IBM has developed a standard approach to
measuring datacentre energy efficiency which the company says
will help IT managers reduce the environmental impact of business
computing.
IBM Data Center Energy Efficiency Assessment uses a new standard
metric to rate the energy efficiency of the datacentre, and
presents a plan for businesses to increase their efficiency, IBM
said.
Although backing the effort to create greener computing systems,
IT managers have
complained there was a lack of standards to measuring energy
efficiency of their systems to achieve effective comparison
with other businesses.
Mike Daniels, senior vice-president, IBM Global Technology
Services said, “Many datacentres have now reached full capacity,
limiting a firm’s ability to grow and make necessary capital
investments. Today we are providing clients the IBM action plan to
make their datacentres fully utilised and energy efficient.”
According to Forrester Research technology suppliers are putting
significant resources into burnishing their green credentials. They
are investing in and starting to promote low-impact manufacturing;
energy efficiency; and responsible, end-of-life disposal for IT
devices and systems.
Meanwhile, a new report by Forrester Research says that despite
a growing awareness that environmental concerns will impact their
future IT operations, the vast majority of large companies have yet
to build “green IT” requirements into how they buy and use
technology.
Its
survey of 124 IT operations and procurement
professionals in North America and Europe found that while
85 percent said environmental factors were important in planning
IT operations, only one-quarter said they have written green
criteria into their company’s purchasing processes.
Under its Project Big Green initiative, IBM has promised to
spend £500m a year across its businesses. It will spend on five
main areas: diagnosing problems with energy efficiency, building
new centres which are more efficient, virtualizing systems,
improved systems management and developing better cooling
technologies.
Among the projects IBM is running as part of project Big Green
is the use of virtual worlds to explore virtual 3-D power
management of datacentres, resulting in more efficient energy
use.
IBM has developed new Data Center Stored Cooling
Solution service product, a patented system relying on
liquid, rather than air cooling. Implemented at an IBM
datacentre in Quebec, it achieved 45%, the company said.
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Tony Collins'
IT projects blog >>
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