If your company is looking for new ways to save money in 2012, the data center might be a good place to start. There is plenty of evidence to demonstrate that a greener data center can save not only on energy consumption but also on space and cooling resources, reports Bob Violino at eWeek.

Businesses of all kinds are bracing themselves for a huge increase in the rate of data collection and the number of services--and the amount of infrastructure--needed to manage all of the information. Data centers around the globe are slated to increase energy use by 19 percent in the year ahead, according to a report by research firm DatacenterDynamics.

There are many ways to reduce energy use in the data center, including deploying blade servers or other relatively energy-efficient gear and using more environmentally friendly buildings. Earth Rangers, a nonprofit educational organization in Ontario, deployed blade servers and began using continuous data protection software for disaster recovery, which is more eco-friendly than traditional tape.

The Earth Rangers Centre, which has a green roof, spotlights the group's sustainable technology, using 80 percent less power than conventional buildings of the same size. "We've created a demonstration site for other organizations to see what is possible with a small footprint by virtualizing and saving energy," said Rob DiStefano, IT systems manager at Earth Rangers. "A lot of companies are starting to do this because of the cost savings and the reduced green footprint."

Server and storage virtualization is another key way to increase the green factor in the data center. Imperial Sugar, in Sugar Land, Texas, has replaced some older servers with more energy-efficient blades as part of a large-scale virtualization project. It has also moved some applications to the cloud, which has helped it consume less energy by reducing its dependence on on-site servers.

For more:
- see Bob Violino's article at eWeek

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