The "greening" of IT is very a la mode right now, especially in storage. But this umbrella term
suffers from overuse, and near as I can tell, is a euphemism for using less electricity. It's also
a "feature" that enables some vendors to bump up their prices. So what exactly is the fuss again?
What we used to call consolidation and virtualization (for servers or storage) now gets the green
treatment. One of Ford's IT directors touted the two data center movements at a conference Thursday.
I don't doubt there's probably a really good business case behind it. But do fewer servers and LUNs
make an enterprise green?
Vendors of data deduplication and MAID (massive array of idle disks) technology have jumped on this
eco-bandwagon. Are we really going to label any technology that conveys the slightest operational
efficiency as green?
I click off the power strip in my home office every night. Where's my Nobel?
Personally, I'd like to see all IT vendors expand their understanding and implementation of green
technology. How about getting really serious about wide-scale recycling of servers, laptops, cell
phones, batteries -- you name it. Maybe they could trumpet the amount of reclaimed metals in
their products.
Or maybe vendors could funnel some of their foundation money or R&D budgets to a joint venture
with a solar- or wind-power company to demonstrate (or expedite) the off-grid data center? They
could even lobby state and national lawmakers for tax incentives to make this happen. I'm not a
Prius owner, but rebates and credits did wonders for the sales of hybrids here in California.
It would be nice to see the greening of IT take another couple big, logical steps -- something a
little larger than turning off the lights in the data center on the way out at night.
What's your view? Are vendors "green" strategies trying to save the planet, or pump up their
sales? Weigh in at my
blog entry.
Also, check out our new
Green Computing Blog by Cora Nucci.
Terry Sweeney
tsweeney@cmp.com
www.informationweek.com
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