1. Articles from computerworlduk.com

    1-25 of 25

    1. Iceland opens carbon neutral data centre

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Oct 6 2011) Power and Cooling , Geothermal

      Iceland opens carbon neutral data centre IIceland has opened a new 100 percent carbon neutral data centre site that will support UK and US companies wanting to save money and widen their green IT strategies. UK firm Verne Global is the first company to open a data centre at the 18-hectare Keflavik site which was previously used by the military, including NATO operations. Also in this channel News In Depth How-Tos Blogs Slideshows Related Articles AMD stock inside trader in fight over cash gains How much profit he made illegitimately is disputed >> Apple fans pay tribute to Steve Jobs in London Flowers, pictures and apples left at Covent Garden store >> Huawei gunning for Cisco in the enterprise The Chinese and intellectual property issues are well in the past as Huawei enters the US and global enterprise market >> Wikileaks Wikileaks - fearless whistleblowers or irresponsible nuisances? Keep up to date with the latest developments. Read more The data ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Iceland   Verne Global   Nato

    2. Green Britain Day: Efficient IT does not come at a premium

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Jun 17 2010) Emissions

      Green Britain Day: Efficient IT does not come at a premium Doing the right thing has an excellent ROIGreen Britian Day, the day when the public is being encouraged to make small changes to their lifestyle for the good of the environment, many UK businesses are still not doing enough to make their IT infrastructures more environmentally-friendly according to the IT industry. While EDF Energy, which has promoted the project, is fending off accusations of “greenwash”, IT suppliers claim that there still seems to be an apparent lack of education in many businesses about the cost-benefit of going green. (Read Full Article)

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    3. Green IT policies fail to curb data centre power use

      Explore computerworlduk.com (May 24 2010)

      Green IT policies fail to curb data centre power use Some leading companies are stepping up to the plate to address issues with data center efficiency. But there’s more involved than simply scaling back power consumption. There’s a lot of new thinking now going on behind data center design and operations management that blends smart technology and smart energy management. Allstate Insurance Co. for one, just opened a green data center in Rochelle, Ill., incorporating a range of best practices and state-of-the-art technology aimed at saving energy and employing renewable resources. Details are published in an article I wrote for latest edition of Insurance Networking News, for which I had the chance to speak with Anthony Abbattista, VP of technology solutions for Allstate, who has been putting a lot of thought into the design and function of the center over the past few years. (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Uptime Institute   Department of Energy   Microsoft Corp

    4. Go beyond Green IT for real energy saving

      Explore computerworlduk.com (May 19 2010)

      Cut costs and environmental damage by looking beyond IT.IT Director Gordon Katz estimates that by setting employees' computer monitors to sleep when they aren't being used, he saves his company enough electricity in a year to light the Cleveland Browns' football stadium for two seasons. He's sure this saves money for law firm Porter Wright Morris and Arthur; he just doesn't know how much. (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Microsoft Corp

    5. Two thirds of firms 'unprepared' for carbon legislation

      Explore computerworlduk.com (May 12 2010) Emissions

      Comment "An Alternative Approach to Bricks & Mortar In today's climate, companies are looking for a more cost effective, flexible and ..." - 1173carld

      Two thirds of firms 'unprepared' for carbon legislation Nearly two-thirds of UK businesses are not prepared for legislation aimed at reducing carbon emissions, according to a new survey. But even though 65 percent are not ready for the new rules, over seven in 10 see green IT as a top priority. Some 79 percent say the legislation will change the way they think about the environmental impact of their IT operations. In April, the Carbon Reduction Commitment came into effect, providing a financial incentive for businesses to improve their energy efficiency and reduce their power consumption. Under the scheme, businesses with a half-hourly electricity usage of more than 6,000 megawatt-hours will have to buy ‘allowances’ based on the level of usage. (Read Full Article)

