Some questions about....Green & Energy Efficent ICT

[JonnyAcousti]

Hey Guys,

 

I am looking at 'Green' and energy efficient ICT networks.

 

I have a few questions I want to ask you all! Please answer honestly and PM the answers to me if you want to help anonymously.

 

 

1) When asked I'm sure everyone says that they agree with 'green' computing. But the last time you took on an IT project, can you remember consciously including the energy efficiency factor into your analysis or was it a case of..."thats what I need so I'll buy it"?

 

2) Green and Eco friendly systems benefit for two reasons - most obviously they will minimise impact on the environment but also as a by-product they will save money by using less electricity etc. Of these two, which is more appealing: a) the kudos and good publicity that comes with being able to claim that your organsation is ecologically aware and taking steps to minimise their carbon footprint or b) it comes down to the bottom line that you will be spending less on overheads - anything else is a bonus.

 

3) When was the last time you looked at your ICT to see how you could minimise ineffciencies and reduce wastage? I include things like encouraging staff to turn off monitors at night etc but I also mean in terms of the hardware that is used and they way the network itself is designed.

 

4) With government cuts in spending budgets, has this made you A) look for more cost effective ways of running your ICT or B) batten down the hatches and wait until more funds are available before a review is affordable.

 

5) Any other views, opinions or experience of implementing more energy efficient ICT systems would be gratefully recieved!

 

Thats it! the questions I would like you all to answer. I look forward to hearing your views, thoughts and feedback!

 

Jonny

[JonnyAcousti]

MOnday morning BUMP!

[plexer]

Hi Johnny,

 

Maybe it would help if you explained why you are collecting this information.

 

Ben

[JonnyAcousti]

Hi Johnny,

 

Maybe it would help if you explained why you are collecting this information.

 

Ben

 

Hi Plexer, thanks for this.

 

I am trying to gain a better understanding of green issues and efficiency drives in ICT within the education sector as many of our customers and resellers are very active in the education sector but I am looking to ask a whole cross section of people in a variety of positions in education ICT.

 

It is also to help us understand how government spending cuts are affecting the Education sector - is it the case that most schools/colleges ICT depts etc are unable to spend anything but the bare minimum to get through this difficult period, or do they have some choice in investing in more efficient computers, networks, etc to cut energy costs, wastage and environmental impact?

 

Any help and answers would be appreciated!

[Guest salan]

Well we virtualised our servers.

We did this for two reasons.

1) Less power used (15 servers)

2) redundancy (Vmotion etc)

Alan

[JonnyAcousti]

Thanks for this Kaka.

 

Is Userful PC something you are using? How does it work?

 

I am also looking for answers to the questions in the first post as well as examples of eco/green computing.

 

Thanks!

[Geeksme]

Advert removed. Edited December 6, 2010 by Dos_Box

[creatinghavocagain]

OK - I looked at going green a while a go and came up with some issues/thoughts:

 

Green PCs tend to be underpowered so when I look at a green PC I have to think about the job it does and is going to do. Looked at an RM Ecoquiet PC and because of their processor they seem only useful for doing some fairly basic stuff - which is fine so long as I don't plan to use them for a long time as in a couple of years te high powered things we do now will be basic then, So there is an ecological issue there - do I buy high powered and take a hit on energy now but benefit from the PC lasting longer and therefore not having to buy/manufacture a new one or do I buy low powered machine now for low energy consumption that I may have to replace sooner?

 

The easy thing was to implement energy saving policies on the machines, this just makes sense and is relatively easy to do.

 

The other thing looked at was server infrastructure - this is a medium term plan - but I reckon that if I go to fewer, larger servers with Virtual Machines on them I can do things like switch off some servers at night when loads are less and this will not only save energy but will help with server lifespan. It also means we could theoretically (ie not worked out how yet) switch off or reduce the air con in the server room.

 

I also thought about getting one of these energy monitors that are being advertised at the moment to see just how much energy machines are using - has anyone done this?

[Andrew_C]

It also means we could theoretically (ie not worked out how yet) switch off or reduce the air con in the server room.

You wouldn't need to do anything. The AC will have a thermostat built into it. If you put less energy into the room, it won't heat up as much. As long as the AC is set to a sensible temp (say 20C) then it will switch itself off unless the temp rises above that. If it is set to an unachievable 14/16, then you won't save.

 

Simples.

[Andrew_C]

Something occurred to me; one easy green win would be to recycle the heat from the server room. During the winter, instead of dumping the heat outdoors, I wonder if it is possible (I see no physical reason why not, the equipment may not be readily available) to put two compressors on an A/C system. One outdoors for the summer, one in say the gym, or another nearby room/corridor to heat with the waste heat from the servers. You couldn't heat an office, or classroom, due to the noise from the compressor.

[creatinghavocagain]

Durr! Sometimes I wonder how I miss the flippin obvious - thanks

[JonnyAcousti]

Hi Andrew,

 

Heat management is something that is currently available.

 

There is an acoustic 19" rack called a UCoustic 9210 which, is able to have a heat ducting kit fitted to the rack to remove all the server heat from the immediate environment. This can be then ducted, either outside the building entirely, into an exisitng building vent system or during the winter simply recycled back in to the room to compliment the central heating system.

 

This is on top of the fact that you very rarely need to run air-con with a quiet rack too. So there is another saving.

[wescoll]

I am currently looking into 'heat recovery' from our AC plants to povide hot water and heating for the rest of the College. Initial costs are £30K plus, but with a 5 to 10 year return. There are grants available from the Carbon Trust, but I still have to kget past the SMT.

I am also looking into replacing the Data centre AC with a rear door heat exchanger from a company called Aquacooling.co.uk.

[jamesfed]

Server Virtualisation and Desktop Virtualisation are our two big 'Green IT projects' with the desktop side being the biggest savings.

 

Especially when it comes down to a 110W PC or a 12W thin client - which do you go for!

Stick in a highly efficient server in the background (iLO says ours is running at 160W at the moment with 20 desktops running).

 

Personaly I am all for Green ideas - it may have something to do with the fact I'm 21 and would like to keep this planet going for as long as possible