pelha Loc: middlle of nowhere NY

by using cloud services & apps, we're contributing to massive energy use & waste!

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/technology/data-centers-waste-vast-amounts-of-energy-belying-industry-image.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yes, a lot of electricity to run them and even more electricity to keep them cool, but it generates income, so who cares.

cthahn

You are now an expert.

pelha Loc: middlle of nowhere NY

if you are referring to me -- I actually worked on testing servers, both hardware & software, back in the 90's, at NEC. I suspect the basic format of the technology hasn't changed much since then, just miniaturized & faster. But I haven't been a server room for a couple of decades.

ejones0310 Loc: Tulsa, OK

We service the backup generators for Level 3 Communications.

They provide not only a substantial portion of the backbone, but communication for critical services such as various 911 services and Netflix just to name a few.

Their signals run through fiber optic cable that runs along the oil and gas pipelines across the country. Every 50 miles along the line, they have a repeater facility that receives the signals, amplifies them and sends them down the line to the next node.

They back up the power with lead acid and cadmium sulfide batteries, but the generators provide the long term backup. Talk about energy wasters, when a diesel generator fires up, it is a picture of inefficiency. But, lives are at stake, and of course we wouldn't want to give up our Netflix and football just because a node failed in the remote backwoods of Oklahoma.

pelha Loc: middlle of nowhere NY

maybe tesla batteries can replace some of the generators, some day soon?

Rongnongno Loc: FL

The only interesting part is how it impacts the end user....

There are other issues. Personal computers left on all the time for whatever reason. External drives also on all the time. Energy wasting is at all levels. This article is interesting but pointing fingers at only one part of the industry is not useful.

At my local level by example using SSD drives allows a computer to use less power as well as cooler. My new PC by example runs on a 750w PS when the older one used a 1000w PS. Difference? All but one drive are either SSDs (x5) or M.2 (x2). My (4) external drives USB3 are turned on or off from a single switch as needed. The CPU is faster and liquid cooled.

I replaced my wife PC with a laptop, reducing her power consumption quite a bit since she was using a tower (pass me down). It was using a 1,000w PS too.

Our total electrical bill went 20% down and I know I can save more by turning off my PC when I do not use it during the day as it stay idle 70% of the time.

The only thing I can say that is clean when it comes to IT are my fingers when typing.

So... Data center polluting? Yes but so are WE.

On something different from the article.... The perceived need to 'keep everything for decades'. We all suffer from the same illness at the local level, especially by folks who have the same type of hobby, that ultimately becomes a digital pack-rat mentality.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

And where does the power come from? Oh, yeah, the grid. Tesla promotes cleaner cars but it is an illusion as the pollution is just transferred from a local street point of view to a much larger issue in power generation. Consider that a battery saves only 15~20 % of the power applied to it. And of that only 80% is used for the propulsion giving it a much lower rendition than that of a regular gas engine.

One can add quite a few things to destroy this 'clean electric car mentality'. Consider the ecological cost of creating the batteries, the cost of disposing them once used. This is just the tip of the iceberg considering that these cars depend on all type of fluids to run that are just as bad as the regular cars - among other parts.

pelha Loc: middlle of nowhere NY

good point here. i haven't looked into what rare earth metals are used in tesla batteries, but have done reading on rare earth mining & processing, which is not a pretty picture.

1Feathercrest Loc: NEPA

What is with te ubiquitous, moronic mis-use of "impact" to mean "affect"? We have become a nation of improper grammar dolts.

Cykdelic Loc: Now outside of Chiraq & Santa Fe, NM

Nice article, but it fails to mention the overwhelming percent of the energy that is being wasted by these farms that is fossil-fuel based (over 65% or so)------ just like the supposedly "green" electric cars!

Sirsnapalot Loc: Hammond, Louisiana

Even tesla batteries need a generator or some power grid to Be recharge, Like the old chicken or the egg question

pelha Loc: middlle of nowhere NY

but, of course. Is grammar really taught these days? Is Latin taught? And twitter is encouraging the breakdown, with their character limitations. (have to admit I enjoy the chance to break a lot of grammar & spelling rules on occasion.)

pelha Loc: middlle of nowhere NY

just read that Tesla has got a Puerto Rice Children's hospital back up & running. I'm guessing their energy source is solar, since the hospital needs the batteries to function.

James Slick Loc: Pittsburgh,PA

Yes, I call electric cars "coal and nuclear" powered cars. In reality, They are!