Green credentials of Cloud

16th June 2011

A recent media article urged Cloud Computing providers to publish their energy bills to prove the efficiency of Cloud Computing . Indeed, John Kennedy claims that the green credentials of Cloud cannot be proven until providers start revealing their energy utilisation figures. Reading the article, I had to question why this was the case:

Whilst the Cloud Computing Centre would not have a problem with publishing our own figures, it must be argued that the efficiency of Cloud technologies compared to on-premise solutions are pretty clear for all to see without such evidence!

Efficiency is a given with the Cloud ...

The reason why the Cloud Computing Centre, and I suspect many other Cloud providers, would be happy to reveal their energy figures is the fact that we have nothing to hide.

A virtualisation readiness assessment is a piece of software from VMWare that collates all of a client's current utilisation figures. It is used to monitor customers' existing networks, current computer usage and efficiency, often concluding that a company running on 15 servers could in actual fact be running on two. Every customer that we have personally assessed has never been utilising more than seven percent of their machinery, whereas as a company, we have to achieve 60 to 70 percent utilisation on all kit purchased to ensure that we stay in business.

We are getting a consolidation ratio of at least 10 to one, and the numbers are therefore plain for all to see: utilisation like this won't be seen for years to come for the average in-house IT solution. Yes, FTSE 100 companies may well be able to afford the latest technologies, hardware, and therefore energy efficiencies, but for the average SME or struggling start-up, taking their IT to the Cloud will be inherently more efficient than keeping their IT in-house.

Virtualisation saves

Running IT systems in-house, customers typically hold physical servers onsite, which may or may not have been replaced for several years. Compare this to the type of service that will be provided by a Cloud company: virtualised servers, which are using the latest, most innovative technology available on the market. By its very nature, this technology will be more energy efficient, much in the same way that a brand new car will invariably get more miles to the gallon than its 20 year old counterpart. And it must be remembered that whilst data centres are being run 24/7, the overall amount of electricity consumed will still be a fraction of what it was for each of the clients running their IT systems in-house.

It is also worth stressing that the biggest costs to data centres is electricity, so the last thing they will be doing is being wasteful with power. In essence, the electricity bill for an average-sized company with 100 staff and five servers in-house will not be that significant an item on their profit and loss report each month, whereas for a data centre, getting the best use of power is absolutely the biggest driver to whether they will be profitable or not.

Recycling old kit – compliance with WEEE legislation

A transition from physical servers on-premise to virtualised servers held off-site in a data centre would require a company to dispose of their old IT hardware. Whilst WEEE legislation now dictates that organisations failing to put in place fully accountable processes for equipment disposal could be liable for penalties up to £500,000, it is still very difficult to police the physical dumping of kit at all times. For instance, it is far easier for an organisation which is operating on a small scale to dispose of one or two servers in a way that is not completely compliant with the legislation, than it is for a data centre disposing of 1000 servers to do the same. It is therefore likely that Cloud providers, who by their nature, tend to work on a larger IT scale than SMEs, will have credible processes in place to dispose of hardware in the greenest manner.

John Kennedy argues that until he has solid evidence of Cloud 's efficiency as provided by electricity readings, he will not believe our claims of green credentials. The green credentials of Cloud technologies however, are plain for all to see: indeed, it doesn't take a genius to work out that kit that achieves 70% utilisation is irrefutably more efficient than kit that achieves just 6% utilisation. And combined with the efficiency of using new technologies, and disposing of old hardware in an effective, green manner, the benefits of Cloud Computing for the environment are indisputable. If however, Kennedy still doesn't believe us, then he is more than welcome to check our figures...