This post was originally published on Network Computing
Today’s data centers serve as the backbone of modern computing, expected to adapt continuously to the ever-changing internet and cloud landscape. A complex maze of separate systems, appliances, tools, and servers comprise data centers to effectively capture an endless flow of data and communicate it via network traffic. But this insatiable demand comes with a price.
Data centers account for approximately2 percent (and rising) of all global carbon emissions and consume vast amounts of electricity. In fact, the IT industry isn’t far from reaching chemical and petrochemical levels, which account for 3.6 percent of global carbon emissions.
Many data center operators focus on physical plant management, assuming that the underlying traffic processing is a sunk cost, one that will always just exist. But sustainability isno longer a nice-to-have for the global data center industry. With added pressure stemming from national and international leaders, many tech companies are working toachieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
The industry is at a crossroads; the importance of power savings in data centers cannot be stressed enough.
Hidden Costs, Hidden Carbon
We’re seeing the push for reduced carbon emissions from the top down. The Biden Administration recently announced a$2.5B investment to scale carbon capture technology to
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