{"id":15082,"date":"2012-11-13T08:55:45","date_gmt":"2012-11-13T14:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=15082"},"modified":"2012-11-13T08:55:45","modified_gmt":"2012-11-13T14:55:45","slug":"data-centers-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/data-centers-sustainability\/","title":{"rendered":"Data Centers: The Race for Sustainability"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Credit: jspaw<\/a> via photopin<\/a> cc<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The astronomical growth in computer data along with the migration to cloud computing technologies<\/a> has contributed to the proliferation of large data centers. These facilities consist of big buildings housing thousands of computer servers. Extensive power and cooling systems are required to run the facilities. The largest facilities process data for the likes of Google, Facebook and eBay.<\/p>\n

Historically, much of this data processing has been accomplished locally in corporate IT facilities. In recent years, many companies have outsourced IT infrastructure and software applications to cloud based service providers that run large data centers. The benefits to these companies include lower costs, increased flexibility and enhanced processing power.<\/p>\n

The number and size of these data centers will continue to grow at an astounding pace. Until now, this growth has been fueled by the aforementioned internet services along with the popularity of cloud based enterprise software products from companies like Salesforce, NetSuite and Workday. Now, large enterprise software providers such as Oracle and SAP are embracing cloud based solutions as well.<\/p>\n

Energy Consumption<\/h3>\n

Not surprisingly, these data centers consume enormous amounts of energy<\/a>. According to Jonathon Koomey of Stanford University, U.S. datacenters used about 76 billion kilowatt-hours or about 2% of U.S. electricity in 2010. Globally, the figure is estimated to be about 1.3%.<\/p>\n

This consumption has raised eyebrows and drawn scrutiny in the public arena. Much of the criticism surrounds the public\u2019s insatiable demand for computing power and the sheer size of the facilities rather than their energy efficiency. The reality is that by their very nature, these large centralized facilities are much more efficient than smaller, local facilities. A good analogy would be to compare the energy consumption of a bus to a car. The bus consumes more energy, but uses much less per passenger than the car.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, large service providers have heard the message loud and clear and are racing to increase energy efficiency at their data centers. These improvements are motivated by cost savings, corporate image and a genuine desire to save the planet.<\/p>\n

Most energy consumption at these facilities can be categorized as either facility related or computing related.<\/p>\n