Reap the Green IT benefits of thin client computing – TechRepublic.com

Cost efficiency: According to a study by IDC, users of thin clients (when compared to full PC users) saw a decline in hardware and software costs of 40% and saw a reduction in IT operations costs by 29%. IDC found that annual hardware procurement costs dropped from $475 for a PC-based desktop to $285 per thin client, and operating expense for support and maintenance dropped from $498 per PC to $354 per client. IDC also found that IT worker productivity shot up by 56%, due to less trouble calls and hardware repairs required for thin clients vs. PCs.

SSA data center to go green – FederalComputerWeek

Under the economic stimulus law, SSA will receive $500 million to replace the 30-year-old data center that houses the backbone of the agency’s operations. About $350 million is slated for the building, and $150 million will be used for IT upgrades at the data center. The entire project is expected to cost $800 million, including the building, power and cooling, IT hardware, and applications.

Dell Comes Up Roses in Corporate Sustainability Index – Environmental Leader

Dell has a habit of using its high marks on sustainability to encourage its competitors, including when it called out other PC makers for being slow to adopt computer recycling efforts. When HP pledged to double its renewable energy purchases, Dell called the move “a good first step.” Dell sources about 35 percent of its U.S. energy use from green power.

Greener By Design: How Intel and Frog Design Remade the Cash Register Kiosk – Reuters

Intel is a company that makes computer chips, not cash registers. So it was a leap into new territory when a team within Intel started developing a point-of-sale system after some quick research found they could cut the energy use of cash registers by 70 percent with just some repurposed computer chips.

Another Year for Thin Clients – ITBusinessEdge.com

For a really extreme solution, however, you should keep an eye on ASUS, which recently unveiled the prototype Eee Keyboard that contains an embedded PC using the Atom N270 processor and sporting a five-inch touchscreen/trackpad. The unit weighs in at 2 pounds and is expected to begin shipping by June with 32 GB SSD memory, Windows XP, 802.11n and HDMI-out. It’s probably not the best solution for all IT applications, but will probably provide a reasonable solution for many mundane tasks.