting down on greenhouse gases and building a better server room are good things, you don't need to read this column in the first place (and I suspect you are planning a party for either December 20 or 22 depending on how you feel about the whole Mayan calendar thing).  Assuming the world continues on into 2013, I'll place my money on three trends to pick up speed next year.

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    Mentions: Intel Doug Mohney Bloom Energy

22. UK Energy policy leaves questions for data centers by Peter Judge

    Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Dec 16 2012

    

    As Doug Mohney told us last week, US energy policy has shifted away from over-hopeful notions of green energy, towards a grimly practical notion of getting shale gas and shale oil into production, to cut costs and bring manufacturing back to US soil. In Britain there are similarities, and in both nations data centers, which make up a small but useful percentage of the economy of both nations, are heavily dependent on these energy policy decisions.

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    Mentions: Doug Mohney Peter Judge CRC

23. Straining green by Doug Mohney

    Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Dec 12 2012

    

    Green power, green energy, and green-ness have all been heavily touted over the past couple of years as being Good and Right. But the high price tag of green projects and public sector failures of green investments does not bode well on the PR front, with the allure of green starting to fade. The green-ness of green data centers and green centers started to fade a while ago, as firms and hyperactive marketing people started green-washing anything they could just to get a press release out there.

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    Mentions: Department of Energy Doug Mohney

24. Learning about energy - in a primary school by Peter Judge

    Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT Dec 9 2012

    

    There’s plenty of energy news this week from governments and giant corporation - but the story that most interested me was from a little school in Wales. This week’s energy news includes the possibility of a green tax from Washington, a budget statement in the UK in which our green tax clings to life, all of which affects the cost of power. There have also been huge orders for solar and fuel cells by Apple, which could help build the market that will re-shape the energy used by data centers.

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    Mentions: Apple Peter Judge