Green IT Practices

Steps taken by businesses to reduceenvironmental impact of their IT infrastructure.

2 Ways IT harms the environment

1. Consuming electricity

- Servers, computers, data center cooling equipment consume a lot of electricity

- Generating that electricity produces pollution

2 Ways IT harms the environment

2. Equipment disposal

- Computer equipment contain toxic materials

- Those materials harm the environment when dumped into landfills.

Solutions must address 4 paths

1. Green use

2. Green Disposal

3. Green Design

4. Green Manufacturing

Practices

- Turn off computers when not in use

- However, this process is a big hassle for large companies.

Practices

Solution:

Use IT energy management Software

- Turn off computers when not in use

- Automatically awake them for software updates and back-up.

Misconception

- Turning computers on and off reduces their life

- Life span of a computer depends on : Operational time, Temperature

Data Centers

Rise of internet and web application leading to rapid growth of data centers

1) Lot of energy consumption

2) Cooling equipment accounts for most of the energy used.

3 measures to green Data centers

1) Energy Conservation

Cooling systems consume lots of energy

New technologies: - Liquid cooling - Nano-fluid cooling system - In server, in rack, and in row cooling

3 measures to green Data centers

2) Eco-friendly design

- Energy efficient windows, skylights, skytubes

- Carpet that contains low volatile organic compound

- Tax incentives for green-design

3 measures to green Data centers

3) Virtualization

Key strategy to reduce data center energy use

- Few powerful servers which can host virtual servers.

Unwanted computers

1) Reuse

- Using computers for longer period of time reduces environment impact caused by computer manufacturing

Unwanted computers

2) Refurbish

- Companies can upgrade their old computers and servers to meet new requirements

- Growing market for refurbished IT equipment

Unwanted computers

3) Recycle

- Throwing away IT equipment creates e-waste. - Toxic materials in that waste harms the environment.

Designing Green Computers

- Manufacturers trying to reduce environmental impact by using new techniques and materials.

- Making green PC’s using non-toxic materials

3 Strategies

1) Tactical Incremental Approach

- Preserves existing infrastructure

- Takes small measures to achieve their green goals.

3 Strategies

2) Strategic Approach

- Company develops a comprehensive plan to address green IT issues.

- Example:- Deploying new environmentally friendly computing system

3 Strategies

3) Deep Green Approach

- Adopting additional measures such as : Planting trees Buying carbon credits Using solar and wind energy

Benefits of Green IT

- Lower energy cost

- More customers demanding Green IT products

- Competitive edge

Information

1) www.greencomputing.com

2) www.greenbiz.com

3) www.cio.com