green IT - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Microsoft Hohm outs home energy hogs

  Microsoft has expanded its Hohm energy monitoring portal so home owners can see, directly from their personal computers, how much power their homes use.

• Data centre transformation won’t become a trend until 2013-2015: Report

  New research indicates data centre transformation is being held back by a lack of mature technology and won’t become a mainstream trend until 2013 due to the cost of migration.

• Scientist: Technology can solve problems, introduce new ones

  Technology holds the ability to solve some of society's problems, but can generate new issues or require measures that people are unwilling to take, said Dennis Bushnell, chief scientist at the NASA Langley Research Center, during a Friday talk at the World Futurist Society conference in Boston. The end result is that humans are "in the midst of a wholly unexpected technology revolution."

• Era of robots, tech-enhanced humans not here yet

  Advocates of the concept called singularity envision a future in which humans and technology fully converge, but a keynote speaker at the World Future Society conference voiced skepticism about the idea, citing the complexities of the human mind.

• Cloud computing will surpass the Internet in importance

  Cloud computing will top the Internet in importance as development of the Web continues, according to a university professor who spoke on Friday at the World Future Society conference in Boston.

• Canberra Data Centre MD talks government collaboration, Gershon report

  Greater flexibility, a variety of clients and the impact of the Gershon report have allowed the Canberra Data Centre (CDC) to provide data facilities for 16 different government agencies.

• Should fuel cells power your data centre?

  What's happening

• Green IT week: NAB tri-gen plant saves 20,000 tonnes of carbon PA

  The National Australia Bank (NAB) is encouraging other businesses to adopt tri-generation cooling strategies to reduce carbon footprints as part of their long-term ‘green’ IT strategy.

• Local company integrates security features with energy savings

  Sydney based security solutions company Unixpac has integrated energy cost savings from vendor Shavlik with security settings in its latest software in a bid to simplify systems management and lower running costs.

• Sceptical businesses stall on carbon reduction

  In the wake of the <a href="http://www.denmark.dk/en/menu/Climate-Energy/COP15-Copenhagen-2009/cop15.htm">Copenhagen summit</a>, many executives are taking a view that "the jury is still out" on the seriousness of climate change and behaving in a cautious manner similar to that of businesses addressing the internet in 1995, according to experts.

• Hung parliament leaves IT industry uncertain

  The IT industry has been left with an uncertain future after the General Election resulted in Britain's first hung parliament in decades.

• Google: Crank up the heat in your data center

  Google's top energy executive has offered some simple steps for making data centers more energy-efficient, including raising the thermostat to 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit) to cut down on cooling costs.

• SAP launches local Sustainability Executive Advisory Council

  Despite the increasing focus on carbon emission reductions within IT and business, the widespread appointment of chief sustainability officers (CSOs) across Australia is unlikely, according to enterprise software giant, SAP.

• Green IT: CIOs Can Demand Sustainability from Vendors

  Pamela Rucker doesn't want to spend money with IT vendors that waste water or energy, or that have large carbon footprints. After all, she says, as vice president of IT for environmental services firm PSC, it would be hypocritical to not hold vendors to high standards.

• Juniper Networks plunking down $50 million to fund network startups

  Juniper Networks will give its R&amp;D efforts a big boost by funneling $50 million into a venture fund to back new companies in virtualization, green IT and other networking fields.