While there is no denying that the vast number of data centres around the globe have a significant environmental impact, businesses that are concerned about their carbon footprint may be surprised at the efforts of service providers to become more eco-friendly. While using renewable energy and carbon offsetting are important parts of these efforts, what’s lesser known are the various ways in which new technologies are also having an impact. In this post, we’ll look at how technology is making data centres greener.
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The environmental impact of hosting
The internet and all the devices connected to it all contribute to climate change – even visiting a single web page creates around 0.5g of CO2 . Given that Google alone carries out over 3 billion searches every day, the carbon output is significant. In terms of energy use, data centres are the largest users, consuming between 260-360 TWh of electricity per year . The AI revolution, however, is expected to increase power usage by 160% in the next five years, potentially doubling data centre carbon emissions.
While this might seem grim reading, data centre providers are under no illusions of their environmental impact and are continuously striving to make their operations greener. What’s more, aside from their corporate social responsibility strategies driving this approach, they are pushed by customers demanding greener services and by governments implementing ever stricter environmental regulations. So what measures are data centre providers taking? Here we look at some of the main environmental improvements.
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Renewable energy
Renewable energy is the most important factor in reducing the environmental impact of data centres. If every data centre used energy solely from solar power, hydropower or wind turbines, then the amount of CO2 generated through their operations would be negligible. While achieving this milestone is a long way off, many data centres source much, if not all, of their electricity from green energy providers. Moreover, when building new data centres, many providers will seek to place them next to renewable energy sources or even purchase additional land on which to establish solar or wind farms.
The new hyperscale data centre being built by Microsoft in Leeds is a typical example of this kind of project. Besides the data centre, the site will also include a battery energy storage system, an energy-from-waste facility and green travel infrastructure.
Energy-efficient hardware
Running thousands of servers around the clock is one of the chief causes of data centre CO2 emissions. However, evolving technologies have helped to reduce their impact. One of the chief methods of doing this is through cloud computing and virtualisation. Virtualisation technology enables physical servers to be divided into multiple virtual servers, with each able to run separate applications. As a result, fewer physical servers are actually required to fulfil the needs of clients and the amount of energy used is reduced. Cloud computing, meanwhile, enables service providers to optimise server resources, scaling them up only when needed so that fewer servers are left running idle and less CO2 is generated.
New technologies are also improving efficiency inside physical servers. Chip manufacturers have gone to great efforts over recent years to ensure that every new CPU and GPU is more energy-efficient than the previous model and can deliver better performance with even less power. The replacement of HDD drives with SSD is also helping reduce power consumption. A typical SSD consumes around 3 watts during active use compared to the 7 watts used by an HDD . Newer NVMe SSDs, meanwhile, consume less than 1 watt. These benefits are enhanced by the fact that these newer technologies also generate less heat, thus reducing the amount of energy consumed through cooling.
For more about SSDs, read: 7 Reasons Why You Should Choose SSD Hosting
Efficient cooling systems
Around 40% of a data centre’s energy consumption is spent operating its traditional HVAC cooling system . While newer, cooler, server technologies are helping to bring this figure down, many providers are looking at alternative and more efficient systems. Liquid cooling has become an increasingly popular option, while some of the more innovative providers have sought to benefit from free cooling, such as locating to colder climates to make use of cold air or water.
In some Scandinavian countries, the water used to cool data centres is then used to heat local houses, providing wider environmental benefits. Elsewhere, waste heat is recovered and then fed back into the data centre’s energy systems.
Advanced power management
Data centre providers are also using advanced technologies to help minimise their energy usage. All data centres have backup power supplies to ensure that they can continue to function during grid outages, however, when converting currents from AC to DC to charge their batteries, up to 10% of energy can be lost. Newer advanced systems and batteries mean this wastage can be dramatically cut.
Data centres also use advanced systems to monitor their energy consumption in real time. This allows them to identify any inefficiencies, such as the overuse of their cooling systems, so that as much energy as possible is used solely for powering their infrastructure and as little as possible for other areas. The ability to do this has now been enhanced through the use of AI, which specifically monitors and adjusts a data centre’s cooling system to minimise energy use.
AI and machine learning are also being used to monitor workloads and server performance. This means that when servers are not operating at full capacity, energy can be saved by reducing performance to match lower workloads or putting unused servers into sleep mode. As this is carried out by AI, it is done automatically based on demand.
Two similar energy-saving processes adopted by many data centres are server consolidation and right-sizing. Server consolidation enables data centre operatives to combine the workloads of underused servers onto fewer servers, and right-sizing ensures that they only run the fewest number of servers needed to handle those workloads, thus keeping energy usage to a minimum. This is only possible because of advances in real-time monitoring. Prior to this, data centres traditionally ‘over-provisioned’, in other words, they ran too many servers than needed just in case there was unexpected demand. Now, sleeping servers can automatically be woken up when demand calls for it, they no longer need to be kept on all the time.
Discover the impact of the cloud. Read: How the Cloud is Driving a New Era in Web Hosting
How to find a greener web host
If you’re looking for a more sustainable web host, there are several key indicators to look for. The first thing to check is whether the data centres are ISO 14001-certified. This certification shows that the data centres have an effective environmental management system; comply with environmental performance standards; and efficiently use resources to reduce waste. Greener web hosts will also have efficient power, lighting and infrastructure, including cooling systems that comply with ASHRAE thermal guidelines. If a host has been able to demonstrate consistent progress in their energy management, they may also have ISO 50001 accreditation.
Web hosts that use renewable energy or carbon offsetting, will have Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) certificates. These certificates not only prove the use of renewable energy but give details of its amount in the fuel mix. Two other important aspects are compliance with the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) regulations and participation in the Energy Saving Opportunities Scheme (ESOS).
Additionally, you can check the provider’s hardware specs to see if they are using the latest servers, CPUs and SSD or NVMe drives.
Conclusion
While data centre providers still have a lot of work to do to become net zero, the industry is working hard to minimise its environmental impact. Aside from shifting to renewable energy sources, it is adopting a raft of new technologies that help improve efficiency, reduce energy usage and lower its overall carbon footprint.
If you’re looking to reduce your website’s carbon footprint and want to learn more about the sustainability measures Webhosting UK is putting into place, visit webhosting.uk.com/sustainability
