Template:Greener Sep-07

From Lauraibm

Full article: Tech Companies are Greener, but are they Green Enough? (12-Sep-07)

But it's a lot easier to put out a news release than to build a data centre with a significantly smaller environmental footprint. Depending on the configuration and the equipment involved, as little as 30 to 40 percent of the juice flowing into a data center is used to run computers. Most of the rest goes to keeping the hardware cool, since heat saps performance. Unlike in other office space, that A/C cranks year-round, to overcome the 100-degree (38 Celsius)-plus air that the computers themselves throw off. That challenge has increased in recent years with the rise of compact "blade" servers that are crammed into server racks. This is why big data centres can devour several megawatts of power, enough for a small city.