Big Blue Goes Big Green In India
Curtesy by Space Daily

Energy used to power and cool data centres represents 44 percent of total costs. "In India, the need for intelligent energy solutions is more acute than in many other nations," said Jyoti Swaminathan, an executive at IBM India. "Our country is already facing an energy crisis."

IBM said Friday it would supply technology to its Indian data-centre clients that will help them reduce energy costs, which make up almost half their total expense. IBM Global Financing, a unit of the technology giant, will provide clients with loans on easy terms so they can fund the hardware, software and services needed to build energy-efficient data centres, the company said in a statement.

The new IBM technologies, part of a project codenamed "Big Green" by the company known as "Big Blue," will reduce 80 percent of power consumption on computer servers.

IBM has been involved with data-centre projects for 55 clients in India, covering a total surface area of more than 23,000 square metres (250,000 square feet).

In 2007, 10 billion dollars will be spent on data centre energy worldwide, and the market research firm IDC predicts that spending on power and cooling will grow at eight times the rate of the expenditure on hardware.

According to Morgan Stanley, energy used to power and cool data centres represents 44 percent of total costs.

IBM said the new technologies it has introduced will result in 42 percent cost savings for its clients and make a reduction in carbon emissions equivalent to taking 1,300 cars off the roads.

"In India, the need for intelligent energy solutions is more acute than in many other nations," said Jyoti Swaminathan, an executive at IBM India. "Our country is already facing an energy crisis."

According to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), at the current annual generation capacity of 130,000 megawatts, India faces a shortage of nine percent.

"And it will only get worse," Swaminathan said. "It is important that Indian organisations start taking this problem seriously, and make the appropriate investments so that their energy spending can keep pace with their growth."