What is Green Hosting?

Green or Eco-friendly website hosting is a recent addition to the field of website hosting which involves a given website hosting company attempting to prove that they are not having any negative impact on the environment in an attempt to attract green consumers.

World internet usage statistics show that the internet is still doubling in size in the U.S. and growing from 400 to 1000% a year, worldwide. The energy usage needed for that type of demand is staggering. In fact, the total electric bill to operate those servers and related infrastructure equipment was $2.7 billion in the United States and $7.2 billion worldwide^[1]. It is estimated that if energy consumption with web hosting keeps raising at the current rate by 2020 the industry will be more polluting than the airline industry^[2]. With so much demand on resources, eco-friendly hosting services, utilizing Green Marketing, has emerged.

How Do Hosting Companies Go Green?

The most popular way hosting companies prove their green credentials is Carbon offsetting, others include planting trees and more day to day activities such as energy conservation and the use of energy saving appliances.

Buy Carbon Credits. Offset means “neutralize,” “balance,” or “cancel out.” When you buy a carbon offset, therefore, you are helping to fund a project that reduces the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Offsets can also involve planting trees.

Buy Green Tags. Also known as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), buying green tags means the energy that you use is created by a green source (wind, solar, hydro) and delivered to the power grid you’re connected to. (Even though you aren’t using it necessarily.)

Virtualization – this is a type of sharing of resources among customers, so that you can more effectively use your server hardware. This can potentially reduce the number of servers consuming energy.

Use more energy friendly servers. There are alternative types of servers that green companies can choose to buy and use. Some have two servers housed within a single box, utilizing the same power supply. This cuts down on consumption. There is also a server technology called “speed stepping” that will reduce the amount of voltage and heat a server uses, especially during peak usage.

Data Center Layout. Anything from how you weatherize your center to how you lay out your air conditioning can greatly reduce the amount of energy consumed.

Other methods. Propane gas is also being utilized for back-up resources. Propane gas is cleaner than diesel. There are also windmill driven data centers, installing solar panels, completely solar data center, paperless office, telecommuting employees, incentives for alternative work transportation are all additional measures that web hosting companies can take to become green or greener hosting companies. Some companies are attempting to offset the energy consumed by their customers by planting a tree for each new customer.

References

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_hosting

1. Kimberlie Wayde says:

   March 30, 2010 at 9:02 pm

   I’ve liked reading these types of blogs. Exciting stuff! Solar energy has constantly been a fascination with me.