What is a green data enter?

A green datacenter is part of the green IT initiative which is an environmentally sustainable way of computing. Green IT focuses on an environmentally friendly way of doing IT starting from design specifications (whether it's airflow, room design or installing panels), lower power consumption and maximizing energy efficiency.

Some of the key green datacenter items are having energy efficient power supplies, hard drives and cooling and also designing IT items in an environmentally friendly fashion so that they can be disposed of without harmful effects to the earth.

Why use a green datacenter?

In terms of benefits to an organization for using and following the green IT initiative; the main benefit for the organization is cost savings. If there is a reduction in cost for the organization it can satisfy the stakeholders and allow IT to undertake other projects. However, there also other benefits for having a of green datacenter such as increased organizational culture and improved energy efficiency.

What to look for before going with a green datacenter?

There are few things that a business must look for in order to evaluate if it is beneficial for them to get a green datacenter. Determining what a business can salvage is important because the less an organization has to buy the quicker the payback period of the investment on a green datacenter and its benefits will be apparent.

A few of the key points to look for are the following:

• Determining energy efficiency: It is important to note that in order to benefit from a green datacenter there must be a reason for doing so. By determining the energy efficiency of the organization; this can allow for the creation of a baseline which allows for key indicators such as return on investment and payback period to show management or stockholders that this is an important cost savings tool.
  
• Cloud computing: When investing in new technologies for IT; cloud computing should be taken into account for its cost savings and low barrier to entry features. Due to virtualization it is becoming more and more common for organizations to move their servers into a cloud host and allow for a scalable business according to their needs. Instead of purchasing multiple servers and worrying about energy efficiency and cooling, cloud computing provides an alternative for many businesses.
  
• Organizational value: Organizational value is an important indicator and could mean the difference between not being selected for a project and being selected. If a client values that the organization is trying to become sustainable perhaps they will get a few clients that do appreciate the business's values. It is important for management and IT staff to be together on the green datacenter initiative. If IT staff wish to present this to management or vice versa it is important to note that benefits of a green datacenter be apparent during all communication. It is also important for IT alignment and business alignment that to be nearly in sync.
  
•   Determining how far: it is important for an organization to know how far its willing to go with the green datacenter. The organization can simply think about only upgrading certain IT servers or can be completely energy efficient in the datacenter. With the green datacenter there are many different features that a business can install or think of. Such features can be having a "lights out" style datacenter which features no lights whatsoever and is usually accessed remotely, installing solar panels or another alternative in order to power some of the organization's datacenter and if the "lights out" is not an option then installing natural lighting sources and other energy efficient lighting in the room.

What can be reduced in a green datacenter?

A business can reduce many wasteful products in the server and take steps to becoming more green. A common issue in the datacenter is disk storage. Many old Datacenters feature 3.5 inch hard disk drives which often consume a more power than smaller drive such as 2.5 inch or the new were solid state drives. A solid state drive does not have moving parts and Stores Data in flash memory. This is beneficial overtime as without moving parts there is a reduction in the cost of the server.

Other ways a business can reduce its carbon footprint is by having the server with no video card as they can be one of the largest power consumers in the computer. If having no video card in the server is not an option then using an alternative such as an integrated on board graphics card or having graphic capabilities built into the CPU to reduce the footprint even more.