Conversations about data storage innovation will feature energy sustainability as one of the central topics, said ITProPortal. This is expected in light of the recent environmental issues and incidents such as the Australian wildfires.
According to the report, data storage utilizes a huge amount of energy, making it necessary to be included in the corporate social responsibility plans of many companies. Because of this, these businesses are urged to create a strategy to reduce their carbon footprint by enhancing the efficiency of their storage systems.
ITProPortal also noted that in response to the need for green solutions, many organizations have chosen to “[outsource] their data storage to cloud providers.” Subsequently, these organizations have also “outsourced their sense of environmental responsibility.”
However, there are companies such as Memset that offer green hosting. ITProPortal said that using the services of green, such companies can be more helpful in creating a more sustainable option for their storage facility. This is more viable as opposed to getting cloud services and “[assuming] that their cloud suppliers are adopting sustainable practice.”
A report by Ground Alerts said that countries in the Asia Pacific are leaders when it comes to adopting sustainable data centers. This is due to their utilization of various innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing.
Manufacturing firms and other private companies have started incorporating efficient technologies such as AI and IoT. According to Ground Alert, this can result in the generation of data in enormous amounts.
Aside from the initiatives taken by private entities in Asia Pacific countries, government programs have also helped in creating greener options for storage. An example of this is the Indian Government, which launched Digital India and Smart Cities. This plan seeks to hasten the incorporation of IoT and cloud computing, which then increases the need to use green centers.
However, ITProPortal also said that even the incorporation of innovations to make data generation and storage more efficient can lead to an increased carbon footprint. This is because data is always generated and stored, and the quick processing of these only leads to increased demand. It also noted that the heavy reliance on renewable energy sources is the best route in the long run.
Meanwhile, sustainability will become a human resource issue, especially as members of the workforce become “concerned about the carbon footprint of their workplaces.”
