I saw one Green Data Centre Article in the Financial Times, but didn’t blog it, then 2 days later another, so it seemed worthwhile.

First one I saw was my Hitachi Data Systems’s Alec Selvon Bruce, saying Green Data Centres are an oxymoron.

Green data centres are an oxymoron; eco-friendly data centres are not

By Alec Selvon Bruce of Hitachi Data Systems UK

Published: October 8 2008 17:00 | Last updated: October 8 2008 17:00

Two of the US’s largest online businesses recently relocated their data centres close to a hydroelectric dam. After employees, their largest operating cost was electricity.

The move towards what are eco-friendly data centres that draw on renewable energy resources is expected to reduce power consumption dramatically and save considerable sums of money. In the UK, the average cost of running a data centre is about £5.3m a year. This is predicted to double to £11m within five years, according to the BroadGroup consultancy. One of the main reasons is the spiralling cost of power.

Gartner, the IT industry analysts, have pointed out that IT managers are running out of the power required to run their data centres. Illustrating this, new data centres and expansion of existing facilities in the City of London has been blocked. Companies are restricted from adding more computing equipment because the required power is not immediately available. Energy suppliers are attributing this to the need to prepare for the surge in demand that the 2012 Olympics will bring.

I am going to London in November for Data Center Dynamics London event, and found this point interesting.

The UK government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has acknowledged the deleterious impact of surging power consumption. It currently estimates that the IT industry accounts for 4 per cent of UK CO2 emissions. In the next two years, this is set to grow by 180 per cent. In a bid to head off the damaging consequences a raft of new standards are emerging to inform best practice energy-efficient data centre design.

And, Alec goes on to discuss PUE.

Power usage efficiency (PUE) is a metric used to measure the energy efficiency of a data centre. Most data centres are currently running at a PUE of 3.0 which means if a server demands 500 watts then the power from the utility grid needed to deliver the 500 watts to the server is three times that amount, or 1500 watts. This figure alone illustrates the enormous energy consumption of data centres, relative to their output. Most new data centres today are targeting a PUE of 1.7, but a PUE of 1.6 is certainly achievable and there are some data centres under construction aiming for even lower PUEs.

PUEs are important because they also provide clients who use hosted data centre services with an indication of energy consumption. In the near future, they will be used by potential clients as a deciding factor as to which data centre service to use.

Second one, says it’s not easy to be green, but not impossible by Mark Nutt, managing consultant with Morse.

It’s not easy being green – but it’s far from impossible

By Mark Nutt, managing consultant with Morse

Published: October 10 2008 17:25 | Last updated: October 10 2008 17:25

As new “green IT” products are released every day, many businesses feel they are being told that the only route to green IT is to discard all existing equipment and replace it, even if it still works perfectly.

Ripping and replacing a whole data centre is far from environmentally friendly, thanks to the costs in producing new hardware and disposing of used equipment. It also discourages organisations from making green IT a priority; a recent Vanson Bourne survey found that 53 per cent of businesses thought greening the data centre was too expensive for them to contemplate.

Mark goes on with some good overview for those new to Greening a  Data Center. One of Mark’s best points in towards the end of the article.

Finally, becoming green must be part of the overall IT strategy, with defined targets put in place to reduce energy consumption underpinned by fundamental changes to IT’s operating model. In order for targets to be set, businesses must know how much energy the data centre is currently using and then set a reduction target to be reached.

This knowledge is both the greatest opportunity and simultaneously the greatest obstacle to IT departments. Currently, a mere 11 per cent of organisations know how much energy their IT department uses, while only 24 per cent have set targets to reduce this. Without knowing how much energy is used, there is no way of knowing whether any form of “green” initiative will be successful.

As well as setting energy use targets, businesses also need to change the way devices such as servers and storage are purchased, by moving towards a service-orientated approach to IT. Instead of allowing departments to purchase hardware whenever they wish, the IT department should allocate them the resources needed from a central pool. This way IT maintains control over the infrastructure, allowing it to maximise the utilisation of each device while preventing other departments from falling victim to a “newest and best” syndrome.

