IBM Saves Energy with LEGO-Like Server Modules

Green building applies to large firms that use massive amounts of energy running computer networks. Apparently, computer network terminals take up two percent of all the world’s energy. Who knew? To work on this problem, IBM has released a new version of datacenters, updating 20-year-old energy intensive technology.

Whether this sort of upgrade would save energy anyway, in virtue of just being new technology, or if these upgraded datacenters were specifically designed for efficiency, is anyone’s guess. However, they are pretty cool. The datacenters can be expanded like legos, and firms can buy as many modules as are necessary to fit their needs. Some of the efficiency benefits are the responsibility of firms; IBM encourages them to invest in the maximum space they anticipate needing to house the datacenters. Locating the datacenters all in one place and doing the building up front appears to lend itself to energy gains. Upgrading datacenters can cut energy use in half.

The new datacenter technology is a piece of IBM’s $1 billion environmental initiative, Project Big Green, which seeks to make computing more environmentally friendly. Project Big Green includes a range of other policies, such as water reduction efforts, server optimization and software to manage energy consumption.