Results tagged “Green IT”

A green PC is the sum of its parts. Credit: bit-tech.net

A "green" PC isn't really energy efficient if it consumes less electricity at the expense of performance. That's the subject of bit-tech.net's excellent article that tackles the green claims often made by PC component makers. By pitting various PC parts against one another, Richard Swinburne draws up a pretty good picture of how to balance energy savings without sacrificing computational power.

Take, for instance, hard drives vs. SSDs.

Surprisingly, the SSD doesn't save us that much power either - just 2 - 3W again on top of the 5,400 - 5,900RPM drives at idle and when writing, however compared to the performance drives from Seagate and Western Digital the difference is a more considerable 7W per drive. You're unlikely to have many SSDs unless you're in enterprise storage, where 7W a pop (or more for 10 - 15k SAS drives) means power savings abound.

Beyond storage, a lot also hinges on the type of processor (AMD or Intel), memory, power supply and motherboard. Selecting the wrong one can not only blow the efficiency gains of the rest, but also fail to deliver the performance boost you'd expect by pumping more electricity through them. And vice versa.

It goes to show that an energy efficient -- yet very capable -- rig is truly the sum of its parts.

Interesting data from Global Industry Analysts today. According to the research firm, electronic medical records (EMR) will comprise a $5.4 billion market in North America by 2015. In Europe, that number is $1.4 billion.

Why does it matter? Obviously, updating hospitals and healthcare concerns to handle the data will be an IT-intensive effort, which might also prove to be a boon for SaaS providers and cloud computing firms that already know (or should know) a thing or two about running energy efficient data centers. The best part? Hospitals and doctor's offices stand to save a ton on paper, not just buying it, but also filing it, storing it, and eventually disposing of it.

According to the press release, below are some of the firms to watch for as the market racks up those billions. (Note the healthy sprinkling of IT companies.)

Key players profiled in the report include Agfa-Gevaert Ltd, Ascribe plc, Cambio Healthcare Systems, Cerner Corporation, CompuGROUP HOLDING AG, Computer Programs and Systems, Inc, EBIT AET S.p.A., Eclipsys Corporation, Egton Medical Information Systems Limited, Epic Systems Corporation, GE Healthcare, Hewlett Packard Company, IBA Health (Europe) Ltd, IMS MAXIMS plc, Indra Sistemas SA, iSoft Group plc, McKesson Corporation, MDS Medical Software, MedPlus, Inc, Medical Information Technology, Inc, Medasys SA, Nexus AG, Noemalife SpA, Profdoc AB, QuadraMed Corporation, SAP (UK) Limited, Siemens Medical Solutions GSD GmbH, and System C Healthcare plc, among others.

It will be interesting to see if the estimates change if and when healthcare legislation wends its way through Congress and whether records portability finally takes off.

Image Credit: Flickr user virtualis - CC

As CES unfolds this week, Steve Ballmer has some thoughts to share on, what else, but technology. Over at the Huffington Post, Ballmer discusses how IT can improve and reduce waste in healthcare and help turn the tide on climate change. First, his thoughts on healthcare IT.

...we are developing the capabilities to provide remote-monitoring for patients with chronic diseases that need daily management and provide health care to people who live in remote locations beyond the reach of the nearest doctor or clinic. In every area I think you will see computing deliver greater efficiency to medicine at a time when the number one issue we face in health care is keeping quality high while reducing costs.

And as for Green IT...

And as we add more computing capability to automate our homes we also need to ensure that we improve the efficiency of PCs. At Microsoft, we have built new energy saving software features into our Windows 7 operating system. If fully implemented the software would cut the power consumption of PCs by over 30 percent worldwide. On a billion PCs globally, that's a lot of savings.

Read the rest of his thoughts here.

via @Microsoft_Green

An interesting story out of Yonkers, N.Y.

Students from Polytechnic Institute of New York University performed a little before-and-after analysis of Hudson Valley Bank's efforts at improving energy efficiency at its data center. All told, the bank was able to cut power consumption by half, certainly a feat worthy of some kudos.

For banks looking to improve the bottom line by cutting power bills -- or any other business for that matter -- the real takeaway from the Bank Technology News article is that green IT is creeping into the coursework and curriculum of some schools, and it could mean that the workforce will soon be joined by graduates with some much sought after credentials.

