Sustainability in IT Operations: The Importance of Virtualization and Other Techniques

The environmental impact of IT infrastructure is often overlooked when setting it up. Traditional considerations such as initial cost, performance, compatibility, and maintenance are prioritized, but the increasing number of server equipment leads to higher energy consumption, cooling expenses, and maintenance costs. To address this issue, organizations such as Dell, Sun Microsystems and others have formed non-profit organizations like "The Green Grid" to promote efficient energy consumption in IT equipment. 

Another organization, SPEC, which is formed by Oracle, IBM, and HP, conducts research to help compare energy-saving practices in IT organizations like data centres and server rooms. Both of these organizations, along with other market leaders, recommend virtualization as an energy-efficient practice.

Virtualization is a technology that enables multiple server software to run on a single server hardware. This results in a reduction of the number of server hardware needed, which in turn leads to lower cooling expenses, lower energy consumption, and less floor space. Virtualization projects promote server consolidations that lead the way for better management of the servers and lower maintenance costs. It is important to note that while virtualization is not a sufficient effort on its own to make IT operations more environmentally friendly, it is a step in the right direction.

There are several ways to reduce the environmental impact of IT infrastructure other than server virtualization. One way is to use energy-efficient hardware such as servers, storage devices and cooling systems. Another way is to use renewable energy sources to power the IT infrastructure, such as solar or wind power. Additionally, implementing power management systems, such as power capping and automatic power-down of idle systems, can help reduce energy consumption. Another approach is to use cloud computing and remote hosting, which can reduce the need for physical servers, and can also reduce the energy consumption and environmental impact of data centres. Additionally, proper disposal of electronic waste, and recycling of old equipment, can also help reduce the environmental impact of IT operations. Overall, a comprehensive approach that considers energy efficiency, renewable energy, power management, and waste reduction, is needed to fully address the environmental impact of IT operations.

In conclusion, all these techniques should be used in combination. Overall, it is crucial for organizations to adopt a holistic approach towards sustainability in their IT operations and continuously strive to improve their environmental footprint.

Vedat YOZKAT

Think Global, Act Social

Technology is usually to blame for environmental problems and for promoting social detachment, being in the heart of the technology, is it possible for IT operations to be more social, is it possible for IT departments to contribute to social and environmental projects?

Although, IT departments have always been the leader for productivity, we think, we still could find room to improve our services and help contributing to social initiatives without compromising the service quality. Other than participating to the global projects and programs, we think by acting smart and making minor adjustments we can consume less, help reducing our carbon footprint locally and contribute to the society more.

IT departments contributes substantially in many green initiatives within corporations, such as paper reduction campaigns, energy conversation projects, promoting communication projects to reduce business travels and involving heavily in recycle & reuse projects.

Not only we “think green” for such activities, but also as IT teams, we take parts on socially responsible activities. We have been getting in touch with vocational schools in the vicinity to make a difference for the students in these schools. We provide a workplace experience for the students in such vocational schools. For students who are studying in computer science, programming and electronics, it is at upmost importance to find a workplace to put their learning at use. Not only, we provide a workplace experience for these students but also we involve them in IT projects to increase their take from this experience.

Furthermore, IT departments usually provide many training opportunities. Corporations consist of both well-educated, experienced staff and junior and not well equipped staff. One of IT departments' aim to bring everyone at an average level of understanding the technology and increase everyone's level of computer literacy. We provide many training opportunities to those that are not very well equipped with all the skills and qualification for their career targets. Without the required computer skills, many people cannot reach their career targets. We believe by helping them the break this barrier, IT departments play an important role in people's development and reaching their career goals.

Every year, number of personal computer systems retired or no longer needed by IT departments. While these are not the most powerful computers, they are still very useful for teaching basic computer skills. We refurbish these computers, remove all software licenses from them and reinstall free software licenses. After completing the installation and testing, we donate the equipment free of charge to eligible schools that are truly in need. This donation program has helped bring access to computer technology to many students. We are proud of these efforts that help create and foster foundations for enhanced learning. We will continue to donate such equipment to the schools and other educational nonprofit organizations in need.

We believe that environmental and social problems will not go away overnight by itself, all of us have to make collective efforts, we have to think smart to find more ways to be sustainable and increase our involvement in social initiatives.

We always have to keep in mind that the small details make the difference.

Vedat YOZKAT

How Green is My (Silicon) Valley...

