Tips to reduce the environmental impact of data storage

Storage hardware and its maintenance use large amounts of energy

Storing data in a corporate data center requires electricity to run storage devices and associated storage management systems and networks. It also takes energy to keep the overall ambient temperature safe for equipment. Data centers use lots of power to run servers, switches, lighting, HVAC equipment, air handling equipment, emergency lighting and physical security systems.

Data center managers also need to deal with e-waste, such as obsolete or damaged equipment or devices no longer in use. This e-waste can have a detrimental impact on the environment if managers do not dispose of it properly.

Unused data center floor space still consumes power. Although data centers themselves do not generate greenhouse gas emissions or other pollutants, power suppliers and electric utilities often send pollutants into the atmosphere.

How to get started with green data storage

The process of improving an organization's environmental impact on data storage can begin in several ways, including the following:

• Examine the energy requirements of all data center equipment and look for opportunities to increase energy efficiency by analyzing metrics such as watts used per gigabyte of storage.
• Identify storage devices not in use. Shut them down but keep them available in case they are needed in the future.
• Study the percentage of data stored on-premises versus on cloud storage; it might be possible to move some items back on-premises and reduce cloud storage needs.
• Compare the energy requirements of different servers to see if you can replace existing servers with more energy-efficient units.
• Deploy alternate sources of energy to reduce your organization's dependency on fossil-fueled power systems.
• Identify and delete dark data.
• Examine the organization's commitment to environmental health.

Strategies to make data storage more environmentally friendly

Adding local data storage equipment, such as servers, storage devices and storage applications, to a corporate data center might be part of an organization's overall data storage strategy. While this approach might use more electricity, and the HVAC system could need to work harder, the overall use of power -- and additional damage to the environment -- might not have a significant impact.

If a storage strategy includes a cloud storage vendor, IT management should review any environmental studies on the vendor. Management should also ask what the cloud storage vendor is doing to reduce its impact on the environment -- as they should for other vendors, such as power companies and telecommunications carriers.

Wherever possible, use hardware that has been certified as environmentally friendly. Devices that have the Energy Star label, for example, have been tested to verify their impact on the environment. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification is another path for data centers to improve energy efficiency.

Use renewable energy, such as solar, wind or hydropower, whenever possible. Renewable energy is important, whether it's for a single corporate data center or a business using a cloud vendor with dozens of data centers.

Eliminate unused dark data, but keep data needed for business or compliance reasons even if it has gone unused for some time.

Organizations can also use deduplication software to eliminate duplicate copies of files, databases and other items.

Green data storage methods and hardware

Traditional HDDs require energy to spin the disk and move the arm back and forth across the drive surface. HDDs generate heat that must be handled by HVAC equipment, which also requires power. Here are some examples of more energy-efficient storage options:

1. Tape storage is considered a popular type of green storage, as the tape itself generates no heat; however, the tape drive and associated hardware generate heat and use power.
2. Multiple virtualized servers should be stored on a single server, reducing the need for additional server hardware.
3. SSDs have no moving parts and are considered not only energy efficient, but often more powerful than HDDs.
4. Implementing a massive array of idle disks is an energy-efficient technique in which an array of disk drives can switch into a low-power mode when they are not being used.

The impact of cloud storage

Cloud storage providers are often an important source of IT infrastructure for organizations of all sizes. Cloud computing vendors usually have geographically dispersed data centers to handle customer storage requirements. These data centers consume a lot of energy, but they are popular because the services they provide are convenient and economical. These factors often outweigh environmental considerations.

There are ways to be mindful of the environmental impact of data storage when choosing strategies, hardware and vendors.

Cloud storage involves several steps before data arrives at its storage location. Data is first sent to the cloud vendor, which then routes data to one or more data centers for storage. Sending data to the vendor requires energy to power routers and switches or power to access the internet. Power is then needed within one or more cloud vendor data centers, which often cover acres of land. Even more power is needed to get data to its storage location.

Cloud storage is convenient because it requires no additional floor space for an organization, is flexible and scalable to fit user needs, can lower storage costs, and provides important business continuity and technology disaster recovery benefits. But cloud storage consumes a lot of energy.

In comparison, a corporate data center often transmits data locally, perhaps over a SAN or internal corporate network, to a storage device in the same building or another building on the campus. No internet access is needed; however, organizations with multiple data centers will certainly need some form of network connectivity, including the internet. A single corporate data center that can store data -- versus dozens or hundreds of cloud vendor data centers -- has less of an effect on the environment.

Dealing with AI

Advancements in AI have a marked impact on environmental management activities in IT organizations.

Environmental systems with AI capabilities, such as Environmental Information Management software from Locus Technologies, can capture data from multiple sensors and analyze them in terms of the impact on the environment, which is an important way to establish a green data center. The system can also make recommendations for hardware in need of replacement and HVAC systems in need of reprogramming. This way, a green data center becomes proactive rather than reactive for the environment.

Paul Kirvan, FBCI, CISA, is an independent consultant and technical writer with more than 35 years of experience in business continuity, disaster recovery, resilience, cybersecurity, GRC, telecom and technical writing.