Having a green approach to IT means two things. It is creating efficiency in energy consumption and resources. Taking care of our Earth’s resources has been a large focus on many levels.
Obviously, the less you plug in, the less energy is used. Energy efficiency has improved thanks to the cloud. Yes, again the cloud is the buzz word. The cloud offers so much value to a business owner and the environment alike. Running a business in the cloud is cost effective; allowing you to pay for what you need when you need it. Cost savings appear in many ways, but for the focus of this post, we will highlight the energy efficiency aspect. When a business puts its server(s) in the cloud, they are no longer plugged in at your office or warehouse. Your direct energy usage and costs go down. It is estimated that for every $1 spent on a server, it could cost $1 for power and cooling. Datacenters host your server(s) that you put in the cloud. Many datacenters are also making efforts with energy efficiency. Some are turning to natural gas, solar and/or wind power as a resource. Efficient natural gas powered generators or backup generators are being put onsite. An underground natural gas line is the least likely abundant fuel source to be damaged in the event of a weather related disaster. There is also the idea of raising temps inside a datacenter (even 5 degrees) to decrease the energy being used. When JR Vision started in datacenters 17 years ago, it was commonplace to keep your datacenter temperature at 68 degrees; but now, some datacenters are keeping temperatures as high as 78 degrees. Datacenters are also being designed with more efforts to keep a consistent temperature surrounding the hardware. The rows of racks now house the hardware to have the fronts face each other. The cool air is forced into each aisle, pulled into the racks at the front of the hardware, and the warmed air is pulled up to the ceiling. More energy efficient fans are better controlling the air flow and keeping a more consistent temperature throughout.
Resource efficiency is possible with the use of server virtualization. Virtualization is a technology that came about in the 1960’s; however, it is more recently being used for servers. It allows one physical server to run many concurrently. Less equipment is needed to run workloads. Typically a business runs a set up putting different applications on separate servers (as it is easier to identify/ fix problems and set security), but server virtualization allows that same set up but only using one machine hosted at a data center. That one main server hosted at a data center can actually be used for multiple businesses. While these businesses may share physical hardware, they are separated in every other way. Their data and even network traffic are kept completely separate. Each virtual server still has its own operating system and configuration. Multiple companies sharing the same physical hardware really exemplifies efficiency in resources and energy. Virtualization reduces the total physical server footprint without sacrificing growing IT demands.
Sharing computing resources is a more efficient use of computer hardware. Because of this, many servers and even work stations are seeing a longer life span because they are no longer tied to physical hardware. This means fewer computers are being disposed of; less e-waste.
Green is possible for your business through JR Vision’s cloud hosting services.
