How Can You Reduce The Carbon Footprint Your Business’s Server Room?

One of the biggest issues all businesses face in the modern day is reducing their carbon footprint. The need to be environmentally friendly is bigger than it ever has been before. There is no time to waste. Companies who aren’t being compliant are being sniffed out and named and shamed. It is now your duty to ensure you act via the greenest methods possible. However, when operating in an industry which tends to utilise a huge amount of energy, such as running a data centre, this can be increasingly difficult. But it is not impossible. Therefore, keep on reading to discover some top tips for reducing carbon footprint in your business’s server room…

1. Extend the life of your equipment – This is something that is not only beneficial to the environment but it is advantageous to you as well because you will reduce your costs. There are lots of different ways you can attempt to lengthen the lifespan of your equipment. When you notice a server is failing you can look for replacement parts and spares rather than simply replacing the whole thing altogether. Furthermore, if you use effective means of cooling then you should enhance the lifespan of your equipment dramatically.
2. Business process tools – When it comes to software, your choice can have a massive impact on your carbon footprint. The best solutions enable you to truly assess your processes so you can make sure they are as efficient as possible.
3. Choose your cooling method wisely – There are lots of different methods of data centre cooling available in the modern day. However, some utilise much more energy than others. For instance, air conditioning is extremely inefficient on this front. One of the better options to go for would undoubtedly be cold aisle containment.
4. Buy used equipment – If you can find high quality used equipment then take advantage of it. Not only does this reduce the amount of carbon footprint generated but it also saves you a substantial amount of money too. You may be wondering how the carbon footprint from used servers could be any different from new ones. Well, leading manufacturers all over the world have stated that more than 60 per cent of the emissions actually come through the production process. Therefore, by going down the used route you are engaging in less new product manufacturing.
5. Don’t forget the simple things – There is a lot of energy to be saved by merely turning off peripheral equipment. You can reduce your carbon footprint substantially if you remember to; ask workers to turn off their computers once they leave for the day, ensure all new technologies have an auto-sleep feature switched on, use high-efficiency multi-task printers, don’t allow screensavers to be used, and so on and so forth.

If you follow the five tips mentioned in this blog post, then you are guaranteed to reduce the carbon footprint of your data centre and you will ensure you are being as efficient as possible with your use of energy. The importance of this simply cannot be stressed enough.