How to Put Your ‘Carbonivore’ Data Center on a Diet

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 approximately 2% (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% 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 is no longer a nice-to-have for the global data center industry.

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