| As the internet continues to expand and the need | | | | much as 15% of a company's total power cost - |
| for data storage increases, companies across the | | | | so naturally, the more servers a company |
| world are seeking out ever larger centres to | | | | operates, the greater the energy bill for its data |
| store and process their data. | | | | centres. |
| The size of computers may have shrunk | | | | The recommended temperature of data centres |
| dramatically over the decades, with machines that | | | | is usually stated as between 16 and 24 degrees |
| once required a whole room to themselves now | | | | Celsius, but new technology is permitting servers |
| being capable of storage on a single rack, but the | | | | to operate at ever higher temperatures, even if |
| cumulative growth of the IT industry has meant | | | | the difference is only relatively minor. When you |
| that the days of computer storage centres are | | | | consider the thousands upon thousands of |
| far from over. Quite the contrary, in fact, with | | | | servers that can make up a single data centre, |
| technology giants opening ever larger and more | | | | the ability to operate at even one degree warmer |
| impressive data centres in strategic locations to | | | | can lead to significant savings on cooling costs, |
| cope with the rising demand. | | | | especially as fuel scarcity leads suppliers to jack |
| With data centre expansion being a costly | | | | up their costs each year. |
| investment, no space is wasted in stacking | | | | Of course, reducing power consumption is not |
| multiple servers efficiently. Larger data centres | | | | just about the financial cost, which will hardly |
| may possess such a vast quantity of racks that | | | | make a dent to larger organisations. These |
| batches of 1,000 or more are storied together in | | | | companies face a larger threat in the form of |
| shipping containers, and these entire batches | | | | environmental legislation, and this has led to |
| replaced in the event that a single server fails. | | | | organisations seeking out ever more creative |
| However, the need to maintain a cool | | | | methods of harnessing renewable energy sources |
| environment means that there must be sufficient | | | | to 'green' their operations. |
| space between units to allow for proper | | | | Cooler countries such as Iceland are havens for |
| ventilation. | | | | data centres, not only for their naturally cold |
| One of the most significant issues facing data | | | | climate, but also the ability to harness geothermal |
| centre operators is power cost, particularly in | | | | energy. One recent breakthrough has seen data |
| terms of the cooling needed to keep servers | | | | centre operators being more creative still, |
| operating at peak efficiency. Industry analyst | | | | harnessing the thermal energy produced by cow |
| Gartner confirmed that servers account for as | | | | manure to ease the strain on fossil fuels. |