GLOBAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION IS ALSO RISING RAPIDLY , PARTICULARLY IN AREAS LIKE DATA CENTRE MANAGEMENT , WHICH IS MULTIPLYING THE CARBON FOOTPRINTS OF ALL INVOLVED .
I N D U S T R Y I N T E L L I G E N C E
n recent years the
I pace of technological innovation has continued to gather speed at an incredible rate . In fact , rarely a day goes by without some form of emerging technology being reported in global media . However , while so many of these impressive products and solutions are designed to improve our quality of life and make businesses more productive , the growing impact they are collectively having on our planet can ’ t be ignored .
As our reliance on technology becomes ever greater , so too does our need
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GLOBAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION IS ALSO RISING RAPIDLY , PARTICULARLY IN AREAS LIKE DATA CENTRE MANAGEMENT , WHICH IS MULTIPLYING THE CARBON FOOTPRINTS OF ALL INVOLVED .
for the natural resources and raw materials used to manufacture the latest innovations . Global energy consumption is also rising rapidly , particularly in areas like data centre management , which is multiplying the carbon footprints of all involved . According to the IEA , the energy consumption of data centres now accounts for about 1 % of the world ’ s entire electricity use , with a recent BCG report stating that the telecom industry produces 3 % to 4 % of the world ’ s CO 2 emissions – twice as much as the civil aviation industry . This is a significant share for an industry that many people may not directly associate with environmental concerns at all .
While it ’ s hard to argue against the many benefits that technology brings to all our lives , it ’ s increasingly clear that it can ’ t come at the expense of the environment around us . Simply put : we must manage innovation in a way that is both sustainable and kind to the Earth .
Naturally , green business practices will play a pivotal role in this , and executive teams are increasingly expected to lead their organisations in more holistic ways , mitigating environmental impact while executing effective growth strategies . But with so many factors involved , what ’ s the best way to go about doing this ?
Below are three key strategies that data centres can adopt to enjoy the benefits of new technology whilst simultaneously minimising their carbon footprint , resulting in more sustainable operating models for the future , include :
Embrace Edge and serverless computing solutions
Traditional cloud computing models require 24 / 7 server uptime , even when they aren ’ t being used , which wastes huge amounts of energy as well as increasing costs . Serverless computing completely solves these issues by spinning servers up and down based on real-time demand . Instead of having servers continually running ( and using energy ), they are only active when they need to process data .
As a result , serverless computing is naturally more energy-effective , considerably decreasing overall energy consumption and subsequently the carbon emissions created .
Serverless computing isn ’ t the only technology available to help data centres reduce energy consumption either . Edge Computing is another fantastic innovation that , when implemented effectively , can enable more sustainable cloud computing solutions . According to a recent study by the AIOTI Carbon Footprint Methodology Report , Edge Computing can reduce CO 2 emissions by up to 90 %. Instead of transmitting data over long distances to centralised servers , Edge Computing enables local data processing . This helps save energy and , in turn , lowers the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced .
By combining serverless architectures with Edge Computing , data centres can take a major step towards a more sustainable future without sacrificing operational performance . In fact , it ’ s quite the opposite – which is why such innovations are becoming increasingly hard to pass up among forward thinking leadership teams .
Explore innovations in sustainable hardware
The path to a more sustainable future doesn ’ t stop at software architecture . There are also ground-breaking hardware innovations emerging that promise to revolutionise data centre energy consumption and operational needs in the near future .
Graviton processors are one such example . Engineered by Amazon Web Services to be as energy efficient as possible , these game-changing processors offer 60 % energy saving compared to classical x86 processors . Of
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