I saw one Green Data Centre Article in the Financial Times, but didn’t blog it, then 2 days later another, so it seemed worthwhile.

First one I saw was my Hitachi Data Systems’s Alec Selvon Bruce, saying Green Data Centres are an oxymoron.

Green data centres are an oxymoron; eco-friendly data centres are not

By Alec Selvon Bruce of Hitachi Data Systems UK

Published: October 8 2008 17:00 | Last updated: October 8 2008 17:00

Two of the US’s largest online businesses recently relocated their data centres close to a hydroelectric dam. After employees, their largest operating cost was electricity.

The move towards what are eco-friendly data centres that draw on renewable energy resources is expected to reduce power consumption dramatically and save considerable sums of money. In the UK, the average cost of running a data centre is about £5.3m a year. This is predicted to double to £11m within five years, according to the BroadGroup consultancy. One of the main reasons is the spiralling cost of power.

Gartner, the IT industry analysts, have pointed out that IT managers are running out of the power required to run their data centres. Illustrating this, new data centres and expansion of existing facilities in the City of London has been blocked. Companies are restricted from adding more computing equipment because the required power is not immediately available. Energy suppliers are attributing this to the need to prepare for the surge in demand that the 2012 Olympics will bring.

I am going to London in November for Data Center Dynamics London event, and found this point interesting.

The UK government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has acknowledged the deleterious impact of surging power consumption. It currently estimates that the IT industry accounts for 4 per cent of UK CO2 emissions. In the next two years, this is set to grow by 180 per cent. In a bid to head off the damaging consequences a raft of new standards are emerging to inform best practice energy-efficient data centre design.

And, Alec goes on to discuss PUE.

Power usage efficiency (PUE) is a metric used to measure the energy efficiency of a data centre. Most data centres are currently running at a PUE of 3.0 which means if a server demands 500 watts then the power from the utility grid needed to deliver the 500 watts to the server is three times that amount, or 1500 watts. This figure alone illustrates the enormous energy consumption of data centres, relative to their output. Most new data centres today are targeting a PUE of 1.7, but a PUE of 1.6 is certainly achievable and there are some data centres under construction aiming for even lower PUEs.

PUEs are important because they also provide clients who use hosted data centre services with an indication of energy consumption. In the near future, they will be used by potential clients as a deciding factor as to which data centre service to use.

Second one, says it’s not easy to be green, but not impossible by Mark Nutt, managing consultant with Morse.

It’s not easy being green – but it’s far from impossible

By Mark Nutt, managing consultant with Morse

Published: October 10 2008 17:25 | Last updated: October 10 2008 17:25

As new “green IT” products are released every day, many businesses feel they are being told that the only route to green IT is to discard all existing equipment and replace it, even if it still works perfectly.

Ripping and replacing a whole data centre is far from environmentally friendly, thanks to the costs in producing new hardware and disposing of used equipment. It also discourages organisations from making green IT a priority; a recent Vanson Bourne survey found that 53 per cent of businesses thought greening the data centre was too expensive for them to contemplate.

Mark goes on with some good overview for those new to Greening a  Data Center. One of Mark’s best points in towards the end of the article.

Finally, becoming green must be part of the overall IT strategy, with defined targets put in place to reduce energy consumption underpinned by fundamental changes to IT’s operating model. In order for targets to be set, businesses must know how much energy the data centre is currently using and then set a reduction target to be reached.

This knowledge is both the greatest opportunity and simultaneously the greatest obstacle to IT departments. Currently, a mere 11 per cent of organisations know how much energy their IT department uses, while only 24 per cent have set targets to reduce this. Without knowing how much energy is used, there is no way of knowing whether any form of “green” initiative will be successful.

