The Data Center Stump: 7 (not so) Dirty Little Secrets of the Data Center Industry

Ok, we've all heard the statistic:

DATA CENTERS CONSUME AS MUCH AS 3 PERCENT OF ALL ELECTRICITY PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES!

While a profound proponent of sustainability, I am perplexed when I hear this statistic repeated over and over. Why, you may ask?

Well, for starters, it lacks some very important context such as, who’s consuming the other 97 percent?

Basically, data centers contribute the "pinky toe" portion of the US electricity carbon footprint.

More importantly, this (often very emotional) statement neglects the numerous ways data centers use power to improve our lives and promote our sustainable existence here on earth and beyond. Here are just a few examples to consider. I'd be encouraged to hear your feedback on the topic.

THEY ENABLE MORE WORK WITH FEWER CARBON EMISSIONS.

Concentrated computing (translation: purpose-built data centers and cloud computing) is far more energy efficient than the distributed computer rooms and technology closets of the past, and they enable far greater utilization of CPU capacity through virtualization. For example, since the dawn of computing, output ("Work") is up by a factor of 10 million while energy consumption is up by a factor of 100,000.

In other words, it now takes less than 1 percent of the energy to generate the same or more work!

Bottom Line: If we were still doing it the old way, we’d be much worse off.

THEY PROVIDE A PLATFORM FOR COMPUTING EFFICIENCY AT MASSIVE SCALE.

Purpose-built data centers house many but are operated by few. This can be very advantageous. For example, most of the largest operators have permanently increased operating temperatures (the lowest hanging fruit of efficiency - so to speak) to maximize energy savings. This capability would likely be impossible without such centralized control.

Increasing temps in a data center is comparable to permanently raising the thermostat from 72° to 80°F in every home in a small city.

Some (including Stream Data Centers) have implemented big data analytics together with IoT to better optimize cooling in real-time.

This would be like adding intelligent thermostats to every room in every home in a small city.

You can save nearly $12 per month for every 2-degree increase on your home thermostat. (That totals $40,000 per month for the average data center!)

THEY ENABLE THE LATEST GENERATION OF ENERGY SIPPING DEVICES.

Rather than sit at your desk or carry a laptop to work remotely, mobile devices keep us constantly connected to the centralized IT infrastructure (network, compute, and storage - "the cloud") housed in data centers. These "mini-computers" (sometimes referred to as smartphones) often consume less than 10% of the electricity required for a traditional laptop or desktop computer. This relatively new generation of personal technologies also serve functions once reserved for a multitude of other devices (television, camera, GPS, etc).

One of the earliest computers was called the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator Analyzer and Computer) weighed over 30 tons.

THEY FACILITATE COMMUNICATIONS WITHOUT PAPER.

According to the Center for Paper Business and Industry Studies at Georgia Tech University over 117 paper mills have closed since 2000. Digital media has been so rapidly disruptive that its impact has been felt not only by the paper industry, but also the print photography and newspaper industries as well as the US postal service. Sounds grim to some, however imagine a world without email, digital books, and digital photos. Information now travels faster and more efficiently without paper related waste and pollution. And, most importantly, global citizens who have had no prior access to the most basic public library (the very manual and limited “Internet” of my generation), now have volumes greater than the US Library Congress at their fingertips.

240 million emails are sent every minute in the US, and according to @MailChimp and conservatree, 20 million emails = 2,400 trees saved.

THEY HELP REDUCE THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF TRANSPORTATION.

@Uber, @lyft, and @Zipcar enable optimized shared transportation that in many cities allow for more eco-friendly "car-less" living. On-line commerce has minimized our need to make multiple round trips to the market to buy goods, rather those goods can be delivered along a GPS optimized route with other bundled shipments saving time and fuel. And, as more renewable energy options become available in our communities, further innovations in automotive transportation (i.e. self-driving electric cars) will provide even greater reductions in carbon emissions due to connected automobiles that were first conceptualized in a data center.

Uber claims that in just one month enough people shared rides in San Francisco alone to save 120 tons of carbon dioxide when compared to taking Uber cabs alone.

THEY ENHANCE SECURITY, PROSPERITY, AND HEALTH.

Whether you agree with the surveillance activities of the US government or not, it’s hard to argue with the results since the inception of the PATRIOT Act of 2001. Some claims count the number of attacks prevented globally at 50 or more, and the economic and social devastation of such terrorist acts are irrefutable.

The internet, social media, blogging, YouTube, etc all provide a means for the average individual to have a voice accessible by billions of potential consumers. Digital collaboration affords a means to market and fund innovative products and services to enrich our lives and the wallets of their developers.

In the not too distant past, it took 2 weeks to sequence and analyze a genome for cancer research. Now, over 100 can be sequenced in a single day. High-performance computing (HPC) and cloud computing are accelerating the path to better treatments and hopefully a cure for this, as well as other diseases.

Nearly $2 Billion have been pledged to @Kickstarter projects.

THEY ENABLE AND CONSUME MORE RENEWABLE ENERGY THAN ANY OTHER SINGLE GROUP.

High-performance computing data centers are some of the greatest contributors to sustainability. @SgurrEnergy, a Scotland-based innovator employs via weather analytics for optimum wind farm placement. Google is leveraging big data to further improve the efficiency of its data centers. Automobiles and aircraft are more aerodynamic and fuel efficient as a result of high-performance computing simulations. The low power chips that enable your energy-sipping mobile devices were developed and tested by UK-based @ARMHoldings in a high-performance computing data center. Finally, high-performance computing is being used to develop environmentally friendly methods to store solar energy (via a process similar to photosynthesis) so it can be used, even when the sun isn’t shining.

@Intel, @Microsoft, @Google, Apple, @facebook, and @Cisco make the top 10 list for largest consumers of renewable and many more have made a 100% commitment to renewables. The Technology sector as a group is the single largest consumer of renewable electricity by more than double.

Facebook’s newest data center project in Ft. Worth, TX is designed to operate with 100% renewable energy.

Maybe the data center industry should be applauded for their contribution to sustainability and multitude of other benefits we’ve come to take for granted. Data centers power and protect the technology that enables commerce and innovation, and they are doing it more sustainably than ever.

For more on the power and benefits of computing, watch the Ben Horowitz's 2015 commencement speech to Columbia graduates, "Don't Follow Your Passion". In it, he reflects on the history of computing and professes to the exponential potential of future generations as a result of this computing revolution. It's brief but profound.

Don't Follow Your Passion

Acknowledgements:

My heartfelt thanks to those who contributed their time and effort to this piece.

Graphics and Editing - Morgan Lovett, an incredibly talented and creative marketing genius
Technical Review and Collaboration - Michael Lahoud, Stream, Vice President of Technical Operations and Engineering and another passionate proponent of practical sustainability
Collaborator and Editor - Sean Maguire, Sales Director at Digital Realty, a dear friend, fierce competitor and one of the most creative and insightful people I know
Inspiration - Andrew Schaap, Senior Vice President of Sales at Digital Realty, the best coach I have ever had the good fortune to work for, and the inspiration behind the article
Enablement – Jessica Nunez and her incredible team at Nunez PR Group
Motivation – All those so vocally critical of our industry as energy gluttonous killers of the planet