According to a 2007 study by US-based IT research and advisory company Gartner, the global information and communications technology industry (ICT) accounts for 2% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. It sounds like a small number but when you consider this is about the same amount as all of the world’s airlines combined it starts to sound more relevant.
It all adds up
You may not realise all of your office hardware is drawing power. For example, your server uses electricity, produces heat, and may even require cooling by an airconditioning unit or fan. All of this, including the manufacturing and distribution of your server, contributes to that 2%.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a server, they are a vital piece of equipment. But if the environment or even your capex budget mean anything to you, take the opportunity consider other options like virtualisation.
So what is virtualisation?
In basic terms, virtualisation is a virtual, rather than actual, version of something like an operating system, server, storage unit or network resource. Using virtualisation ensures your investment in hardware (servers and data storage) is never under-utilised. Excess processing power or resources are shared between multiple “virtual” servers co-existing on the same hardware at the same time. Most servers sit up to 99% idle most of the time, and virtualisation puts that wasted processing time to work for you. It also enables you to minimize the costs of new hardware, and reduce e-waste and CO2 emissions at the same time. In addition, you can very easily create a virtual test environment before rolling out any changes which might adversely affect your production systems. There are a number of different solutions in the virtualisation area, and we will find one to suit your business.
The proof is in the implementation?
So, the next time you are looking at some infrastructure changes, consider virtualisation. We have already rolled out Citrix XenServers to a number of clients with great success, you can read their case studies here. And if Green IT is not enough, here is an added incentive, Enterprise Virtualisation software is now FREE.
If you’d like some more information on how virtualisation might suit your business, please call us for an obligation-free discussion on 07 957 2650 or contact us by email.