As well as setting energy use targets, businesses also need to change the way devices such as servers and storage are purchased, by moving towards a service-orientated approach to IT. Instead of allowing departments to purchase hardware whenever they wish, the IT department should allocate them the resources needed from a central pool. This way IT maintains control over the infrastructure, allowing it to maximise the utilisation of each device while preventing other departments from falling victim to a “newest and best” syndrome.

This weekend is The Game for U of Texas (5) vs. Oklahoma (1). Millions of people are watching the football game this weekend, focusing on who is #1.

It turns out Texas has their own campus sustainability initiative, and their CIO launched their Green IT efforts this year. It may be considered late compared to others, but I place bets it will have a faster adoption than most enterprises.

Launch of Green IT@UT Initiative Supports Sustainability on Campus

"Green information technology is key to ensuring that The University of Texas at Austin achieves the goal of advancing environmental stewardship and sustainability here at our university,” says Brian Roberts, CIO and Vice President for Information Technology. Recently, Roberts added Green IT to the list of priorities for his office and announced the launch of a Green IT@UT initiative. The initiative promotes green IT products and services across campus and will help Information Technology Services (ITS) grow greener as an organization.

Steps Toward Sustainability -Now

The focus on "green”, particularly Green IT, is increasingly making headlines.  While achieving sustainability is a long term commitment, it’s important to know what steps can make a difference right here, right now.

With the start of the new academic year, ITS begins a year-long awareness campaign designed to help everyone on campus – from students to system administrators to staff in the President’s office – have the information they need to be “green” when it comes to computing.  Here’s a quick look at a number of green services and options offered by ITS that can help save power and paper, and reduce your carbon footprint.

Specific areas where they are using technology for students are:

Use Blackboard, WebSpace, and SharePoint to share and collaborate on electronic documents. The paper and costs you save by not printing can be significant. You can use these tools in the following ways:

• Blackboard allows faculty members to share electronic syllabi, class presentations and class readings with students. In turn, students can submit their class assignments electronically. No paper or ink will be used at all!
• WebSpace allows anyone in the university community and beyond to collaborate on electronic documents, in addition to storing files. It is also certified as safe for storing and sharing Category-I data.
• SharePoint is another tool that allows anyone with a UT EID to share and collaborate online.  Many office teams on campus have found SharePoint a useful tool in keeping projects on track and team members informed. It is also certified as safe for storing and sharing Category-I data.

For offices and departments that print reports from the mainframe, Green Printing is a sustainable alternative. It can radically reduce paper consumption by printing reports to files instead of using reams of paper. Electronic delivery also saves on energy consumption and time.

ITS offers a Hard Drive Destruction service for recycling e-waste. Through a contract with an Austin-based company, ITS destroys media with sensitive (Category-I) data, and ensures that the byproducts are completely recycled thanks to the vendor’s “zero waste” policy. “Zero waste” means all media – even hazardous waste – is recycled according to EPA guidelines.

Reducing Travel and Virtualization are part of their efforts as well.

Reducing the Effects of Travel

Every day, members of the campus community contribute to the university’s carbon footprint by traveling within Austin and around the world. Making thoughtful decisions about how and when you travel can significantly reduce your carbon footprint or impact the amount of greenhouse gasses produced.
ITS offers several options that may help you travel less and reduce your carbon footprint.

• Use the Virtual Private Network (VPN) to connect to the campus network when you are working from home. With the VPN, it’s like you’re at your desk or in the library – you can connect to a mapped drive or personal folder on the campus network.
• Set up a teleconference or videoconference when you need to meet with colleagues at Pickle Research Campus (PRC), across the country, or around the world. Remember driving or flying to meet in person is not your only option; you can save wear-and-tear on yourself and the planet by using technology to cover the distance between you and your colleagues.

As you think about ways to reduce your carbon footprint, keep these facts in mind:

• For every mile driven, your car produces approximately 1 pound of carbon dioxide (CO2). If you carpool, your car still produces 1 pound of CO2 per mile, but every person in the car now shares that 1 pound of CO2 per mile.
• Air travel produces about 0.6 pounds of CO2 per person per mile flown. Videoconferencing produces far less.