Some of the schools offering programs include the Howe School of Technology Management at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J. (my home state!) and Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, Neb. As I've written about at GigaOM Pro (sub req'd), execs with experience in designing and/or operating energy efficient data centers are making some pretty big carrier moves at some big tech companies. Having a green IT cert on your resume is a nice way to get a hiring manager's attention and build some momentum in your own career.

Cherrypal Africa Netbook Offers Green Computing for $99 - eWeek

The $99 netbook is geared toward developing networks and called the Cherrypal Africa, a tribute, the company said, to its "recent community-building initiative in Ghana." The 7-incher features a 400MHz processor, 256GB of RAM and 2GB of flash memory and can run Windows CE or Linux operating systems.

Citrix Debuts Disaster Recovery App - PCWorld

Citrix has released version 5.5 of its Citrix Essentials for Microsoft Hyper-V, a suite of tools for managing virtual containers created with the Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization software.

How Microsoft keeps its cloud green - GreenTech Pastures - ZDNet

The Microsoft Global Foundation Services team -- that would be the division that runs the data center powering Bing, Hotmail, Microsoft Office SharePoint Online and Xbox Live -- has published a new white paper describing how it keeps server sprawl and the associated suck on energy efficiency from creeping into its operations.

Cisco uses 3D modeling tool to achieve big data center energy cost savings - DatacenterDynamics

Technology giant Cisco is standing by the data center simulation tool it has used to design the air flow system in the data center housed at its San Jose, Calif., campus. According to the tool's manufacturer, the product enabled the customer to save more than $100,000 per year in energy costs generated by the facility.

Dell Executive: Virtualization Not Worth it for Most SMBs - ITBusinessEdge

In a nutshell, many of the "traditional" advantages such as space and power savings simply aren't noticeable by a small business with a motley assortment of two to five servers. Unless the servers are old and in dire need of replacement anyway, the amount of money required to get virtualization in place might never yield a ROI.

Two Major Geothermal Projects Abandoned Due to Induced Quake Risk - Popular Science

Two high-profile geothermal projects in the U.S. and Europe were both permanently halted late last week, after federal officials in both countries questioned their safety and propensity to cause earthquakes. Projects in Basel, Switzerland, and in northern California were both abandoned, raising questions about the danger of purposefully cracking open the Earth to extract its heat.

Borders and Kobo join forces for e-reader device they can call their own - Engadget

Fashionably late to the e-book handheld party, Borders and Kobo announced today a partnership that includes plans to develop and release both an e-reader and e-book service. Mum's the official word on hardware, but The New York Times Bits blog is claiming there'll be "more than one version" released, all with wireless connectivity and all sold at Borders retail locations, naturally.

EvoSwitch Facility Ups Energy Savings Rate to 50 Percent - Web Host Industry Review

European data center operator EvoSwitch (www.evoswitch.com) announced on Tuesday it has lowered the average Power Usage Effectiveness of its data center from 1.6 in 2008 to 1.5 in 2009.

As a result, the data center has increased its energy savings from 40 to 50 percent when compared to a conventional data center.

A-Data and SandForce Announce SSD Development Partnership - Softpedia

The two will be collaborating on a broad-scale basis. A-Data will build its next product lineup integrating SandForce-Based solid state drives and the latter's SF-1500 and SF-1200 SSD processors will be embedded into A-Data's storage units, giving them the performance capabilities needed to meet the demands of cloud computing environments. Next year, the two will focus on multiple interface connectivity and industrial solutions.

IDC: APac IT users can help reduce CO2 emission - InfoWorld

Having recently released its IDC's G20 ICT Sustainability Index, the research house said that a total of 5.8 billion tons (Gigatons) of CO2 emissions can be eliminated through the focused use of ICT-based tools by 2020, said IDC Monday.

Plus, don't forget more fresh-off-the-Web Green IT links at GigaOM Pro.

It's back! Enjoy today's juicy selections:

Black Friday 50 Times More Carbon-Intensive Than Cyber Monday - Earth2Tech

According to a report from GigaOM Pro research partner MindClick SGM (subscription required), in-store shopping on Black Friday is 50 times more carbon-intensive than Cyber Monday's online shopping. The report suggests that the higher carbon emissions of in-store holiday shopping are largely a result of the store's infrastructure, as well as transportation to and from the store.