      1 Comment Mentions:   Carbon Reduction Commitment

    6. Power efficiency has long way to go, says HP

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Apr 13 2010) Servers

      Power efficiency has long way to go, says HP The IT and consumer electronics industries have a long way to travel in terms of improving power efficiency of electronic systems and devices, a Hewlett-Packard researcher argues in the latest issue of the Association for Computing Machinery's flagship journal. "We've made tremendous progress over the past several years," said HP Labs distinguished technologist Parthasarathy Ranganathan, in an interview with IDG. "But when you look at the fundamental limits," the industry could make quantum leaps in efficiency, he said. How much so? Extending the arguments of famed physicist Richard Feynman into the digital age, Ranganathan estimated that, based on "the physical limits on the power costs to information transfer," the power used by a single handheld could, in theory, power a billion desktop computer processors. (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Hewlett Packard

    7. Next steps in green IT

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Mar 30 2010) Servers

      Next steps in green IT It's been several years since 'green IT' became a tech buzzword, and now the concept could advance to the next level with a combination of technology improvements and changes in corporate behavior. The notion of a more energy efficient IT operation isn't new, of course. But so far, many green IT initiatives have focused on low-hanging fruit, and some experts say companies have more work to do. According to the Climate Savers Computer Initiative, energy costs typically represent about 10% of an IT budget. "More companies are realising when they get visibility into the electricity bill that they have to do more," says Patrick Tiernan, executive director of the nonprofit. (Read Full Article)

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    8. CIOs can gang up to push the green IT agenda

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Feb 25 2010) Carbon Footprint

      CIOs can gang up to push the green IT agenda Pamela Rucker doesn't want to spend money with IT vendors that waste water or energy, or that have large carbon footprints. After all, she says, as vice president of IT for environmental services firm PSC, it would be hypocritical to not hold vendors to high standards. When considering a deal with a software, hardware or services provider, Rucker demands to see its written policies governing sustainability. On top of that, IT staff might walk through vendor facilities to verify a company's green claims: How high heat density is in the data center, how water consumption is minimised, whether renewable energy sources are used, how old computers are recycled. Rucker and team don't just take such claims at face value, they look for proof. (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   The Green Grid

    9. HP offers green data centre services

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Feb 25 2010) Cloud Computing , Servers

      HP offers green data centre services HP today unveiled a host of new services aimed at helping small data centre operators boost performance and cut operating costs. Aimed at data centres up to 5,000 square feet in size, these facilities-oriented services include capacity, infrastructure condition and energy efficiency analysis. Small businesses with modestly sized data centres face challenges similar to those of their enterprise-sized brethren, such as rising operating costs, inefficient infrastructure, limited floor space and insufficient available power. (Read Full Article)

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    10. Data centres find Iceland hospitable

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Feb 15 2010) Construction , Power and Cooling

      Data centres find Iceland hospitable A new front is being opened in the race to provide inexpensive data centre space, and it's located on a former NATO base in Iceland. A data center co-location company called Verne Global decided that Iceland would be the perfect place for its first facility because of the country's climate, natural resources and network connectivity to the United States and Europe. The Icelandic site offers access to geothermal and hydroelectric energy, free cooling every day of the year, and multi-terabit-per-second connectivity to America and Europe. Verne Global, which plans to build efficient data centres throughout the world, is in the middle of construction in Iceland and will be able to serve customers by year end. (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Iceland   Europe   Verne Global

    11. Government Carbon Reduction Commitment 'has loopholes'

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Feb 4 2010) Carbon Reduction Commitment , Emissions

      Morse, the IT services company, has called for the government to amend its Carbon Reduction Commitment after identifying “loopholes” that it said could undermine the commitment’s principles. The company claims that the CRC encourages offshoring by not taking into account the power businesses use outside of the UK. The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, developed by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), aims to encourage organisations to reduce their power consumption. Due to begin in April, businesses with a half-hourly electricity usage of more than than 6,000 megawatt-hours will have to buy ‘allowances’ based on the level of usage. However, Morse claims that instead of adopting new and greener technologies, businesses may choose to offshore their more energy-intensive operations, such as data centres, to avoid the charges under the CRC. (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   CRC   Decc

