In today’s world, many businesses are equally concerned with making a profit and being socially responsible. This pushes companies to adopt eco-friendly practices, such as the green cloud. Businesses reinvent themselves and ensure their longevity by being more conscious about their energy consumption and sourcing.
In this article, we’d like to share some insights into green cloud computing and how the green cloud can benefit your company. We’ll talk about what is green cloud computing and the difference between it and traditional data centers. The guide will also cover switching to green cloud computing architecture and showcase its use by major companies.
This all seems like a rather exciting topic to us and a chance to push one’s business forward. So, let’s get started and learn why green cloud computing is exactly what you need.
What is Green Cloud Computing?
To answer this question, let’s first define cloud computing. The basic definition is the decentralized use of resources through the internet, including storage and processing delivered through remote infrastructure. This is pretty straightforward and familiar to anyone who’s run a major business before.
Now, green cloud computing isn’t that much different in definition. It also has resources on demand and delivered across the internet. But, when you use the green cloud, every step of this process is centered around eco-friendly solutions and methodologies. The simplest example of this is that the hardware providing your resources runs on renewable energy. But that is far from the extent of green cloud computing practices.
Below, we will discuss how cloud providers structure their operations and adapt to fit the new mold of green cloud computing. But first, a brief explanation of why this trend appeared and its core goal.
Green Cloud's Main Purpose
Right now, we witness a massive boom in demand for data centers, driven mostly by AI, and that trend is likely to keep its pace. Our entire society is built on technology and problems with supply will only keep rising as other resources become scarce. This isn’t a new issue, either, and problems were reported years ago, highlighting the fact that traditional methods are no more adequate.
This is why green cloud computing seeks to establish an ecosystem where performance isn’t king and people consider how their production and resource use impact the world. Well, that and offering a healthy, sustainable replacement to traditional practices. After all, data centers were responsible for 1.5% of energy use worldwide a few years ago, and this number keeps going up.
If you want to get a better idea of just how harmful traditional data centers can be, read on for the next section.
Traditional Data Center Sustainability and Impact
Data centers are an inevitable result of a tech company’s activity. According to a recent poll:
Read more about the statistics here.
This seems to show a strong trend toward more first-party data centers.
However, at least 30% of companies reported closing or planning to close their own data centers in favor of using the cloud. Granted, not all those moves will be to green cloud computing, but it’s a potentially positive trend.
No matter how you look at it, traditional data centers are expected to use more and more electricity. Most of that energy will come from non-renewable sources, straining our climate. The problem comes from the fact that data centers, including ones that use green cloud computing, are expected to have near-perfect uptime.
This expectation of constantly being online puts pressure on the power grid, as a lot of extra resources are spent on keeping these massive centers running. Data shows a correlation between centers for larger corporations that have 99.9% uptime and data usage. In fact, centers are expected to use up as much as 321 TWh in 2030, all because of these requirements.
Curbing this usage through lower uptime, sadly, isn’t practical, as the whole point of the cloud is constant accessibility. Therefore, companies will have to figure out other ways to keep using data centers and the cloud without damaging the environment too much. This is exactly where green cloud computing comes in, offering a healthier, smarter alternative to traditional methods.
To sum up:
With these kinds of conclusions, the outlook may not seem that positive. However, things can be better with the use of green computing. How much better is it in the grand scheme of things? Well, let’s look at green data centers with an equivalent look.
Green Data Center Sustainability and Impact
What is green cloud computing but a powerful tool to curb negative impact on the environment? It can make a huge difference, as we are about to show you. Research tells us that data centers using green practices need to adopt some of the following practices:
- New policies for temperature management that avoid heat spikes;
- Integrated management of the center’s resources, including electricity, water, and heating use;
- Novel software that centers on minimizing energy waste and unnecessary expenses.
If companies follow best practices related to green cloud computing, companies can reportedly achieve at least a 17% reduction in operating costs. More importantly, though, it’s possible to lower your CO2 emissions by a whopping 55%, an incredible change from traditional methods.
In fact, some research shows that implementing certain green cloud practices, even without a full commitment to the switch, can achieve energy consumption cuts of up to 20%. This has the knock-on effect of lowering the cost of running a data center, as well.
Other papers stress that an actual decrease in environmental impact is only possible with a more efficient internal structure. Changing how data is stored and processed is also integral to building a green cloud.
So, to sum up:
How Does Green Cloud Computing Work?
