Facebook used to be a company just like many others: It would buy servers, racks and other hardware from vendors like HP and Dell and rent out co-location space from vendors like DuPont Fabros and others. But when Facebook got really big, those traditional IT infrastructure components were just not working as well as they could be, leading to wasted money, energy and resources. "We knew we could be more efficient and effective," recalls Frank Frankovsky, the vice president of hardware design and supply chain management at the world's most popular social network

Leading tech companies like Microsoft, Google and Apple are making huge inroads in the use of renewable energy for corporate facilities and data centers, but cost and delivery challenges remain.

Analysts predict an uptake in trigeneration technology and data centre infrastructure management tools, and that there will be more consolidation of IT infrastructure, more sophisticated monitoring and reporting of energy use, and driving down energy costs will become a top priority for CIOs next year.

Data centre provider, Fujitsu, has spent $60 million adding a fourth data hall to its 6,700 metre Tier III facility in Noble Park, Melbourne, with the option of adding a further two data halls in the future if customer demand warrants it. Included in the $60 million price tag were security enhancements such as on-site biometric systems, access card readers and digital closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras. The facility hosts data from enterprise and government customers.