Hi,
At the scales you mention (millions of servers) using a customised version
of Linux tweaked to run Google (as they do) probably has a significant
impact on resource consumption. For example, not having to waste resources
by running a million unnecessary GUIs with dancing paper clips and a heavy
OS footprint means they can achieve the same level of performance with
less servers.
Regards,
James
On Wed, 14 Feb 2007, Tony Gill wrote:
> Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 09:25:08 -0500
> From: Tony Gill <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: Museums Computer Group <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [MCG] A greener internet?
>
> Speaking of Google, their carbon footprint is already enormous. No-one
> outside the company knows exactly how many servers they have running in
> parallel to continuously index the Internet and provide services such as
> GMail, Google Maps, Google Books etc. etc. ad infinitum; some estimates put
> it at over 1 million -- and the power consumption is huge.
>
> A paper by one of Google's principal hardware engineers paints a gloomy
> picture:
>
> "If performance per watt is to remain constant over the next few years, power
> costs could easily overtake hardware costs, possibly by a large margin."
>
> "For the most aggressive scenario (50 percent annual growth rates), power
> costs by the end of the decade would dwarf server prices (note that this
> doesn’t account for the likely increases in energy costs over the next few
> years). In this extreme situation, in which keeping machines powered up costs
> significantly more than the machines themselves, one could envision bizarre
> business models in which the power company will provide you with free
> hardware if you sign a long-term power contract. "
>
> "The possibility of computer equipment power consumption spiraling out of
> control could have serious consequences for the overall affordability of
> computing, not to mention the overall health of the planet. "
>
> Barroso, Luiz André, "The Price of Performance", ACM Queue vol. 3, no. 7 -
> September 2005
> http://acmqueue.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=330
>
> Cheers,
>
> T.
>
>
>
> At 04:13 AM 2007-02-14, you wrote:
>> All,
>>
>>
>>
>> I was thinking about how a museum might make its activities more
>> sustainable, in terms of reducing its carbon footprint, etc. And then I
>> got to thinking about the museum's website (as is my job) and the
>> internet in general. On a large scale, how much energy does the internet
>> use up? Is anyone aware of any figures? On a local scale, we could
>> evaluate the energy used up by the servers hosting our site, and the PCs
>> and infrastructure inside our Museum. But how far could we decrease
>> these (I'm not going to even mention 'off-setting' as an option), even
>> as we aim to increase our site visits, and ensure good bandwidth and
>> zero downtime? We increasingly demand that our websites are accessible,
>> and require of 3rd parties that they help us to achieve that - is there
>> a place for requirements that our ISPs use renewable sources of energy?
>> Just one thought. Anyway - if anyone else has any thoughts on this, I'd
>> be really interested, and perhaps we can start a discussion. I have done
>> a few searches on Google, but nothing has jumped out at me as a major
>> movement to a greener internet.
>>
>>
>>
>> Oh, and a happy Valentine's Day to all MCG members.
>>
>>
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Matthew
>>
>> Head of Web | Department of Learning and Information | The British
>> Museum | www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk <http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/>
>>
>> tel: 020 7323 8169 | work mobile: 07971 433841
>>
>> --
>>
>> A New World: England's first view of America
>> Explore the New World through Elizabethan eyes.
>> Coming Soon. Book NOW
>> http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/anewworld
>>
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>>
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