Saving Power and Space

If you or your department are interested in conserving power and space, ITS provides several virtual services to consider:

• Virtual Hosting – for hosting Web sites.
• Virtual Servers – for creating any type of virtual machine.

Why go through all this effort?

Green IT@UT is an initiative that commits ITS and the larger campus IT community to new standards of organizational and personal stewardship. This effort goes beyond mere compliance with environmental laws and regulations. Green IT@UT provides a framework for sustainable decision-making; promotes green IT products, services and best practices; and focuses on campus partnerships that maximize the efficiency of operations and services while minimizing the university’s wastes and environmental footprint.

“Hook ‘em Horns”

The Economist has an article on the Paperless Office, and its coming.

The paperless office

On its way, at last

Oct 9th 2008 | SAN FRANCISCO
From The Economist print edition

No longer a joke, the “paperless” office is getting closer

STEPHANIE BREEDLOVE and her husband founded Breedlove & Associates 16 years ago to help families who (legally) hire a nanny with the crushing burden of paperwork that this entails. There are pay stubs to be sent, federal and state tax returns to be filed, pay schedules to be updated and other trails of exceedingly boring paper. Much of the firm’s small office in Austin, Texas, is taken up by 100 paper-filled filing cabinets. An office manager spends 25 hours a week shuffling paper between desks and drawers. At peak times, says Ms Breedlove, the office becomes “a sea of paper,” with colour-coded stacks on conference tables, floors and chairs.

And, part of this change is the arrival of young workers into the work force who are used to a paperless lifestyle.

“It’s a generational thing,” says Greg Gibson, in charge of North American office paper at International Paper (IP), the world’s largest paper-maker. Older people still prefer a hard copy of most things, but younger workers are increasingly comfortable reading on screens and storing and retrieving information on computers or online. As a result, IP has closed five uncoated-freesheet mills in America in the past decade, and the industry is consolidating. IP is investing instead in poor countries, where demand is still growing.

As new generations of office workers leave university—where their class notes and syllabuses are online these days—they take their habits with them. They like digital information because it reduces clutter. It can be “tagged” and thus filed into many folders instead of just one physical file. It can be searched by keyword. It can be cut, pasted and remixed. It allows for easier collaboration, through features such as “track changes”. It can be shared across an ocean as easily as across a desk. Increasingly, it resides in the internet “cloud” and can be accessed from anywhere, not just in the office. By contrast, paper tends to get torn, stained, burnt, soaked and lost.

Myself, I admit to being a print guy. I spent many years working as a program manager on TrueType for Apple and Microsoft, but in moment of insight, I too realized that screen was the answer. Which is a story I've been meaning to tell in a style of Paul Harvey's "the rest of the story".  I've bought my Amazon Kindle and read ebooks.

The paperless office will mean bigger data centers and more storage, but this is better than the environmental impact of pulp mills.

If you are into data centers you think about electricity more than your friends unless their also into data centers.

MSNBC.com has a an article discussing History's Channel premiering show about Tesla.

History reveals: Tesla totally awesome!

Bre Pettis reverse-engineers ‘the man who invented the 20th century’

courtesy Bre Pettis

Host Bre Pettis and his Tesla coil on the set of his show "History Hacker."

By Helen A.S. Popkin

MSNBC

updated 6:05 a.m. PT, Fri., Sept. 26, 2008

Helen A.S. Popkin

Circuit-bending YouTube star Bre Pettis doesn’t want you to know that before making his History Channel pilot, he hadn’t seen “The Prestige.”

It’s not that he purposely failed to catch Chris Nolan’s 2006 adaptation of the steam punk novel about rival magicians starring Batman (Christian Bale) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman).

It seems Pettis never got around to it. And by the time he started putting together “History Hacker,” premiering tonight at 8 and 11 p.m., it was too late.

Set your DVR.