Where are we and where are we going in this industry?

Lately, the topic of "how are we doing?" has come up frequently in conversation, now that Green IT has been discussed for a few years in blogs, on knowledge network URLs, in the printed press, at conferences, etc. Before everyone gets tired of the concept, it may be necessary to remind everyone of the work that hasn't been done yet.

Well for one thing, I don't perceive much action across the USA on raising the temperature in data centers.  Leadership on this is rare.  I am posting a short video that I captured with Dean Nelson of Sun talking about his experience.   From a research perspective, the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and other testing organization show pilot studies indicate safety in raising the temperature significantly.

Separately, in a recent meeting with several data center co-location managers in San Francisco, they concurred among themselves that cloud computing has taken off in certain other geographies, but not unilaterally across the USA metropolitan areas.  I believe that the significance of those comments is that co-los do possess knowledge on how to run data centers with energy efficiency. They may not have a financial incentive to do so given the way their old contracts read, but that might change over the next 24 months. So why is cloud computing taking hold some areas but not in others? And does that mean that more energy will be saved per server rack in a cloud environment than in an enterprise data center?

Is knowledge of Green IT practices something strategic to hoard or to share? The Department of Energy is handing it out free on their website. The LBNL, as a national laboratory, offers as much or more on their website.  I am unaware of secret "best practices" that you, the smaller and more nimbler data center operator, doesn't have access to.

By the way, I discovered an interesting and perhaps controversial, and long article: http://www.esmagazine.com/Articles/Cover_Story/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000411269  It makes some points worth considering about LEEDs designation for data centers.
Have a green day!