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Painting the business green
 Today’s
data center is infinitely greener than yesterday’s and tomorrow’s
will be better still. Any data center that’s being built starts with green
concepts baked in from the word go. Where it gets tougher is when you have to
retrofit an older set-up to be more energy-efficient. Efficiencies can be squeezed
out from everything including building management, cooling, the actual hardware,
software settings etc. In many ways, this is an activity that calls for continuous
improvement.
Beyond the confines of the data center, there’s scope for green tech in
printing where using an existing option such as duplex printing can make a substantial
difference as can forcing users to come to the device to pick up their printouts
by keying in a PIN. Putting PCs to sleep when they are not in use helps.
At the end of equipment’s life, there’s the question of how it is
disposed off. E-waste is knotty problem and manufacturers have to play a part
here as do the organizations themselves. Legislation is getting more stringent
in this area, even in India, and things should improve. Some manufacturers encourage
users to recycle equipment by offering vouchers to users who bring in old equipment.
Obviously, you need a holistic view of a business’ energy consumption if
you are to do something about it. The current crop of power systems are backed
up by software that can integrate with both IT management solutions as well
as building management systems to provide just that.
Vendors of enterprise software applications are starting to offer modules that
allow a business to calculate its carbon footprint. While these are early days
for the concept, it’s only a matter of time before these modules prove
as essential and popular as supply chain or HR modules are today.
Certification is one area where data center equipment is oddly unregulated.
If you look at consumer equipment, you have Energy Star ratings. Data center
equipment emerges unscathed however and that has to change. We need impartial,
neutral ratings for servers and storage that will allow IT heads to make a device’s
carbon footprint part of the purchase decision. PUE is all very fine, but it
doesn’t really give you a holistic picture of how green a business is.
Something more’s needed and here’s hoping we get it soon.
Prashant L. Rao
Editor
prashant.rao@expressindia.com
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