energy efficiency

Intel is pushing its Xeon Processor 5600 series as the most secure data-center processor on the market. The company launched the server and workstation chips on its 32nm logic technology, which relies on second-generation high-k metal gate transistors to boost speed and lower energy consumption.

IBM opened its latest data center on Friday in North Carolina. Big Blue said the $362 million, 100,000-square-foot facility at its Research Triangle Park campus is designed to support cloud computing and other new computing models.

According to IBM, the new data center cuts technology infrastructure costs and complexity for clients while raising quality and speeding services deployment. Big Blue's data center also has green implications because it uses only half the energy of most facilities its size.

We've heard of data centers that are running on green power, though these are often mostly done through buying energy credits for distant generating facilities. But Woodstock, IL-based Other World Computing is the first to have 100% on-site wind power to run its operations. The 39 meter (128 foot) diameter, 500 kW turbine is expected to generate an estimated 1,250,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year.

California's ban on plasma-screen televisions to reduce energy consumption could cost as much as $50 million per year in sales taxes because consumers are free to buy the sets online or in other states. "At a time when the state of California is facing its worst money crisis in history, this is going to be disastrous," said Jennifer Bemisderfer, a spokesperson for the Consumer Electronics Association, which lobbied against the ban.

Microsoft is making available a free Windows 7 Enterprise Trial version for IT professionals without access to the release to manufacturing version. The trial must be activated within 10 days of download from the Springboard area of TechNet, and is good for 90 days.

The version was announced Tuesday by Microsoft's Stephen Rose on the Springboard Series blog. The trial is meant to give IT professionals a way to test their applications, hardware and deployment strategies.

Clean Install Will Be Needed

Sustainability is high on the agenda for many corporations today. So when Allstate Insurance Co., the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer, set out to build a new data center, the project goals included improving the organization's sustainability.

Sustainability is high on the agenda for many corporations today. So when Allstate Insurance Co., the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer, set out to build a new data center, the project goals included improving the organization's sustainability.

Habitat for Humanity International and The Home Depot Foundation are teaming up to build 5,000 energy efficient homes over the next five years proving that energy efficiency is attainable and necessary for everyone.  The $30 million Partners in Sustainable Building program will issue grants to Habitat affiliates for homes built following Energy Star, LEED or other nationally recognized green building guidelines.