So you now know one single Google search query consumes substantial amount of energy. To put this on a scale, Google processes petabytes of information on a daily basis while indexing the web and doing other various things. With VOD (video on demand) sites like YouTube (making up over 10% of total internet bandwidth usage) and put into perspective how much power is required to simply run a search query versus serving up video content, the issue should become a bit more clear. Myspace, Facebook and the other networks sites of the like are also bandwidth hogs sharing robust amounts of digital media at high speeds.

Green Datacenter

Right now there are strong efforts by Google and other industrial giants like Microsoft to start going green with their data center technology. One step towards this was installation of Datacenters in remote places on earth which have constant and abundant renewable power supply. Iceland has been marketing itself as a a potential data center mecca, equipped with abundant geothermal energy Iceland Data Center will be a breakthrough in DataCenter Energy Crisis.

World’s first Geothermal powered Green  data center project at Iceland is about to complete within few weeks. Iceland offers an ample supply of geothermal energy and an ideal environment for fresh air cooling, but its ambitions were slowed by the global financial collapse.

Verne Holdings announced Friday that the Wellcome Trust had taken an equity position in the company that will fully fund construction of the first phase of a new data center in a former NATO Command Centre in Keflavik, Iceland.

“Large scale customers face a critical need to reduce substantially the power costs and carbon footprints of data centers,” said Dominic Ward from the Wellcome Trust’s Investments Division. “Verne Global is breaking new ground in using Iceland’s natural green resources to mitigate both increasing emissions and rising energy costs.”

Till now  the amount of heat produced by any  data center remains a  major intimidating issue for all the datacenter managers across the globe. With the currently technology available we’re forced to use AC units and massive cooling centers to keep all of the servers at around 70 degrees or less. The hot air gets pumped out of the centers and usually outside, although some companies are finally using this excess heat to power office buildings and heat up pools in surrounding areas.  But shifting the entire facility to a remote place where it can use natural resources instead of precious electricity seems to be a viable option for Green Future.

Image Credits : itinc