So, what goes into the process of green cloud computing? There are a few core elements you can optimize to go green:
- Sources of energy;
- Facility;
- Infrastructure;
- Operations.
Energy Sources
Let’s start with the first and most straightforward. How do you make your energy consumption compliant with the green cloud? Choose providers that rely on renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind. It’s also essential that they use energy storage solutions to prevent waste.
One thing to watch out for is providers claiming to offset their emissions. This is nowhere near as eco-friendly as opting for renewables and doesn’t make them green. However, it is a step in the right direction, and it’s better to offset than not. But green cloud computing is about more than just offsetting emissions; it’s about eliminating them altogether.
Facility
It’s no secret that the average data center requires a lot of cooling due to all the heat the hardware emits. A traditional data center will simply use a ton of energy to keep temperatures low, which ends up harming the environment. Instead, green cloud providers use solutions such as placing their facilities in colder climates.
Other options include modern architectural choices that allow better airflow and keep the facility cool even when the hardware runs at 100%. Alternatively, some companies simply use data to calculate the most efficient and eco-friendly way to heat their facilities. It’s hard to achieve a zero-emission target with this at the time, but efforts to do so are a good sign.
Infrastructure
Third is infrastructure, which boils down to the hardware they pick and how they run it. Choosing tech focused on energy efficiency instead of performance can be a big help in curbing the center’s carbon footprint. It’s also possible to set up the hardware to work with dynamic voltage, limiting its energy use. Anything that prevents excess energy consumption is good.
One modern approach is to rely on virtual analogs of physical hardware, minimizing the number of machines in the data center. Software solutions can also be used to control energy consumption more precisely. Combining them with artificial intelligence lets companies automatically curb any excess energy use.
Operations
A cloud provider can tweak a complex of things to move toward green cloud computing, like constantly optimizing cloud storage and patching internal software to better process the server load. It’s also helpful to manage peak load times, preventing them from coinciding with hours when the power grid is already strained.
Automation is another healthy practice that helps remove certain processes and structure others in a way that minimizes the server load. Necessary maintenance can be conducted at times when the system isn’t already under pressure from concurrent users. As a result, the data center stays optimized for performance while also firmly committing to green cloud practices.
Advantages of Green Cloud Computing
We just described the many ways data centers can optimize their work to be greener. But you may be asking why all of that work is worth it. After all, investing time and money into changing how things run requires an appropriate return on investment. So, in this section, we will talk about what makes green computing a good, modern choice.
Lower Spending
By using the green cloud, you consume less energy, and the one you consume will ultimately be cheaper, thanks to renewable sources. As a result, despite running your business pretty much the same as always, you’d end up spending less. But that’s not the only area where you save money.
There’s also the fact that smarter and more efficient use of your hardware, which is integral to green cloud computing, saves money in the long run. With less wear and tear and more efficient software, you will use the same hardware for many extra years.
There’s also the fact that cloud providers usually bill based on what you use. This means a business isn’t locked into a rigid plan, where their scaling and traffic don’t matter. Instead, you spend exactly as much as you need to without settling for extra expenses.
Less Environmental Impact
As we pointed out in the section about the purpose of the green cloud, the big selling point of it is how low your emissions get. Instead of generating a massive carbon footprint, your business will be eco-friendly and socially responsible, creating a solid reputation. By limiting energy waste and the use of non-renewable sources, you prevent harm to the environment.
It’s also possible to expand this by using recycled materials in your supply chain and facilities and optimizing your infrastructure to meet these green requirements. As a result, you’ll, again, cut costs and commit to protecting nature.
Compliance with Regulations
More and more governments are setting green goals, which, in turn, leads to new changes and regulations in the industries. As a result, switching to green cloud computing now will simply help you get ahead of the pack. Instead of waiting for the harsher regulations to force companies into eco-friendly practices, you’ll be a trendsetter.
More Efficient Processing
Optimizing for green cloud computing will result in high-quality software and resource utilization. Your company’s processes will be more efficient, and storage will be better organized. This also makes it easier to structure work and set up automation for simple functionalities.
