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Cloud computing has evolved into a critical part of today’s IT infrastructure throughout time. Initially, enterprises relied on cloud services for a variety of purposes, including data storage and backup. Cloud computing is increasingly being used to supply most of the fundamental services of today’s businesses. These advances necessitate an examination of how cloud computing affects data centre power consumption.
Cloud computing’s explosive growth
Cloud computing is expected to be worth $250.05 billion in 2021 and $791.48 billion by 2028, according to statistics. Increases in internet penetration, digital transformation across multiple businesses, and significant data consumption across various verticals all contribute to the rapid rise of cloud computing. Increased use of 5G, AI, and the Internet of Things (IoT) are all predicted to boost the cloud computing industry’s growth even further.
Cloud computing’s expansion was threatened by the fact that most businesses were severely affected by the global epidemic. The choking of innovation, the lowering of earnings, and the drying up of cash flow were all consequences of this. The unexpected outbreak damaged both the software development and IT businesses, two of the most important participants in the cloud computing market.
The pandemic had surprisingly little effect on the software development and IT businesses. That’s because more and more individuals are working from home, and as a result, companies are investing more on desktop-advanced services and infrastructure (IaaS). For the cloud computing market to continue to expand, more and more businesses are using email and other collaboration technologies to perform their work remotely. Business Insight predicts a 13.7% increase in cloud computing revenue by 2020.
There will be more growth in the cloud computing sector because most firms are concentrating on improving their cloud computing capabilities and launching new cloud solutions and services. It’s all part of a larger strategy to get a foothold in the cloud computing sector. In addition, companies are progressively acquiring and merging in order to expand their cloud capabilities and position themselves better in the market. For instance, in July 2019, Google LLC bought cloud storage service Elastifile. In order to meet the company’s ever-increasing need for cloud computing, this transaction was made.
Large-scale energy consumption due to the use of cloud computing
Data centres are the most prominent in cloud computing. In this location, the servers for data storage and retrieval are kept. Data centres are typically equipped with a variety of equipment, such as computers, air conditioners, and connections. On average, data centres that contain cloud computing components generate a significant amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Cloud computing, in fact, has a major issue in terms of energy optimization and consumption. Because of this, the idea of “green cloud computing” was born. In green cloud computing, resources are designed, manufactured, engineered, and disposed of in a way that causes the least amount of environmental damage possible. Environmentally-friendly cloud computing measures implemented by corporations include:
- Relying on renewable fuels
- Reusing the computer servers’ waste heat to warm surrounding structures.
- Increasing the energy efficiency of data centres.
- To ensure the correct recycling of all obsolete gear.
- Make use of long-lasting hardware, such as the Bi-Direction, Bi-Polar Junction, which contains fewer hazardous elements than other options.
- The B-TRANTM transistor was designed by Ideal Power.
Everyone who uses cloud services expects a high level of reliability. Consequently, data centres have been created around the world to meet consumer demand. Thousands of servers are common in a typical data centre. In other words, if the server receives a tiny quantity of work, it will use around half of its power supply. For the sake of ensuring that the demand is evenly distributed and that the services are stable, cloud service providers frequently prefer to keep their servers running 24 hours per day. With the steady power supply needed to power a large number of servers in data centres, there is an increased cost of investment. According to the findings of various studies, data transmission uses significantly more energy than data storage does.
How might cloud computing’s energy inefficiency be improved?
One of the most prevalent ways cloud computing systems waste energy is by idling servers in data centres and overcrowding servers. There are a few methods that have been used to address the issue of energy waste. There are a number of software options, including load balancing and resource allocation, job scheduling, task consolidation, and virtual machine virtualization and migration. Solid-state drives, low-power CPUs, and energy-efficient computer monitors, among other hardware advancements, have helped to alleviate cloud computing’s energy inefficiency to some extent.
In the wake of the rise of cloud computing, large-scale data centres have become more commonplace. In general, the amount of energy used in these facilities has increased significantly, which is a cause for concern. In comparison, a small data centre draws a few kilo watts from the grid, while huge data centres use several megawatts. A typical office building’s power density is 100 times higher than that of a medium- to large-sized data centre. Because of the steadily rising costs of electricity, data centres and the cloud computing sector are becoming increasingly concerned about meeting the enormous energy demands of their operations.
