Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal Research Blogs -> Stephen's Lighthouse

Legal Research

: Stephen's Lighthouse

How Green are Server Farms?

As a corporation SirsiDynix has been jumping on the SaaS (Software as a Service) movement quite aggressively. We now have many hundreds of clients on hosted solutions including some of the U.S. military - so it meets a very high security standard.

The main pitch is that you can achieve great savings on the TCO (total cost of ownership) of your IT infrastructure. We've found this to be the case at SirsiDynix as well. And, of course, in this economy few can justify running more expensive ways of architecting their IT infrastructure. As we find new reasons to collaborate amongst libraries we also see the need for secure scalable solutions too for larger consortia, more complex organizations and multi-type situations. Add to this the time and resources required to keep software up-to-date, backed-up, secure and to stay on the server/OS roller coaster and you can make a good argument for a forklift change in the way libraries use technology and, indeed, cooperate. There are also a number of user experience options that operate better in SaaS than in server archipelagos. Here's one report but there are many more capturing this megatrend to SaaS environments:

TCO Comparison Report: Reducing Costs in the Data Center

Another link:

Is SaaS Cheaper Than Licensed Software?

We have some studies that we share with clients about the library angle as well.

Wouldn't it be nice to not be on some ridiculous 5 year replacement plan and to be on the good stuff all the time?

And in this financial climate, is there any library that cannot afford to look at savings of 40-55% over five years in their IT infrastructure? Aren't there things that they wish their staff had time to do other than the Herculean task of keeping the servers running and the system up-to-date? Perhaps their vision is improving the user experience?

However, another concern of mine has been about reports that servers are now one of the top sources of pollution in the form of greenhouse gasses. I'd hate to think that Google alone is now polluting more than flatulent cattle! And what about libraries? Is our inefficient individual system by system and library by library IT architecture contributing to the decline of the planet?

I am happy to report that the various server farms that SirsiDynix collaborates with in Canada, the U.S., Scotland and beyond, are meeting the standards of 'green' as they are being engineered now. And they're far greener than the library IT archipelego that is normal business practice now. Here are a few reports on green server farms:

Seven Steps to a Green Data Centre

Soundbites:

"Green data centres don't just save energy, they also reduce the need for expensive infrastructure upgrades to deal with increased power and cooling demands. Some organizations are also starting to take the next step and are looking at the entire data centre from an environmental perspective."

Following these steps will keep astute data centre managers ahead of the game.

1. Consolidate your servers, and consolidate some more
2. Turn on power management
3. Upgrade to energy-efficient servers
4. Go with high-efficiency power supplies
5. Break down internal business barriers
6. Follow the standards
7. Advocate for change
(The detail behind the link is useful.)

Now there's a lot more behind SaaS than being less expensive and being greener but those are a good start on reasons to look into SaaS deeper.

BTW, people tease me about not being green enough since I fly so much. I've been on the green band wagon (pulled by a horse?) for a while. I helped start the first major recycling program in an office building in Toronto in the early 1980's and our Co-op where I have lived for 23 years was one of the first multi-unit residences to recycle nearly everything from the moment we opened. I don't drive (never have - whole family doesn't) and in 2008 I (or SLA) bought the carbon credits for all of my plane travel so I'm probably responsible for a small forest of trees somewhere. ;-)

Consider SaaS. For many libraries it's the right solution for many good reasons. Your taxpayers and the planet will thank you.

Stephen

Full post as published by Stephen's Lighthouse on March 11, 2009 (boomark / email).