Putting my data center on a low carbon diet - IT’s ‘big boned’

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/168675/data-centre-managers-are-like-4×4-drivers.html

Data centre managers are as environmentally friendly as motorists who drive gas guzzlers through inner cities, according to Fujitsu Siemens.

The company claims data centres account for 12% of power consumption in the UK, which is “roughly the equivalent of six nuclear power stations,” according to head of sales strategy, Dave Pritchard.

“Data centre managers are a bit like the person driving a 4×4 through town,” he says.

Pritchard claims the average data centre is running at only a fifth of its capacity, with the majority operating at only 10-15%. He claims huge amounts of power are being wasted.

An interesting article and a debate that’s set to continue. Could we be more efficient in the data center, in the way that we provide the IT? Certainly, but this requires cross business support and investment. It needs buy in from the end users, the investors and our customers. It might not mean we need to change our business, but could mean changes in the way we deploy, manage and provide the IT service, simple things like does the end user really need a desktop or just a set of applications on a thin client. To grander projects like virtualization and consolidation of the servers, the network and storage systems, whether it’s Windows, Unix or Linux. Ultimately though, looking at the data center to which many business will find underpins their business will become increasingly important - the ability to deploy that new trading system which could generate significant revenue to your business is dependent on the space, power and cooling being available. What is doing what for whom and in which location becomes key - who’s got the most servers, uses the most power/space and how does that aid my business, if it doesn’t let’s consolidate/virtualize it.