How Can We Save Money And The Environment With Our Servers?

In a world increasingly reliant on power-hungry complex carbon technology, the IT industry itself is initiating changes to reduce our impact on the environment – with data centres as the key driver.

As a supplier of robust data backup, effective disaster recovery and reliable internet connectivity , data centres are a solution that few modern companies could succeed without. However, we’re also a major cause of carbon emissions.

Today responsible data centres are recognising how the technology we store and run can be better manager, streamlined and consolidated; reducing our own carbon footprint and that of our clients.

One of the biggest challenges for businesses seeking to reduce their carbon footprint is the vast amount of power used my modern servers, which is often compounded by the ‘tradition’ of network and IT managers to purchase a new server for each job, often hosting just a single website.

Under utilisation by as much as 98% is commonplace. Virtualisation technology is considered to be the saviour to this area.

Technology such as VMWare, Xen or Microsoft’s Viridian allows network managers to consolidate power hungry servers into multiple ‘virtual servers’ hosted on one or more physical host servers – claiming up to 80% reductions in energy consumption.

Using this technology, it’s possible to make huge savings in terms of both money and the environment.
For the future of our planet, it’s up to data centres to ensure the right advice and green solutions are right there in clients’ doorsteps. And it’s up to businesses to consider their social and corporate responsibilities.
Working our exactly how much port you really need in your IT infrastructure is a good place to start.


This post was contributed to by the ZebraHosts team, owners of the first North-East datacentre and providers of hosting, co-location, connectivity and consultancy services.

This article was featured here on the 3rd November, 2008.