Virtualization as a Sustainable IT Practice

When setting up an IT infrastructure, usually its environmental impact is overlooked. Initial cost, performance, compatibility and maintenance are usually the major points that are taken under consideration. As the number of server equipments increase, energy consumption also increases. Overall, using more server equipments would mean higher cooling expenses in the server room, higher energy consumption, higher server support costs and higher maintenance costs.

IT market leaders such as Dell, Sun Microsystems and others have formed a non-profit organization called “The Green Grid” to promote the efficiency at the consumption level of IT equipments. Similarly SPEC, another organization formed by Oracle, IBM and HP, conducts research to help comparing energy saving practices in IT organizations such as data centers, server rooms.

Both of these organizations along with other market leaders recommend virtualization as an energy conservative practice. Virtualization is basically allowing multiple server software to run on a single server hardware. The result is reduced number of server hardware, less cooling expense, less energy consumption and less floor space.

Virtualization projects promote server consolidations that lead the way for better management for the servers and lower maintenance costs. This is, of course, by itself not a sufficient effort for environment friendly IT operations but it is an important measure toward the right direction.

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Computers and the Environment

Throughout the history, humanity has altered its environment so that the environment would be more comfortable and more suitable to its needs. For millions and millions years, people have continued to change the environment in many ways, however, these changes have been considered as minor changes, because of the fact that people did not have the necessary power to make major alterations in the environment until the recent centuries. Industrialization was the name of the game that gave the necessary power to the people’s hands, so that they could make major alterations in the environment to obtain a “better life.” Industrialization has been exclusively serving people on the expense of all other elements of the environment. All of the major environmental problems have been created and have been being created during the industrialization process, namely; global warming, ozone depletion, water pollution, air pollution, accelerated extinction of species, etc.

After having completed their development by using the power of industrialization, some nations went into another stage that some people call postindustrialism. According to Daniel Bell in his 1973 work on sociological movements, postindustrialism refers to a shift toward service and advanced knowledge technology (Bartos). I think that computers came into the scene at this stage of industrialization. Because computers, themselves, cannot be used in the production processes as it is required in the industries, but they can be used to improve, control or monitor the production processes. Computers, especially in the recent years, helped the improvements of service economies and led to advancements in the knowledge-based technologies. Analogously, in the postindustrial societies, computers are extensively used to find solutions to the environmental problems created by industrialization.

Because of the complicated nature of the environment, proposed solutions to the environmental problems would lead to some unexpected consequences, and because we cannot use the nature as a laboratory to conduct experiments on it, we would never know what consequences to expect as a result of the actions we are intending to take. In order to get at least some sense of what to expect, environmental scientists, nowadays, heavily rely on computer models and simulations. For example, computer models are extensively used to predict possible outcomes of global warming. Other computer models, such as World3 and Balance of the Planet, are used for educational purposes to give the students some sense of the complex structure of the earth (Skinner). Although, these computer models are widely accepted as good tools for environmental researches, they would be never fully accurate because of the infinite number of parameters involved in a single environmental phenomenon. However, I think that computer models will continue to be used in the process of ethical decision making toward the environment.

Computers are also useful as accurate measurement and complicated calculation devices. Industries in the developed countries, today, monitor their production processes by computers to increase their efficiencies as well as decrease their pollution. Computers are really helpful to make necessary adjustments quickly and accurately in real-time systems to increase productivity of the production line, and consequently eliminate the waste of resources and conserve energy. Environmental scientists also make a heavy use of the computers in analyzing ecological data by measuring the levels of pollution in the air, soil, and water.

I think that use of computers in the postindustrial societies is an attempt to find solutions to the environmental problems that are created by industrialization process. In a sense, computers are our modern devices to help us to find out what is ethically right thing to do. In terms of computer modeling, forecasting, energy conservation systems, environmental safety monitoring systems or computerization of treatment systems, I believe that the use of computers will continue to increase in the near future, and I also believe that computers will be proven to be useful in the ethical decision making process by providing the necessary information and possible precautionary steps to take.

Vedat YOZKAT



References


Bartos, Otomar J. “Postmodernism, Postindustrialism, and the Future.” Sociological Quarterly. Volume 37. Issue 2. p307.

Sewell, Joe. “Expert Systems in the Air Pollution Industry.” Christian Brothers University.


Skinner, B.K. “Decisions, Systems, and Models.” Gumption Trust.

How Green is My (Silicon) Valley...

Technology is usally to blame for environmental problems, being in the heart of the technology, is it possible for IT operations to be greener, is it possible for IT to contribute sustainability?

