With an increasing
amount of business being performed over complex computer networks, the need for
larger data centres is becoming more and more pronounced. One of the associated
problems with this increasing demand is the higher energy requirements needed
to continue operations and the higher energy bills faced as a consequence.
A number of businesses
are looking at new and increasingly radical ways of powering their data centres
and reducing the amount of expenditure being spent on energy. This has become a
particularly important issue as cloud technology begins to emerge as the
technological format of the future and a greater amount of information needs to
be stored in data centres.
Energy Consumption
Recent reports highlight
the fact that energy consumption by data centres and their server racks has increased by 63% over the
last year, putting them under financial pressure and raising concerns over how
environmentally friendly they are.
With this statistic in
danger of increasing in the future, it’s an element that industry insiders are
keen to tackle as soon as possible. This has been illustrated by recent moves
by Microsoft who are aiming to ensure their public image is not tarnished by
accusations of huge energy wastage at their data centres.
Statistics show that the
world consumes around 38 GW of power in data centres, a figure that has to
change in the future. Though the importance of such centres is expected to grow
as cloud technology becomes more and more popular, the actual energy consumed
is hoped to remain stable.
Tackling Wasted Energy
Experts have proposed a
number of measures that could pave the way for lower energy consumption in the
future. One of the most interesting ideas is the use of low energy ARM processors,
such as those found in the new Raspberry Pi devices. ARM processors are being
developed to run low energy servers that can be packed into high density data
centres – although they are a way off being able to power large server systems.
As they continue to develop and become more prevalent, with a larger
development base, they may be the technology that alters the way we store data
in the future.
Google have also given a
potential glimpse into the future with their recent decision to power an Oklahomadata centre with wind energy. This follows moves by the firm to improve their
green image through the use of other alternative energy sources. As more and
more companies come under fire for wasteful or poor environmental policies it
seems as if energy sources like wind power may become the preferred means of
keeping growing data centres running.
This will happen in one
of the two ways mentioned above. Either technology will be developed which runs
more efficiently and in a smaller space or cleaner sources of energy will be
used to power the centres.
If not, the industry
will either become unsustainable or tarnished by such a negative environmental
image. In an age that’s increasingly concerned with eco issues, this would lead
the overall industry to suffer financially – something which institutions are
unsurprisingly keen to avoid.
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