Energy-Saving LED Traffic Lights Potentially Dangerous in Snow Storms - Treehugger

LED traffic lights have many advantages over incandescent technology: They last a lot longer and require less maintenance, they use a fraction of the electricity, reducing the city's power bills, and they are arguably easier to see (at least that has been my experience). But their high energy efficiency can go from upside to downside during certain types of snow storms; if snow somehow ends up covering the lights (heavy sticky snow being blown sideway by heavy wind, for example), LEDs don't emit enough heat to melt it down.

Sony Ericsson Announces 'Green' Phones and Headset - Sci-Tech Today

The phones are the Hazel and the Elm, and the accessory is the Noise Shield Handsfree VH700. The green claim stems largely from the reduction in CO2 emissions. The GreenHeart strategy was announced in June, and, according to Sony Ericsson, is "a testament of our continued commitment to the environment" and to helping customers reduce their carbon footprint.

DOE's Chu kicks off green-tech transfer fund - CNET Green Tech

Called the Renewables and Efficiency Deployment Initiative (Climate REDI), the goal is to promote the use of efficient and renewable energy products to cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve the quality of life in poor countries, according to the DOE.

Many IT shops budget for server, virtual desktop projects in 2010 - TechTarget

IT market-analysis firms predict a spending upswing. Gartner Inc. predicts a 3.3% increase in IT spending in 2010 following one of the worst years in IT spending history. And according to a recent survey by TheInfoPro, a New York-based research firm, IT budgets include optimization projects and a refresh of infrastructure components that support virtualization.

Plus, don't forget more fresh-off-the-Web Green IT links at GigaOM Pro.

By now you've heard of the poor fellow that got canned because he ran SETI@home on his school district's computers. Part of the reason: the $1.2 to $1.6 million in electricity and associated costs.

This case brings up an interesting point. Will IT's newfound fondness for energy efficiency put a crimp on these projects?

Even if searching for ET is not your cup o' tea, there are other worthwhile projects like as Folding@home that are using the distributed computing model to help unravel the causes of some serious diseases like cancer and AIDS. And don't forget the other areas of research (climate data, cryptography...) that can benefit from distributed computing platforms like BOINC.

Like Paul Mah mentions in his article at FierceCIO, modern CPUs have throttling capabilities that allows them to tackle workloads without going full-bore. But is that enough? Personally, I've been shutting off my PCs or letting them slip into sleep mode. It's been a years since I've contributed meaningfully to such projects because my guilt over leaving my PC on has been too great.

What about you? Are distributed computing projects and Green IT incompatible?

Remember that delegation Microsoft is sending to COP15? A new post on the Software Enabled Earth blog has details on where you can meet Microsoft representatives. Naturally, you'll need UNFCCC accreditation (basically, you'll need official credentials) but here's a couple of the events where you'll find the software giant in attendance.

Thursday, Dec. 10 - ICT role in Climate Change (13:00 - 14:00 at the Bella Center - ITU iSeeT@theClimateChangeKiosk)

Friday, Dec. 11 - Fact or Fiction: Information technology can help solve climate change (15:00 - 16:30 at Bella Center - Climate Consortium stand)

Saturday, Dec. 13 - Microsoft at Bright Green (10:00 - 18:00 at Bright Green - Forum, stand number 200)

That's just a sampling, however. Find the full schedule here.

In what appears to be a response to this tweet from Greenpeace, Microsoft's Chief Environmental Strategist, Rob Bernard, posted on the Microsoft on the Issues blog about the company's plans for the UN Climate Change Conference next week.

Microsoft is sending a delegation, including Mr. Bernard, to Copenhagen in support of the conference. Beyond that, the company pledges to do its part to guide computing onto a sustainable course and get behind public policy that leverages IT to solve climate issues.

Here's a snippet:

Microsoft believes climate change is a serious issue that demands immediate, worldwide attention, and we are acting accordingly. We are pursuing strategies and taking actions that demonstrate our strong commitment to reduce our own environmental impact and the impact of our products.  We have adopted a broad policy statement on climate change that expresses support for government action to create emissions reduction frameworks to address climate change. While world leaders have indicated they won't reach a final agreement in Copenhagen, COP15 and subsequent climate negotiations are important opportunities to advance these frameworks on a global scale.

Read the rest here.