STA

Author: Greg Schulz, Founder,
StorageIO

Introduction
To say that "green" is a popular trend is an understatement. Green messaging in general and the information technology (IT) industry in particular tend to center around carbon footprint and emissions reduction or cost savings. Green is also being seen or talked about as being dead or falling off in importance and relevance.

While green hype and "green washing" may be falling out of favor or appearing on an endangered species list, addressing core IT data center issues that affect how resources are used to deliver information services is gaining attention. In an energy-efficient, environmentally and economically friendly manner, the industry is boosting efficiency and productivity and the trend is here to stay.

Author: Steve Denegri, Storage Consultant, Financial Analyst

A study on data center electricity usage published a year ago by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to receive attention in the storage industry. The study illustrates that storage is not keeping pace with servers and networking equipment as it relates to the amount of energy each of these hardware categories uses in the data center. In fact, the EPA study shows that storage is consuming an increasing portion of the data center's power budget as networking equipment and servers are maintaining a steady appetite for electricity, not a good trend in these times of skyrocketing utility costs. No wonder the EPA study recommends that the storage industry dramatically improve upon its power management semantics for disk and tape systems. And the industry pundits are taking this data and running with it, with talk of underutilized storage resources and customers not getting the most of the equipment they've purchased, as if that's a new theme. Regardless, many vendors in the storage industry are salivating at the thought of bringing new energy-efficient products to market, believing that this problem has all the ingredients of a paradigm shift that could rearrange the competitive playing field.

However, these vendors would be better off recognizing that this heightened attention to energy efficiency is less indicative of a new growth opportunity and, more likely, portends an uncertain future for the industry, as a whole. Countless industries have reached an energy ceiling over the past half century, only to realize, soon after, that revenue potential had peaked. What follows is a survival contest that only Darwin would love: more combinations at the top of the food chain and significant consolidation or closed doors among the multitude of suppliers. As revenue potential falls, those who are fortunate enough to survive must remain in cost-cutting mode in order to stay competitive.

Author: Don Jeanette, Sr. Manager, Product Marketing
Fujitsu Computer Products of America

When computers use less energy, they cost less to operate, thereby increasing a company's profits. It does not get any simpler than that. Fujitsu has once again answered the call to helping companies save money by saving power, while at the same time, helping the environment. Fujitsu is now shipping its third generation 2.5" 10K RPM and first generation 15K RPM Enterprise hard disk drives. These drives range from 36GB up to 147GB in capacity.

While today's computers offer higher processor speeds and more memory at a lower acquisition cost than ever before, they cost much more to operate. That's because while newer server-class computers are smaller and more powerful than before, their greater processing power and increased capacity for storage make them consume more power as they perform their work.

These increasingly powerful processors, larger-scale memory devices, emit more waste heat than earlier models. They have less space in which to dissipate heat, and that heat must dissipate through higher-volume fans. Furthermore, the additional heat dissipated into data centers has to be re-dissipated using more powerful air-cooling systems.