June 04, 2009

Green servers cropping up all over

Energy-saving, Earth-friendlier green features are becoming standard in server hardware from HP, Dell, and more

The previous generation of servers -- those from just a couple of years ago -- were arguably groomed to meet businesses' seemingly insatiable demand to have as much processing power crammed into as small a space as possible. Many organizations neglected to consider the associated costs to power and cool their legions of high-powered machines. Similarly, they overlooked the prospect that their local utility would not be able to provide all the electricity necessary to keep those jam-packed datacenters humming.

Times have changed. Energy prices have shot up. Electricity supply hasn't kept up with datacenter demand. Meanwhile, companies have become increasingly concerned over the state of the environment. These shifts have spawned a new generation of servers: machines that deliver more performance per watt and, perhaps to a lesser degree, are built in a more environmentally responsible manner. Hardware makers are stepping up to meet the challenge, competing to crank out machines that satisfy both the need for speed and a keenness for greenness.

[ Learn the green-tech secrets of this year's InfoWorld Green 15 winners. | Keep abreast of green IT news and tips by subscribing to InfoWorld's free weekly Green Tech newsletter. ]

One such company is HP, which released this week a new line of ProLiant G6 servers that, claims the company, deliver twice the performance of the previous generation of ProLiant servers -- while using half the energy. According to Doug Oathout, vice president of green IT for enterprise servers and storage, "By simply replacing servers purchased prior to 2006 with new HP ProLiant G6 servers, customers can slash their energy bills in half."

Twice as double
It's a pretty extraordinary promise, if HP can indeed deliver on it. The company is effectively saying you can double your bang (twice the performance) for half of your buck (50 percent lower energy costs). And HP is certainly not the only vendor touting the green credentials of its server hardware.

Just how are companies such as HP managing the feat of providing more powerful servers that consume less electricity? The right processor, of course, plays a key role in overall server efficiency, and AMD and Intel are working furiously to make CPUs that are high on performance and low on energy consumption.

[ How do low-power processors from AMD and Intel compare in terms of performance per watt? ]

White Paper

D2D Virtual Tape Library Replication Primer

This whitepaper explains the terminology and concepts behind Data Replication technologies and establishes some sizing rules through worked examples. Learn the new paradigm in disaster tolerance—protect data anywhere.

Download now »

White Paper

An Alternative to Virtualization for Datacenter Cost Savings

Server virtualization is a popular option for dealing with mounting datacenter costs. Another equally promising approach is the use of an Application Delivery Controller. Citrix NetScaler provides a low-cost way for organizations to reduce their server count and accrue cost savings from a reduction in space, cooling, power and personnel.

Download now »

White Paper

Why Your Firewall, VPN, and IEEE 802.11i Aren't Enough to Protect Your Network

The emergence of WLANs has created a new breed of security threats to enterprise networks.

Included in HP ProCurve WLAN solutions is security technology that alleviates threats from WLANs through:
* Monitoring wireless activity inside and out of the enterprise
* Classifying WLAN transmissions into harmful and harmless
* Preventing transmissions that pose a security threat to the enterprise network
* Locating participating devices for physical remediation

Download now »

White Paper

Bringing the Edge to the Data Center

Effectively address data protection challenges, implementing solutions that help store and protect business–critical data while cutting costs and improving efficiency and reliability.

Download now »
andy5925 8-Jun-09 3:51pm
There are some great sever comparisons you can check out over at Compare Tech Providers
Green Server Hosting 22-Sep-09 5:13am
The servers we use at Green Server Hosting use just 40W of electricity - but still deliver on CPU, RAM and RAID. Although the big server manufacturers are moving in the right direction, we believe customers can really make a big difference to their eo footprint by looking at some of the alternatives.

Sign up to receive InfoWorld Resource Alerts

Subscribe to the Today's Headlines: First Look Newsletter

Find out what will be news for the day, with our first-thing-in-the-morning briefing.

©1994-2009 Infoworld, Inc.