Macquarie Reduces Energy by 10%

By Justin Lee, theWHIR.com

November 11, 2008 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Web hosting provider Macquarie Hosting (www.macquarietelecom.com/hosting) recently announced it has released preliminary data on the results of its Green IT Strategy, including the reduction of the company’s overall data center energy consumption by more than 10 percent.
 
The company’s Green IT Strategy (www.macquarietelecom.com/hosting/data_centre/green_data_centre_initiatives.htm) is designed to improve efficiency and reduce energy consumption in its data center.

After six months, the results, which were independently reviewed by The Frame Group’s data center staff, revealed that despite experiencing a 30 percent increase in the number of customer managed servers, the data center saw a more than 10 percent drop in energy consumption. This amount is equivalent to more than 600 tonnes of CO2 emissions according to The Frame Group calculations. (more…)

Tags: data center, energy efficiency, Maquarie Telecom

1&1 Retrofits Nuclear Facility

By David Hamilton, theWHIR.com

November 11, 2008 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Web hosting giant 1&1 Internet (www.1and1.co.uk) is planning one of Europe’s largest data centers to be built within a former nuclear fuel facility in Hanau, Germany, providing space for as many as 100,000 servers in an area of 10,000 square meters (or 32,800 square feet), and using power only from renewable sources.
 
According to 1&1’s Tuesday announcement, the never-used nuclear facility, named “New MOX,” will be 1&1’s latest European data center, located in Hanau, which is part of the Frankfurt metropolitan area.
 
“It is a very pleasing side-effect that a formerly contentious nuclear plant is now being transformed into a green data center,” 1&1 chief executive officer Oliver Mauss said in a statement. “Whilst Internet servers require electrical power, 1&1 only uses renewal energy. We also pay much attention to saving energy - after all, the power bill is one of the largest parts of our operational expenses for such data centers. The buildings and the surrounding area provide sufficient space to install energy-saving coolers that use the outside temperature for cooling and thus significantly reduce power consumption.” (more…)

Tags: 1&1 Internet, data center, energy efficiency

IIJ to Open New Tokyo Facility

By Anastasia Tubanos, theWHIR.com

November 7, 2008 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Internet access and network solutions provider Internet Initiative Japan (www.iij.ad.jp/en) along with network operation outsourcing company Net Care (www.netcare.co.jp) announced on Thursday the opening of a new data center in the Nerima ward of Tokyo.
 
According to the company’s most recent announcement, the new facility will be the 15th data center launched by IIJ and its purpose is “to meet the growing demand for data center services in the Kanto area.” It will begin operation in February 2009.

Billed as an “outsourcing-on-demand data center,” IIJ says the facility will provide system operation and monitoring services, colocation services as well as network solutions like network systems construction and systems outsourcing. The Nerima data center will also be connected to the Shinsaibashi facility that opened in July, enabling it to also be used as a disaster recovery site. (more…)

Tags: data center, Internet Initiative Japan, Net Care

EPA Updates EnergyStar Server Specs

By David Hamilton, theWHIR.com

November 6, 2008 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — The US Environmental Protection Agency (www.epa.gov) has finished the third draft of the Energy Star specification for servers, making it one step closer to creating a finalized Energy Star efficiency rating for servers, according to a report on IT Knowledge Exchange blog Server Farming.

Mark Fontecchio said in a blog post that the new EPA regulations will open for compliance to one to four-socket Tier 1 servers by February 1, and that Tier 2 servers will not be called upon for compliance until October of 2010. He states that blade servers were not included, nor were DC-powered servers, network and storage equipment, or server appliances; however, the EPA intends to address these products in the future with an add-on to the specification.

The EPA draft makes special note, according to Fontecchio, that non-profit standards firm Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (www.spec.org) is developing a new benchmark for blade servers, much like its release for volume x86 rack servers. The EPA intends to wait until SPEC releases its standard before releasing its own. (more…)

Tags: certification, Energy Star, EPA, servers

MSPAlliance Releases Green Program

By David Hamilton, theWHIR.com

November 6, 2008 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Managed service provider professional association, the MSPAlliance (www.mspalliance.com) has launched its Green IT Program for MSPs, to promote environmentally friendly IT management practices as well as efficient uses of energy.
 
According to the organization’s Thursday eagerly awaited announcement at its Managed Services Summit in Las Vegas, MSPAlliance has created a set of standards for MSPs and their clients to achieve Green IT Certification. The evaluation is based on quantifiable standards, and is given to alliance members that are able to demonstrate proficiency in such areas as remote client management and data center efficiency.

“The need for Green IT has never been more evident, and the standards set by this new program will guide MSPs in delivering Green IT services and reducing their own carbon footprint,” MSPAlliance president Charles Weaver said in a statement. “Today, every MSP has access to tools that deliver environmentally conscious services, however, there isn’t an industry standard for them to use as a guide to ensure proper stewardship of all resources. As the industry’s only accrediting body for MSPs, we are proud to address this glaring deficiency.” (more…)

Tags: certification, energy efficiency, Green IT, MSPAlliance

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