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I'm looking to reduce my carbon footprint and want to find a "green" datacenter. There are so many ways to define a "green datacenter' I'm looking for examples of SMART Criteria such as

When it comes to running a green datacenter, what are additional key factors I need to look for?

What key words or technologies might those energy efficient datacenters be using?

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makerofthings7
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  • The first thing you need to look for is a cohesive definition of "green" :-) – voretaq7 Sep 28 '12 at 18:55
  • @voretaq7 ok where do I start defining green? (not sarcastic) – makerofthings7 Sep 28 '12 at 19:10
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    @maker... it looks like you can't catch a break on your green datacenter questions today... – joeqwerty Sep 28 '12 at 19:43
  • @joeqwerty Eh, just stick a windmill on top of the DC, that would do it right? – Brent Pabst Sep 28 '12 at 19:44
  • That's certainly one way to do it... :) – joeqwerty Sep 28 '12 at 19:45
  • @joeqwerty I prefer paint. Nothing like a good greenwashing to bring in the bucks :-) – voretaq7 Sep 28 '12 at 20:01
  • @makerofthings7 "GREEN" is a buzzword - it can't BE defined except in the Alice in Wonderland way of marketing ("It means just what I choose it to mean - no more, and no less"). Jeff's definition in his answer (using a clearly definable term like Power Usage Effectiveness) is probably the most reasonable route to take, then weight that based on the "environmental impact" of the energy source (solar being way better than coal, for instance) – voretaq7 Sep 28 '12 at 20:03
  • @makerofthings7: If you haven't already defined what "green" means to you and your stakeholders then you can't effectively make comparisons. Go to your stakeholders and ask them to define what "green" means. Everyone must agree on the meaning of all terms. **Get specifics!** Those specifics are your requirements. Then use those specific requirements as criteria for evaluation of datacenters. Not-specific: "We want to use a green datacenter." Specific: "We want to use a datacenter that reuses waste heat and gets 20% of their power from renewable resources." Lookup "smart criteria" on Wikipedia. – Starfish Sep 28 '12 at 20:12
  • @starfish thank you for the specific term "smart criteria" though I'm looking for examples of smart criteria that apply to "green" that we can cherry pick from and apply to our needs/wants – makerofthings7 Sep 28 '12 at 20:15

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In all seriousness, why not just buy carbon offsets, otherwise look for LEED certified data centers.

I would trust a certified data center that has met predefined criteria over all others, they at least showed initiative and money to get the certification. LEED may not be the best, I'm not sure, but it seems to be the one many others are aiming for.

Brent Pabst
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I started typing up an answer, and then I realized my thought already had a term defined: Power Usage Effectiveness. Any way you look at it, the less power a datacenter consumes per watt that reaches your hardware, the more green it is. The closer a PUE is to 1, the more efficient the data center is at keeping your equipment cool, among other tasks (power conversion, etc.).

You should reasonably be able to ask for a PUE number. Beyond that, you could consider the sourcing of electricity as well.

Jeff Ferland
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