IBM is to launch a billion-dollar programme aimed at increasing energy efficiency in its data centres.
According to The New York Times, the largest operator of data centres worldwide will be putting $1bn a year into the scheme, which aims to see computing capacity double without an increase in power consumption. Elements of the programme include new cooling systems, software, and 3D-modelling and thermal-engineering techniques to manage air flow more efficiently.
IBM will roll out the new technology in its own data centres and, if requested, in those of its clients.
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The initiative will be revealed in full later on Thursday at an event in New York. IBM is a member of the Green Grid, a consortium created last year, including vendors such as HP, Dell and Sun, to tackle the issue of energy-efficiency standards in high-performance computing.
Energy efficiency is one of two major approaches to the issue of global warming that are being adopted by the IT industry. The other — carbon offsetting — is exemplified in an announcement made on Wednesday by the UK-based ISP Eclipse Internet that it has become carbon neutral. Eclipse, which is a member of the CarbonNeutral network, is investing in wind-farm technologies in India, a methane-capture project in Pennsylvania and a Ugandan forestry project.
Talkback
Just to clarify the context of the above, it is worth noting that IBM's plans are around doubling "the computing capacity of its hundreds of data centers worldwide without increasing power consumption", which is subtly different (and more positive) than the doubling of compute capacity (implying more around the systems) itself.
OK, this is not new, and IBM are far from leading the field in these endeavours, but it does signify that the bandwagon is being recognised as worthy of significant attention to the industry globally, as well as increasing the scope and scale of the wagon by a great extent .... all of these things help.
The thinkings need to continue to quickly from the operational to the strategic - from waste reduction to the consumption reduction - from the data centre to the desktop.