Doug Mohney

0 Comments Leave a Comment

Squeezing Silicon for more power - By Doug Mohney

Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Feb 2 2012)

As companies build better data centers and more optimized servers to fit in those data centers, there are a number of ongoing efforts to squeeze more efficiency out of the basic bits -- CPUs, memory, storage -- of computing.   For the long term, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is getting into the act to stimulate more bang, er compute power per watt while a number of companies inch ...

(Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Doug Mohney

smart light bulbs, the next big thing? by Doug Mohney

Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Jan 25 2012)

Last year, plug-and-play LED bulbs were all the rage.  Pricey compared to CFLs but without the headaches of mercury, LEDs provide a plug and play solution to cut energy usage.   But that's not good enough for some manufacturers, who feel the need to throw in networking capabilities to sex-up an already expensive purchase.  For example, Fujikom is building a 100-watt replacement bulb with a built-in Z-Wave radio.  At $100 ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Doug Mohney

homes get smart meters, data centers need smart managers - by Peter Judge

Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Jan 22 2012)

...nergy consumption? Consumer demand and the infrastructure to meet it go hand-in hand, of course. As Doug Mohney found at CES, it is clear that consumer electronics is continuing to develop, and will demand more ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Doug Mohney   Peter Judge

A speedy echo of the future from the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show - by doug mohney

Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Jan 19 2012)

Last week, I was in reporter hell, also known as the 2012 International CES in Las Vegas.  The multi-day event with around 140,000 or so of my annual best friends is not easy on the psyche or the feet.  But you can spot trends that will roll directly to green data centers in the years to come. Sheer speed is going to be a big one.   All the next-generation ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Doug Mohney

will excess data center heat be an asset? by Doug Mohney

Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Jan 10 2012)

It's a fact of IT life: servers generate heat.  For large data centers, this is a 24 x 7 x 365 problem.  Getting rid of heat (which is actually what cooling is really about -- moving heat from point A to point B) can be one of the most energy-consuming parts of the data center.  Could it become an asset one day? Back in Ye Olden Times, the simplest way ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Iceland   Verne Global   Doug Mohney

Localfacture and the data center connection - by Doug Mohney

Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Jan 6 2012)

Will local customized production -- localfacture -- push data centers out of the suburbs to greener locations one day? Yes, it's a crazy idea, but it could happen in a decade with benefits for both sides. The concept is built around the cost and usage of power.  Many data centers remain in urban areas, where power is more expensive and "the grid" is now at near-maximum capacity.  Expansion in a maxed ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Iceland   Doug Mohney

Wyoming Wind boosts green data center - by Doug Mohney

Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Dec 21 2011)

Wyoming is better known for cowboys, buffalo, and Dick Cheney, but the state also boasts one of the highest potential sources of wind energy in America.    One data center is leveraging the green angle and has already secured a number of customers. Green House Data, Wyoming's first multi-tenant data center just got fiber built into its facility, provided by Zayo Group.  Zayo will also provide IP transit services to ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Doug Mohney   Zayo Group

plus and minuses with green cloud-ness by Doug Mohney

Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Dec 7 2011)

Using the cloud for various applications has been hyped as a greener solution than on-site hosting, be it for email, data storage, or voice.  However, as the cloud giveth green savings, it also taketh away some power savings, as I'm personally discovering.  Hosted services are going to be a big winner over the next five years, as businesses large and small wise up to the fact that you can ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Doug Mohney

Green 2025: The tipping Point by Doug Mohney

Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Nov 30 2011)

In the past, I have condemned various huffy-puffy 5 and 10 year analyst predictions for specific markets.  However, I am going to be a contrarian/hypocrite this week and say that by 2025, the world will have reached a green data center (and general economic) tipping point.  Now all I have to do is to explain how it will all happen over the next 15 years. To be honest, the ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Europe   Doug Mohney

Flooded Thailand, Greener Data Centers - By Doug Mohney

Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Nov 24 2011)

While disasters aren't usually something to cheer about, the flooding in Thailand is likely to lead to some incremental improvements in data center efficiency.   And it all spins around the price of hard disk drives. If you haven't been shopping for storage recently, the typical price of hard drives have jumped between 1.5 to 2.5 times over the past two to three weeks, according to one ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Forrester Research   Doug Mohney   Business Week

The U.S. military green energy circle of life - By Doug Mohney

Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Nov 17 2011)

It's ironic that the U.S. Department of Defense (well, DARPA, to be precise) funded the initial research to build "The Internet."   After a number of years in academia, the Internet went commercial like mad in the 90s, leading the Department of Defense to pick it back up and incorporate all the underlying philosophies and technology into its core missions.  Now, the U.S. military is pushing green in ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   NPR   U.S. Department of Defense   Doug Mohney

Academia, industry team up for better green data centers - By Doug Mohney

Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Nov 9 2011)

Funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF), three universities have teamed up with 15 companies to launch a "holistic approach" collaborative research center for energy efficiency.  Bravo! Binghamton University will be the "focal point" for the Industry/University Cooperative Research Center in Energy-Efficient Electronic Systems (E3S) consortium, according to the school's website, with Villanova University and University of Texas at Arlington also having support centers.    Fifteen companies ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Greenpeace   National Science Foundation   General Electric

fossil fuels: 21st century whale oil or making a comeback - by Doug Mohney

Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Nov 2 2011)

Depending on who you listen to over the past two weeks, fossil fuels are either this century's obsolete "whale oil" or about ready to make a near-term comeback.  It's the near-term comeback that Greenies should worry about. Energy guru Amory B. Lovins is promoting the whale oil line as he plugs his new book, "Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era."  Lovins has a big ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Doug Mohney

reinventing the rack/server relationship - by Doug Mohney

Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Oct 26 2011)

The next great advancement in green data centers may be reinventing the relationship between the humble rack and the servers and other equipment that go into it. Facebook has taken a first draft at this with its Open Compute Project Server (www.opencompute.org), redesigning servers with a clean sheet looking at the motherboard, power supply, chassis, rack, battery backup, and thermal solution.  Getting rid of most of the metal ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Facebook   Doug Mohney

Logicalis makes power of 8 for data centers - by Doug Mohney

Explore Views and Opinions on Green IT (Oct 19 2011)

IT/data center consultant/operator Logicalis has come out with eight (8) tips for conserving energy in the data center.  There's some interesting food for thought in all of the suggestions. Cooling containment is up first -- keep the hot air out or cold air in.  Logicalis suggests passive heat rejection cabinets, either installed new or retrofitting older cabinets with chimneys and rear cabinet enclosures in order to raise the ... (Read Full Article)

Comment Mentions:   Doug Mohney   Logicalis