Easynet has invested in new HP technology including virtualisation, utility computing and intelligent systems which tailor bandwidth to a particular application. Taken together this will increase IT utilisation to 85% whilst boosting energy efficiency by up to 30% and reducing the load on servers by between 30 and 60%.
Denis Planat, Easynet’s chief operating officer explains, “Easynet is already a carbon neutral company but we felt there was more we could do to boost our business and environmental efficiency. A programme is underway to look at data centre design from the bottom up – from the physical building right through to individual processors – to bring this shift about.”
“The benefit for us as a business is that we can improve service levels whilst reducing operational costs. As a major provider of managed and hosted services, this will have a huge impact for our customers” continues Mr Planat. “We all know that IT consumes a huge amount of energy. If as a business you are looking to reduce your carbon footprint, rather than overhaul your own systems, one option is to outsource your infrastructure to a company such as Easynet which has already introduced the latest technology. This way you know that you are playing a part in reducing energy consumption”.
Specific initiatives Easynet is implementing include:
Investing in new technology including power regulation on HP ProLiant servers, virtualisation software and sharing of storage and server capacity through a utility-based computing model.
Ensuring that 95% of its property portfolio runs on renewable energy. This will be further improved by adopting ‘free cooling’ (using cooler outside air to regulate building temperatures) and by using eco-friendly refrigerant gases.
Off-setting unavoidable carbon emissions through renewable energy projects including a wind power project in New Zealand and a micro-hydro scheme in Bulgaria.
Adopting ‘best practice’ standards for data centre management as recommended by organisations such as the Green Grid.
Commenting on Easynet’s moves, Pete Murray, director of Enterprise Servers and Storage for HP UK says, “power consumption in data centres is a pressing issue both in terms of social responsibility but also practicality, as companies require more computing power. Easynet is a great example of an organisation which recognises that making technology more efficient isn’t just environmentally sound – it also has a positive outcome both for the business, and for its customers, in terms of lowering costs and making existing resources work harder.”
Next steps for Easynet include creating ‘pods which consolidate hardware so they can be cooled and managed more easily and exploring sustainable energy alternatives such as solar and wind power which will help to further reduce operational costs.