The DOE Joins The Green Grid – Data Center Knowledge

In my last post (which I realized I didn’t actually post the day I wrote it), I attempted to bring up a thought-provoking question about the inevitability of government regulation.

Today I read that the Department of Energy (see link above) has joined an industry-created organization called The Green Grid. By definition, “The Green Grid is a consortium of information technology companies and professionals
seeking to lower the overall consumption of power in data centers
around the globe.”

Some observation points:

- I like that a government agency is following the lead of a ‘market-created’ organization. Is that a reflection of a Republican being in office?

- There is something fundamentally different between the energy-consuming companies in the datacenter industry when compared to other large energy-consuming industries. Many of the regulation tactics mentioned in the articles I have read are all reminiscent of government’s attempt at regulating other environmentally harmful industries (see: carbon credits, tax implications, standard metrics, etc.)

- The market found profit in self-regulation. Why have the leaders in the datacenter industry decided to self-regulate? You know it must be because they found gain in it. Therefore, its nice to see that the industry leaders took that marketing lesson on the political environment back in their college days seriously.

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I’ll admit to you right now that I have not read or investigated the Energy Star report delivered to congress in detail, but I ran across an interesting blog entry over at Data Center Knowledge debriefing the report.

My gut reaction is that the industry *without government intervention* was already beginning to regulate itself (to which I applaud). See: the recent creation of the The Green Grid, or see the recent webinar by Digital Realty Trust on “Green Datacenters”, and 365 Main’s marketing efforts on becoming “green” certified.

I have my hesitations about any further government intervention – at the same time, know it is inevitable when you reflect on the startling fact that datacenters make up between 1 and 1.5% of the U.S.’s entire energy consumption.

I saw mention of tax credits, standardized metrics and utility rebates and don’t have any faith in the government actually being able to regulate accordingly. When we discuss datacenters, we’re essentially talking about one of the most innovative areas in our entire economy (on the part of the companies that consume datacenters such as Google and other major internet properties). Therefore, I must ask, “what would it take for a government agency to regulate such innovation?”

If there is one thing that the government does well, its definitely not regulation – now taxation, on the other hand, is another story.

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I’ll admit to you right now that I have not read or investigated the Energy Star report delivered to congress in detail, but I ran across an interesting blog entry over at Data Center Knowledge debriefing the report.

My gut reaction is that the industry *without government intervention* was already beginning to regulate itself (to which I applaud). See: the recent creation of the The Green Grid, or see the recent webinar by Digital Realty Trust on “Green Datacenters”, and 365 Main’s marketing efforts on becoming “green” certified.

I have my hesitations about any further government intervention – at the same time, know it is inevitable when you reflect on the startling fact that datacenters make up between 1 and 1.5% of the U.S.’s entire energy consumption.

I saw mention of tax credits, standardized metrics and utility rebates and don’t have any faith in the government actually being able regulate accordingly. When we discuss datacenters, we’re essentially talking about one of the most innovative areas in our entire economy (on the part of the companies that consume datacenters). therefore, I must ask, “what would it take for a government agency to regulate such innovation?”

If there is one thing that the government does well, its definitely not regulation – taxation is another story.

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HP MediaSmart server powered by Windows Home Server | Crave : The gadget blog

By definition, way of wikipedia, a data center is “a facility used to house mission critical computer systems and associated components”.

I bring this up because my client, DLR, is a major data center provider to the worlds largest corporations. They lease out data center space into the 100s of thousands of square feet to Fortune 2000 companies and the like.

So am I correct to read that computer manufacturers like HP, Dell and Cisco are attempting to take the data center into the home? Yes.

And it makes sense. In fact, I am anxious to build my own data center.

What does this mean?

Well, how many people do you know have their own domain? I own shawnfranklin.com and shawnnashley.com. I am even attempting to acquire shawn.com and ashley.com. Now imagine a data center in your home that houses your domain (e.g. shawnfranklin.com) where your website is designed to be your own “MySpace” like website that contains:

• your blog
• your slingbox connection
• your own email address and one for every member of your family (if you do not already have one set up through a service like Gmail)
• your photos (which you have housed on Google Picasa because you are a good data center manger of server spade)
• your own T1 connection (because everyone in the family is streaming video all at once and you need the bandwidth)

Now doesn’t that fiber to the home look even more attractive?:

1. Telecommute – e.g. use an internet video phone to work from home in Dallas for a company in New York
2. Your own web hosting – e.g. if your site goes down, its because of factors that you may have more control over

What implications does this have?:

1. Power consumption – e.g. data centers are notorious for the amount of power they consume.
2. Technical saavy – e.g. are you equipped with the knowledge you need to manage a web/email server?
3. Cooling – e.g. these places need to be cool, much cooler than your normal 70 – 75 degrees in your house.

There is much more, but this is good food-for-thought for someone like me.

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• your blog
• your slingbox connection
  
• your own email address and one for every member of your family (if you do not already have one set up through a service like Gmail)
• your photos (which you have housed on Google Picasa because you are a good data center manger of server spade)
• your own T1 connection (because everyone in the family is streaming video all at once and you need the bandwidth)

Now doesn’t that fiber to the home look even more attractive?:

1. Telecommute – e.g. use an internet video phone to work from home in Dallas for a company in New York
2. Your own web hosting – e.g. if your site goes down, its because of factors that you may have more control over

What implications does this have?:

1. Power consumption – e.g. data centers are notorious for the amount of power they consume.
2. Technical saavy – e.g. are you equipped with the knowledge you need to manage a web/email server?
3. Cooling – e.g. these places need to be cool, much cooler than your normal 70 – 75 degrees in your house.

There is much more, but this is good food-for-thought for someone like me.

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