Green technology high on IT agenda

In the wake of global warming and concerns over environmental degradation, companies are integrating green agenda into their business models. The concept of Green-IT is awakening India Inc to IT’s responsibilities towards environment conservation.

More than 500 million computers became obsolete worldwide by the end of 2007, while energy consumption from data centers touched 123 kwh. “The concern is now to make IT infrastructure energy efficient,'' Suresh Menon, head, storage business, Dell India, observed at the IT conclave.

In a green data center, mechanical, lighting, electrical and computer systems are designed for maximum energy efficiency and minimum environmental impact. The construction and operation of a green data center involve advanced technologies and strategies.

Large data centers are one of the most significant energy consumers in an organisation's IT infrastructure. Following pressure from environmentalists, IT operations are ensuring the delivery of environmentally sound solutions.

He commented on the indifference of users and pointed out that power consumption wastage can be brought down from the current 60-70 per cent to 20-30 per cent by simply keeping systems switched off.

"The solution is to optimise energy utilisation, reduce desired emissions through reasonable strategy and reduce fossil fuel based electric use," pointed out Menon. Well designed and optimised racks of servers at green data centers can save up to 28,000 watts of energy per year and reduce CO2 emissions by up to 18 tones.

He stressed on 'the Lifecycle approach to green' that encourages steps towards energy efficiency at each level of company operations.

Simple methods such as cost reductions, better management and judicious planning can help the organisation in becoming eco-friendly.

There's a need to devise ways to increase component optimisation- in terms of design, software to monitor and implement operational policies, he added. Nearly 60 per cent energy is consumed for power delivery and cooling systems at the data centers in the country.

Source:infotech.indiatimes.com/