    12. Solar panels to power green data centre

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Dec 17 2009) Solar

      Solar panels to power green data centre A large data centre co-location provider in the US is starting an ambitious project to cover its roof in solar panels, a multi-million dollar undertaking that will provide up to 4.5 megawatts of power to customers. CEO George Slessman of i/o Data Centers, founded in 2006, says covering the 11-acre data centre with thousands of solar panels will cost between $8 million and $10 million (£6m), with the project being completed over the next year. Based on today's energy prices, the project costs more than simply purchasing energy from utilities, but Slessman believes it will pay off financially in the long run. (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Google

    13. Red tape or ready opportunity?

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Dec 2 2009) Monitoring , Carbon Footprint , Carbon Reduction Commitment

      Red tape or ready opportunity? The UK Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), which requires large public and private sector organisations to engage in an emissions trading scheme in order to improve energy efficiency, is a case in point. Research commissioned by SAP in the UK finds that whilst 67% of companies are not yet fully prepared with only 6 months to go, 77% of executives surveyed regard CRC as an opportunity to improve their organisation’s carbon footprint. This paper examines • how UK executives are preparing to meet CRC when it is introduced in 2010; and • what all qualifying companies can do to transform CRC from an obligation into an opportunity to improve efficiencies and competitiveness. (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Carbon Reduction Commitment   CRC

    14. Green data centre recycles waste heat

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Dec 1 2009) Power and Cooling

      Green data centre recycles waste heat Helsinki public energy company Helsingin Energia will recycle heat from a new data centre to help generate energy and deliver hot water for the Finnish capital city. The recycled heat from the data centre, being built by IT and telecom services company Academica, could add about 1 percent to the total energy generated by Helsingin Energia's system in the summer, according to Juha Sipilä, project manager at Helsingin Energia. "What's important is that we use the resources we have efficiently, and don't waste energy," said Sipilä, who sees this project as a way to prove the technology works and pave the way for use on a larger scale. The data center is located in an old bomb shelter and is connected to Helsingin Energia's district heating system, which works by pumping boiling water through a system of pipes to households in Helsinki. (Read Full Article)

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    15. How to comply with the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Oct 23 2009) Monitoring , Carbon Reduction Commitment , Emissions

      How to comply with the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme The UK-wide Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme is a new, legally binding carbon cap and trading scheme designed to promote energy efficiency and help reduce carbon emissions. It forms part of the Government’s strategy to reduce UK CO2 emissions by 80% by the year 2050, compared to the 1990 baseline. Organisations with half hourly metered electricity consumption greater than 6,000MWh during 2008 are subject to the CRC and must start preparing for it. This will typically include UK-based parent companies and their UK subsidiaries (all measured as a single entity, unless the subsidiary is of significant size, in which case it can disaggregate itself from the parent company within the scheme). (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Carbon Reduction Commitment

    16. Myspace gains green cred with power saving flash drives

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Oct 14 2009) Servers

      Cuts energy use by 99%Social networking site MySpace.com announced today that it has switched from using hard disk drives in its servers to using PCI Express (PCIe) cards loaded with solid state chips as primary storage for their data centre operations. (Read Full Article)

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    17. US House of Representatives decommissions its last mainframe

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Oct 13 2009)

      US House of Representatives decommissions its last mainframe The last mainframe supposedly enjoyed "quasi-celebrity status" within the House data centre, having spent 12 years keeping the House's inventory control records and financial management data, among other tasks. But it was time for a change, with the House spending $30,000 a year to power the mainframe and another $700,000 each year for maintenance and support. The cost and energy savings contribute to the Green the Capitol programme designed to improve efficiency in the halls of Congress. Applications running on the last mainframe have been moved to x86 and Unix servers, many of which are using virtualisation technology that first appeared on the mainframe decades ago. (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   IBM

    18. Measuring Success in the datacentre

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Oct 9 2009) Construction , Power and Cooling

      Measuring Success in the datacentre There are many key performance indicators datacentre managers can use to assess, track and manage the efficiency of IT facilities and drive business change. But the measurement of a data centre environment is very specific to an individual organisation. You need to know what is best for you. How does a company measure success in a data centre? Only well-defined performance metrics can answer that question. Every organisation has a different idea about how work is defined in the data centre. Each organisation needs a specific approach, tailored for their unique business needs, to create metrics that lead to effective data centre management. (Read Full Article)

