The Planet Extends Lights-Out Program

By Justin Lee, theWHIR.com

September 2, 2008 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Web hosting provider The Planet (theplanet.com) announced on Tuesday that it has unveiled the initial results of its lights-out program, a company-wide initiative to reduce energy consumption through more efficient use of lighting.

Implemented across all six of its facilities in Houston and Dallas, the company will reduce its yearly energy consumption by more than 1.4 million kilowatt hours, which amounts to nearly $140,000 in annual cost savings.

The company initiated the lights-on policy at its six data centers, which store more than 56,000 servers, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Down from 24 hours a day, data center technicians who work around the clock now turn on lights as needed in computer rooms. (more…)

Tags: energy conservation, The Planet

Building the Green Data Center

By Wayne Epperson

There are a few reasons for building green, and fortunately for the environment, the business bottom line runs pretty parallel to the interests of the environment – cutting back on cooling and energy consumption means dollars saved

Environmentally conscious is a preferred business standard these days. And there is a wealth of data – appealing to both the sympathetic and the business-minded – making the case for companies to go green. In most businesses, however, the bottom line for green energy initiatives is the same as ever – reducing costs and improving earnings.

Fortunately for the environment, the bottom line for business runs pretty parallel to the bottom line for the planet in the hosting business, where power-hungry data centers account for a sizable chunk of operating expenses. If those operators can lower electricity consumption and costs while increasing efficiency – voila, they’ve joined the green revolution.

The best way for a hosting provider to go green would be to build their data center from the ground up with efficiency first on the list of directives. But if the data center already exists, it doesn’t make fiscal sense to tear it down, just to build a green one. In practical terms, there are a number of steps hosts can take to retrofit their existing operations to simultaneously reduce both their carbon footprint and operating expenses.

  (more…)

Tags: AFCOM, AISO, cooling, data center, EPA, renewable energy, solar, The Planet, trade show, Uptime Institute, virtualization