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  • Essay / The impact of green data centers on energy efficiency

    The impact of green data centers on energy efficiencyA green data center enhances energy efficiencyA data center is a facility/equipment used to host computer systems and other IT components, including storage and telecommunications systems (Glanz, 2012). A data center includes backup or redundant power supplies, environmental controls such as air conditioning and fire suppression, redundant data link connections, and various security devices. According to Glanz (2012), large data centers perform industrial-scale operations that consume enough electricity to run a small city. On the other hand, data centers have also been cited as sources of air pollution, resulting from diesel engine exhaust (Glanz, 2012). This research paper will examine how green data centers potentiate energy efficiency, in order to reduce energy consumption which has dangerous effects on the economy and global warming. The availability and cost of energy for power-hungry electronic devices, such as computers, has become a major concern. This is why many businesses, governments and industries are looking for ways to control energy consumption and also reduce carbon footprint (Thrash, 2012). For example, data centers are likely to consume approximately 2% of the U.S. power grid capacity, which translates to $2 billion in utility bills per month (Thrash, 2012). According to McKinsey & Company, by 2020, carbon dioxide emissions from data centers are expected to quadruple, surpassing those of the airline industry. This is attributed to the rapid growth of computing power (Thrash, 2012). Carbon footprint is the measurement associated with greenhouse gases emitted by a particular entity over a specific period of time,...... middle of article...... accessed September 25, 2012.http ://www.tiaonline. org/standards/Mata-Toledo, R. and Gupta, P. (2010). Green Data Center: How Green Can We Be? Journal of Technology Research. Retrieved from < http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/10516.pdf>Population Institute (2007), Protect the Planet, and Hurry, http://www.populationinstitute.org/newsroom/opeds/view/6/ Thrash, B. (2012). The green data center opportunity. The Data Center Journal. Retrieved from http://www.datacenterjournal.com/facilities/the-green-data-center-opportunity/United States Department of Energy. (2009). The smart grid: an introduction [Brochure]. Retrieved from http://www.oe.energy.gov/DocumentsandMedia/DOE_SG_Book_Single_Pages.pdf Zhang, X., Zhao, X., Lin, Y., and Zeng, L. (2010). Key technologies for a green data center. Third International Symposium on Information Processing.