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    19. Green carbon laws drive data centre revolution

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Sep 30 2009) Monitoring , Cloud Computing

      Keeping up with emissions standardsFor data centre operators, plenty of change is in the air. They have the ever-shifting and generally increasing demands for processing power and storage capacity. There are the swelling prices and shrinking supplies of power. Moreover, there's forthcoming change to environmental legislation that could have a profound impact on how, and where, a company bases its data centre operations. (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   SynapSense

    20. IT departments risk trouble from EU cooling directive

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Sep 29 2009) Power and Cooling

      IT departments risk trouble from EU cooling directive IT managers are increasingly at risk of been caught out for failing to comply with a EU directive on refrigerant gases used in cooling systems for server rooms and data centres. So warned on365, a specialist in data centre and server room management. To comply with European Fluorinated Gas regulations (F GAS), all personnel involved in refrigerant gas installation, maintenance, servicing, checking and recovery will need to obtain "next stage" UK F Gas qualifications from July 2011 at the latest. on365 feels that many businesses are unaware of the regulation and that their equipment installers may lack the necessary refrigerant handling training to comply with the directive. This could potentially, says on365, lead to a shortage of trained engineers to maintain data centres and computer rooms' cooling equipment by the time the EU regulations are tightened in 2011. (Read Full Article)

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    21. Tata Communications: The making of a global data centre leader

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Sep 21 2009) Cloud Computing , Networking

      Tata Communications: The making of a global data centre leader Perspectives & insight for executivesTata Communications, the Mumbai-based communication services provider, is quietly pursuing an aggressive strategy to become a major global services provider. Already in possession of one of the world’s largest IP networks, the company is expanding its data center footprint throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The goal: a robust, integrated infrastructure that will support the company’s growing portfolio of managed services and future cloud computing services. (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Europe

    22. Five surprising spots for new data centres

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Sep 18 2009) Construction , Power and Cooling

      Five surprising spots for new data centres From an old nuclear fuel plant to a nonagenarian printing plant, old buildings are finding new life as data centres. Soaring data-crunching demands, coupled with energy shortfalls, have motivated companies worldwide to invest in new, green, state-of-the-art data centres. Some organisations have limited their green practices to the inside of newly constructed facilities, embracing modular grow-with-demand designs, energy-efficient IT hardware, virtualisation, DC power, and smarter cooling technologies. Others, however, have taken eco-friendliness a step further by transforming pre-existing structures into data centres. Today, we'll take a look at some of the more innovative and unusual facilities that companies have selected to house their datacenters. (Read Full Article)

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    23. University research points to greener computing

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Sep 18 2009) Monitoring , Cloud Computing , Servers

      University research points to greener computing Researchers at the University of Sydney have developed a new scheduling algorithm designed to reduce data centre energy consumption without disrupting operations. The Energy Conscious Scheduling algorithm (ECS) has been patented by Young Choon Lee and Albert Zomaya at the university's Centre for Distributed and High Performance Computing. Lee and Zomaya are now developing an ECS prototype, with a view to commercialising the research by late 2010. Zomaya said the ECS software will be a suite of algorithms (written in C and C++) acting as 'middleware' that can see the operating system and hardware and then decide what to do with different tasks. "In doing so it makes sure whatever decisions are made are energy-conscious," he said, adding the software stack still "gives you what you want". (Read Full Article)

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    24. Novel cooling solution boosts energy efficiency

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Sep 11 2009) Servers

      Innovative design links sensors to temperature controlA team of engineers led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has successfully tested a novel system that they say could greatly improve the efficiency of data centre cooling. (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Intel   Hewlett Packard   Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

    25. Scottish IT loses plot on green data centres

      Explore computerworlduk.com (Sep 9 2009) Emissions

      Businesses lack ability to measure energy consumptionScotland is set to become a top location to build energy-efficient data centres despite the fact that few of its businesses have a clue how much energy they use to power their IT, a study has found. (Read Full Article)

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