Lynne, as you point out, data centers (And everything else) can use energy more efficiently. But I think the very big picture is more important here- how much energy is saved with the online shop...
https://knowledgeproblem.com/2012/09/28/just-how-wasteful-are-data-centers/#comment-35522
One might well suggest that, with regard to energy policy, government is approaching "critical mess".
https://knowledgeproblem.com/2012/09/28/just-how-wasteful-are-data-centers/#comment-35483
I quite agree Ed. Whole EPA permitting system is a mess as well, from NSR to a failure to contemplate offsite emissions reductions that raise the risk/cost of efficiency - including, but not limi...
https://knowledgeproblem.com/2012/09/28/just-how-wasteful-are-data-centers/#comment-35480
Sean, It is equally worth noting that US DOE has been pushing site-based energy metrics for buildings, which seriously disadvantage CHP systems. It is also interesting that, had the federal gover...
https://knowledgeproblem.com/2012/09/28/just-how-wasteful-are-data-centers/#comment-35459
I quite agree - not suggesting that the data center owners are being irrational, but rather the larger issue of whether the absence of efficiency investments in those data centers reflects an eco...
https://knowledgeproblem.com/2012/09/28/just-how-wasteful-are-data-centers/#comment-35438
The antithesis of the server based cloud would be each one of us, individually, having to buy an ever larger more powerful computer, with ever more memory to store all our data and software on. W...
https://knowledgeproblem.com/2012/09/28/just-how-wasteful-are-data-centers/#comment-35436
Sean, I dispute the way you apply the concept of rationality here. Rather I think of what you're describing as a situation in which the data center operator is making a constrained optimization d...
https://knowledgeproblem.com/2012/09/28/just-how-wasteful-are-data-centers/#comment-35433
It's worth noting that EPA has been pushing CHP at data centers for some time, looking specifically at putting in power plants where the waste heat from those generators could be used to power on...
https://knowledgeproblem.com/2012/09/28/just-how-wasteful-are-data-centers/#comment-35431