Energy-Saving Servers: There’s More Work To Do

Green IT has been around for a long time, says Dell’s David Lear, and he should know. In 1993, he shook hands with Al Gore, at the launch of the Energy Star labelling programme, backed by the US Government’s Environmental Protection Agency. Since then green computing has become more mainstream, with EPEAT (the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool from the Green Electronics Council) mandatory for US government IT purchases.

“Back then, we were thinking about how to use less energy and reduce the overall footprint of our computers,” said Lear, who is director of environmental affairs and regulatory compliance at Dell. “It’s interesting to see how it’s evolved.”

Now, everyone does Green IT

Programmes like Energy Star and EPEAT have driven recognition of Green IT issues, he told eWEEK, at the recent Green IT show in London: “It’s bought a lot of people to pay attention.”

Green IT spending plans are being hit by the recession, just like every other plan, according to Forrester Research’s Chris Mines, but Lear thinks the argument is won. Every industry which has an energy load – in other words, every industry – is an opportunity for better efficiency, he said, and CIOs are now looking at the global footprint of their companies: “There’s been much more uptick in green IT in the last two or three years. It’s something everyone has to do.”

“Green IT is not just an energy play,” he said. “We have a comprehensive program. We look at the supply chain, and asset management, the type of materials, scalabilty and upgradablility.”
However cost concerns and global warming are bringing energy to the fore: “It seems of late that energy is one of the biggest things we see users asking about.”

Energy Star for Servers is not simple

These days, Dell is just as interested in servers, and Energy Star has also moved up the IT food chain, recently proposing energy ratings for servers. Lear applauds this, and the work of the Green Grid, which has issued measurement guidelines for data centres, and a database tool to free cooling with outside air.

Page: 1 2 3

Peter Judge

Peter Judge has been involved with tech B2B publishing in the UK for many years, working at Ziff-Davis, ZDNet, IDG and Reed. His main interests are networking security, mobility and cloud

View Comments

  • Rubbish, the answers are simple, but companies like Dell just want to sell more iron, rather than make machines that will last.

  • See article on H2O cooling. This is a better alternative to Dell's "virtual" approach

Recent Posts

Hate Speech Watchdog CCDH To Quit Musk’s X

Target for Elon Musk's lawsuit, hate speech watchdog CCDH, announces its decision to quit X…

3 hours ago

Meta Fined €798m Over Alleged Facebook Marketplace Violations

Antitrust penalty. European Commission fines Meta a hefty €798m ($843m) for tying Facebook Marketplace to…

4 hours ago

Elon Musk Rebuked By Italian President Over Migration Tweets

Elon Musk continues to provoke the ire of various leaders around the world with his…

5 hours ago

VW, Rivian Launch Joint Venture, As Investment Rises To $5.8 Billion

Volkswagen and Rivian officially launch their joint venture, as German car giant ups investment to…

6 hours ago

AMD Axes 4 Percent Of Staff, Amid AI Chip Focus

Merry Christmas staff. AMD hands marching orders to 1,000 employees in the led up to…

9 hours ago

Tesla Recalls 2,431 Cybertrucks Over Propulsion Issue

Recall number six in 2024 for Tesla Cybertruck, and this time the fault cannot be…

10 hours ago