"Greening" cloud computing, optimizing IT resources

There has been some recent exploration of cloud computing and Green It,forrester Reseach, who believe that cloud computing can provide more efficient energy use than other IT infrastructures. It also mentions that infrastructure and personnel should be more professional in choosing private cloud architectures and strategies, otherwise the cloud infrastructure services will be limited to a very small extent.

How to "green" private cloud or public cloud, the following proposed seven effective methods

1. Identify the use of renewable energy sources in data centres and use the "free cooling" approach. Microsoft, for example, uses hydroelectric power in the Quincy Data center. When choosing a cloud supplier, you need to know the following: Does the data center use solar, wind or other renewable energy? Can you use free air cooling in certain months?

2. Adopt a modular data Center architecture. This means that the cloud supplier or company has adopted an "opt-in" approach to design and architecture, and that the infrastructure should be made available when needed to maintain a high operating rate. Forrester also recommends the selection of suppliers with green certification, such as motivate in energy and environmental (LEED), designated by the Green Building Association of America.

3. Use high energy efficiency power and cooling system. There is already a lot of information on how computer hardware can use energy effectively, and now it is important to extend the focus to such facilities as continuous electrical systems, power distribution equipment, air-conditioning systems, etc.

4. Consider using high-density operations. Forrester recommends a high density blade approach to servers, storage systems, and network architectures that can be more easily managed and more energy efficient.

5. Virtualization and automation. Many companies have done some virtualization, but is this green enough? Forrester recommends that a company's servers be virtualized from 76% to 100% to have significant green it benefits.

6. Measurement and management. Energy information should go hand-in-hand with management automation to optimize energy consumption, for example, partial energy-consuming work can be moved from day to night for better time optimization. Therefore, the majority of energy-intensive work will be more efficient use of energy in the data center.

7. Set goals and work towards them. Companies cannot achieve goals without setting green IT strategies, and it is impossible to do better unless they have specific goals. There are three major areas where green it strategies can be "greener", i.e. purchasing (purchasing more energy efficient technologies), operating (using software and automation tools to provide a better way), ending the lifecycle (disabling technology and facilities based on energy consumption principles and standards).

Forrester's report suggests that a potential loophole is whether cloud computing is more "green" than others, but the authors believe the report suggests companies should seek ways to make cloud computing greener.