As IT teams, we always try to find answers to these questions. In our meetings and daily discussions, we always remind ourselves to “think green.”

Although, IT departments have always been the leader for productivity, we think, we still could find room to improve our services and help contributing to the green initiatives without compromising the service quality.

Other than participating the global projects and programs, we think by acting smart and making minor adjustments we can consume less and help reducing our carbon footprint locally.

We can contribute to reduce paper consumption by taking some local measures such as installing dedicated drivers to each computer for duplex and booklet printing, feeding A5 size paper to the printers, hanging posters to the print areas to raise awareness and inform users for most efficient fonts, sizes and styles.

Aside from adopting global power plan for energy efficiency on client computers, we could also try to reduce our energy consumption by keeping server room temperature at an acceptable level, replacing all CRT monitors with low consuming LCDs, using scheduled turned on / off for stand alone systems, always using energy star qualified equipments for ensuring the low consumption, making sure all client computers turned off when not used.

We also think that using our communication tools such as video conference, conference bridge etc. more efficienty would help reducing travels consequently help reducing our carbon footprint. Therefore, we spend extra effort to promote such tools.

IT consumables are always subject to recycle and reuse, we should take special care for such items, always prefer either recycled or recyclable materials. Some vendors offer special “recycle and reuse” programs. We could make sure to follow up such programs and sign up if applicable.

Not only should we “think green” for on job activities, but also as IT teams, we should take parts on outside activities. We could join tree planting events, invite our family and friends to support green initiatives, participate some of our vendors’ roadshows that specifically deal with sustainable IT.

We believe that environmental problems will not go away overnight by itself, all of us have to make collective efforts, we have to think smart to find more ways to be sustainable.

We always have to keep in mind that the small details make the difference.

Vedat YOZKAT

Video Conference as a New Business Tool

Video Conference (VC) is an application more businesses are turning to in an attempt to cut travel costs, reduce carbon footprint and keep the time executives spend out of the office to a minimum. Business travel and accommodation costs are rising each year and many executives now prefer to link up with clients and colleagues in other cities or countries by using technology rather than travelling. Besides, air travel is a major contributor of air pollution. The greater the number of people at the meeting, the greater the travel and accommodation savings. Although the technology is expensive for now, costs can be recouped fairly quickly.

The cost benefits of video conference meetings can be huge with savings on flights, taxis, hotels and, not least, unproductive hours spent traveling. As the bills mount up it makes a lot of sense to look for alternative ways of working. Overseas travel expenses are quite high and this adds to the argument for video conferencing. Most companies, nowadays, have more concern about environmental problems and they try to contribute more to sustainability projects. Companies working together on projects, find video conferencing lets people meet and work together more often and more effectively without incurring extra expense and help reducing their carbon footprint. Then there is travelling time to consider, in some cases, people take up to two business days for only 2 hours of face to face meeting.

Video conference increases users involvement and builds trust for a more open, collaborative and productive working environment. The technology also ensures that marketing opportunities are grasped in time because decision makers can be easily brought together at short notice to discuss and decide on the issues at stake.
A wide range of companies, from major manufacturers to multinational corporations, have all been early adopters of the technology, its use is growing fast as its benefits become clear and costs decrease.

With new technology, video conference images and audio are close to television quality and there are fewer restrictions on how many participants can join a multiple-site broadcast. Moreover, the equipment works in conjunction with desktop computers and laptops to show PowerPoint presentations, photos, documents and images.

In conclusion, video conferencing is a cost-effective and environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional business travel. The technology allows executives to communicate and collaborate with clients and colleagues around the world while avoiding the high costs and time-consuming nature of air travel. Additionally, video conferencing offers a range of benefits, including increased user involvement, improved collaboration and productivity, and the ability to quickly seize marketing opportunities. As the technology becomes more advanced and affordable, more and more companies are likely to adopt video conferencing as a key tool in their business operations, helping to reduce their carbon footprint and contributing to sustainable business practices.

Vedat YOZKAT

New Generation Printing Techniques

What is the need?
Printing sensitive documents in today's office environments is becoming increasingly difficult. In addition, preventing unauthorized use of expensive printers is cost saving for companies. On top of that, having centralized printing solutions have been proven to have great results in reducing paper waste and reduce the energy need, this has a great environmental impact for the companies. Because high costs and IT logistics prevent users from having their own personal printers, this is a dilemma faced by large and small companies.
Everybody thinks their documents are highly sensitive and confidential. Everybody wants their own private printer.
Keeping too many printers in the office increases the operation and maintenance cost.