Let’s summarize the key points we’ve mentioned in the traditional data centers vs. green cloud computing comparison table.
| Feature | Traditional Data Centers | Green Cloud Computing |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Source | Mostly non-renewable | Primarily renewable (solar, wind) |
| Carbon Emissions | High | Low |
| Operational Costs | Higher due to energy consumption | Lower due to efficient energy use |
| Cooling Methods | Energy-intensive cooling systems | Efficient cooling (cold climates, modern architecture) |
| Uptime | Near-perfect, leading to high energy usage | Near-perfect, optimized for efficiency |
| Energy Consumption | Increasing (321 TWh expected by 2030) | Significantly reduced |
| Environmental Regulations Compliance | Lower | Higher, proactive adherence |
| Cost Reduction Potential | Limited | Up to 17% reduction in operating costs |
| CO2 Emissions Reduction Potential | Limited | Up to 55% reduction |
Green Cloud Computing Use Cases
All of the advantages of green cloud computing made it a popular choice not just for smaller companies and startups. It is, in fact, already used by some popular companies, ones you’ve heard about. For example, let’s look at Amazon, one of the biggest corporations on the planet and provider of AWS. While AWS used to not exactly be a paragon of eco-friendliness, times have changed.
At the moment, Amazon is all in on green cloud computing, claiming that 100% of its electricity was matched with renewable energy sources in 2023. It also uses special Inferentia2 chips that are 50% more energy-efficient, thus cutting into the company’s carbon footprint.
Another example of green cloud computing transition is Microsoft. Their steps toward greener practices have achieved great results, with up to a 93% increase in energy efficiency and up to an incredible 98% carbon efficiency boost.
Migrating to Green Cloud Computing: Steps
After all the good things we’ve shared, you’re probably eager to give the green cloud a try. Let’s talk about how to switch from traditional data centers to this eco-friendly option. We’ll take things step by step to cover the whole process and show how you can do it gradually.
Choose a Provider
If you’re relying on someone else to store your data, you want that provider to be a high-quality one. While most offers on the market will give proper security and competitive price rates, there’s one more important criterion they must meet for those using green cloud computing. It’s vital that your provider has high sustainability indicators to show their environmental impact.
Be on the lookout for ISO 50001, ISO 14001, and PUE. The first two standards are essential in demonstrating responsible energy use and limiting waste. PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) is technically a fluctuating metric, but you obviously don’t want to deal with those who have it at a very low level.
On a similar note, WUE (Water Usage Efficiency) is equally important in green cloud computing, as it’s a mark of respect for the environment. A company with high WUE doesn’t waste water and uses it sparingly, cooling its data centers via alternative means.
Establish KPIs
Before you actually move your information, it’s important to know what you expect from the migration. Define if you’ll have easier access to the data, if scaling will be simpler, and whether you’ll cut some of the costs associated with data storage. If your provider of green cloud computing can deliver improvements on all of those points, then the move makes sense.
Migrate the Data
Lastly, it’s important to move your data between old servers and new ones. Automating the process is simple enough, but it’s important to follow a checklist:
- Ensure security;
- Focus on preserving data;
- Optimize the stored data;
- Mark sensitive information to be stored on-site.
The first and last points are tied together, as you want to ensure that all of your data is stored properly with encryption and access management. But specific files such as client info should ideally be accessible only from the company hardware. It’s still possible to move it to your green cloud but it’s important to understand the implications of storing it with a third party.
Green Cloud Computing Potential
We’ve shown you the advantages and strengths of the green cloud, as well as the path you can take to get there. But, before we end our guide, let’s round off with a quick talk about the future. After all, this whole endeavor is about making the upcoming years better for everyone. So, what do those years hold for eco-friendly cloud computing?
According to Accenture, new cooling technologies and better hardware will all help reduce emissions piece by piece. This will allow companies to painlessly transition to green methods, as they simply modernize their hardware and test out new management practices. These are things a successful company would do anyway, right? But they’re also building blocks of an eco-friendly future.
Gartner agrees with Accenture somewhat, noting that leaving legacy tech behind will be a major step toward sustainability and more efficient systems. Reinventing infrastructures can be a challenge, but it’s worth it for the result.
In any case, you do not have to be intimidated by the obstacles in switching to green cloud computing. Why? Because you can turn to JetBase for all your cloud needs. We’ll be happy to consult you on the best practices for your company’s cloud use, and give ideas on infrastructure. Similarly, our experts can handle the technical part of migrating from traditional data centers to a green alternative.
The switch is much easier to handle with skillful experts like ours. Our decade in the market and broad fields of expertise make the team the perfect pick for any green migration needs. Plus, we bring excellent communication to the table and an eagerness to surpass our clients’ expectations. If all that sounds appealing and you’re ready to dive into the world of the green cloud, just send us a message.
