Sustainable IT | Ted Samson » Green briefs: HP, Via pair on green PC for China

April 13, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Green briefs: HP, Via pair on green PC for China

TAGS: Sustainable IT

Some tasty green nuggets have accumulated on my desktop over the past week, so I thought it would be nice to share.

Green chips on the table:HP has invested a bit of cash in "green chips" from Taiwan-based Via. HP released today in China a new business PC, the Compaq dx2020, that's powered by Via's carbon-free 1.5GHz C-7D processor, which consumes a mere 20 watts of power or less. The system itself is RoHS-compliant, meaning it adheres to the UK's restrictions on the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. As with the HP's recently released Energy Star 4.0 PCs, the Compaq dx2020 comes packaged with Windows XP, not it's hardware-hungrier younger brother, Windows Vista.

PlateSpin 3.0 projects power costs:Need a guide down the path toward green data-center pastures? PlateSpin this week unveiled Version 3.0 of its PowerRecon data center planning and analysis solution. PowerRecon is designed to aid in planning, analyzing, and modeling for data center consolidation and optimization. The new version also gives medium and large data centers tools to analyze and report on power and cooling requirement and create plans to reduce energy consumption, the company reports. Among other things, organizations can compare their current power and cooling costs against projected post-consolidation costs. And remember, if you're looking to implement virtualization, don't forget to check in with PG&E or your local utility to see if you're eligible for a cash incentive!

Here comes the sun:Finally, there've been some developments this month suggesting that perhaps it's time for solar power to shine.

First off, the Georgia Tech Research Institute unveiled a new solar panel design that's superior to the traditional flat and bulky style. These babies boast an array of nano-towers, which resemble high-rise buildings in a city street grid. They add surface and trap more sunlight, the AP reports.

This cube design means they can produce 60 times more current than traditional solar cells. Unfortunately, "there's still too much resistance within the cell to produce the type of electricity that's needed," AP reports.

Speaking of solar power, IBM honored it partner Sirius Computer Solutions with an award for developing an energy-efficient infrastructure plan for a 100% solar-powered Web hosting company called AISO.net. Sirius designed a plan that involved server consolidation reduce the number of servers in the hosting company's data center from 120 to four BM xSeries 346 servers., thus increasing open floor space and dramatically decreased power consumption. The company expects to see an 80% decrease in energy usage when the project is fully complete. (Go here to read more about AISO.net's solar-power network. It is, as the Bostonians say, "Wicked cool.")

Posted by Ted Samson on April 13, 2007 10:31 AM

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