Solution:
Printing solutions designed to help companies and organizations gain control over their printing costs and document security.
• Documents follow users to their choice of printer
• Control user’s access to printers
• Recover print and copy costs by charging users or groups, either fully or partly
• Turn any public workgroup printer into a personal printer
• Maximize security by encrypting print data on the network
• Utilize printers better
• Reduce paper usage and help reduce deforestation
• Reduce the energy wasted

How does it work:
1. Click Print














2. Your Document Stays in the database until you need it.













3. Go to any printer and scan your card











4. Your document is pulled from the database & printed.

















Other than printing, these devices can be used as photocopier and scanner also.

Benefits:
Access control: Personal card to control printers access and usage.
Increased security : Documents print only after the user has identified himself at the printer.
Decreased waste: Minimize costs due to documents that never get collected or are collected by the wrong person by mistake.
Accounting: Costs monitored and logged on user or user-group basis.
Flexibility: Print jobs follow users to their choice of printer.
Environmental effects: Reduce the paper consumption, reduce the energy wasted

Vedat YOZKAT

E-Learning

In order to compete today’s success driven business world, we should constantly study to improve ourselves. Continuous studying could be very time consuming if the right tools are not used. Nowadays, educational institutions and Information Technology companies offer new tools to improve learning skills more productively for the attendees. First called computer based training, now, total of all technology aided learning tools are called as e-learning tools. Such tools could include personal computers, CD-Roms, Television, PDAs, MP3 Players, and Mobile Phones.

Although e-learning refers to so many different types of learning environments such as online face-to-face, instructor led group, web based, video/audio tape or cd-rom. I will elaborate on on-line web based trainings. On this type of training, the user could log onto a predefined web page and could follow the instructions to get fully interactive training on the subject matter. This type of tool could also offer tests to determine the level of the attendee. There are so many companies in the world that offer this type of training tool, as well as in Turkey.

Advantages of e-learning
Reduced overall cost
Learning times reduced
Proof of completion and certification,
On-demand availability
Self-pacing
Interactivity
Reduce the paper usage which help for the companies to be more environmental friendly
Eliminate the need for travelling which also helps reducing the carbon footprint.

Disadvantages of e-learning
Technology dependent
Unsuitable for Certain Types of Trainings
Unsuitable for Certain Types of Learners
High initial cost
Reliant on Human Support
Social disadvantage

The advantages and disadvantages of e-learning may change depending on goals, target audience, company infrastructure and the culture. But it is unarguable that e-learning is rapidly growing and in the future we will encounter more and more in so many different areas of training facilities.

Vedat YOZKAT

Western Culture and the Environment

Lynn White, Jr. maintains that occidental science and technology, in spite of all the rhetoric to the contrary, stem from Christian axioms and that this is, in many ways, responsible for the contemporary ecological crisis.

According to White, it is unquestionably obvious that the modern science and technology are Occidental. I agree the fact that, in today’s world, all the technology we have everywhere on earth is distinctively western oriented, and all the branches of science we have is mostly based on the findings of Western scientists.

Furthermore, White claims that not only our science and technology have been undeniably affected by Judeo-Christian teachings, but also Judeo-Christian teachings have served as a foundation to our science and technology. According to White, Science, in Western societies in the past, has been seen as “to think God’s thoughts after him.” This has been a real good motivation for scientists in those days. In his essay, White also explicitly states that humans’ place in Christianity is not being a part of the nature but being over the nature and being an exploiter of the nature. White states that in Christianity, humans are created in the image of God and the nature is created to serve the humans. Christian teachings also state that humans are not equal to the other creations in the nature but superior to them. This duality, from the beginning, sets a milestone in the long journey of humans’ struggle to control and exploit the nature.

According to the Christian beliefs, as White stated, the earth that we are living in now is a temporary place and we will eventually go to a better place; therefore, this place has no importance and does not need to be protected. In Christianity, the earth is given to us to use it as a big resource, we have no obligations toward the earth and the earth can be exploited and altered in any ways we wish.

Of course all these beliefs played a major role on development of the humans’ attitudes toward the nature. Humans, using science and technology together, have taken in charge to control and exploit the nature relying on their “God-given” rights. They believed that since God created everything on earth for the use of humans then humans have every right to exploit the earth with every tool they have, and the tools, they have now, are enormously powerful all because of the advancements in technology.

I think that we will not be able to find solutions to our environmental problems within the framework of our current science and technology. Because I agree with White that most of the problems that we have are created in the first place by our science and technology whose attitudes have been formed by Christian attitudes. I do not see a way to solve our problems “by just applying more science and more technology” without changing the attitudes behind our science and technology.

Vedat YOZKAT

References

Barlow, D., Chuck. Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review. “Why the Christian Right Must Protect the Environment: Theocentricity in Political Workplace.”

Footprint

From the very beginning, every element of the ecology has been altering its environment in one way or other. Some in small scales, some in larger scales, but everything that constitutes the earth has a contribution to the way the earth is right now. This is not only the case for the living organisms, but also is it the case for non-living forms of the ecology. For instance, who could deny the effects of the wind, the water or the sun to the formation of the environment as we know it. Rivers, for example, cause erosion, carry water for life to inland and contribute the formation of deltas. Volcanoes, to name another, cause major environmental changes in their vicinities. Similarly, animals change their environment so that the environment could be more suitable to their way of life. For example, birds make nests on trees and rabbits dig tunnels into the ground to protect themselves from the intruders and weather conditions. Because of the higher intelligent factor, in my opinion, humans have changed their environment more extravagantly than any other species on this planet.

The most major of the changes made by humans have occurred during the process of industrialization. Because of the improvements in the health services and medical advancement, industrialization led to a sharp increase in the population (“Humanity...”). In order to provide a better life for the increased population in the developed countries, technology has been intensively used to produce more food, more housing and more comfort on the expense of other things, such as people in less-developed countries, species with no commercial value, and ecosystems that are never thought to have any importance.

Some of these changes that humans have made are major changes that harm the environment greatly and it is doubtful that the environment ever will be able to repair itself. For example, as Rachel Carson indicated in her book, wide usage of chemicals has been harming the environment in many irreparable ways, and many species have been harmed by these changes in the environment (Carson). Carson claims that these chemicals cover the surface of the earth, get into the soil, get into the groundwater, and she adds that we might never be able to clean up these chemicals out of our precious water resources (Carson).

Other than the use of chemicals, humans are using fossil fuels to meet the increasing demands for energy in the industrialization process. Fossil fuels are formed in millions of years of time period, and they are limited. By using up these fossil fuels, we are taking something out of the environment that would take other millions of years to be replaced. And, by burning these fossil fuels, we are causing atmospheric pollution that would lead some harmful consequences. For example, scientists argue that because of the increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere caused by fossil fuel burning, global warming could be on its way. Scientists think that once this happens, the earth would never be the same. The weather conditions would change, flooding would occur in many coastal cities, some animals that cannot adjust the changes very rapidly would go extinct (“Humanity...”). As it is foreseen, most of these changes would be very harmful to the environment and humanity itself, and they are irreversible.

Since we are the only species that have moral values, and since we are the only species who could think about the consequences of an action before we take it, I think that we are obligated to use these unique skills of ours. I think that we are obligated to apply our moral values to the environment, and we have to see the fact that we are not superior to the nature but a part of it. Our moral values should be our guidance in our decision making process. We should ask this question to ourselves: who are we to decide this earth’s fate? We have to remember the fact that this earth has been here much longer than we ever came into the scene and it will be here after we are long gone.


Vedat YOZKAT




References

Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. Houghton Mifflin Co.
“Humanity: An Agent of Global Environmental Change.” One Earth One Future. National Academy Press. Washington, D.C.

Telecommuting

As the technology advances, now it is more possible to provide all job related tools and equipments at home. If all tools and equipments can be effectively used at home, then is it really necessary to go to a workplace?

Traditionally, a work place is designed to accommodate the need of the job required and the need of the employees. Nowadays, more and more business can be conducted at home without even have to be present in a workplace. More people are working in home-office environments and technology is helping them conduct their business as effective.

Advanced technology offers some tools to make it easier. Of course, Internet is offering great help for this type of businesses. Internet today is more available and much cheaper. In most countries, large bandwidth Internet is obtainable in residential areas also. This would help employees to access their corporates’ networks, use remote applications, conduct some tasks over the Internet etc. Furthermore, concepts such as cloud computing, web based applications etc help employees to use applications more securely, faster, cheaper and with more convenient licensing.

For corporations that require secure transactions, Virtual Private Network (VPN) applications are to rescue. VPN is much cheaper and widely available today. VPN or alike ensure users to access their corporate networks securely.

Communications tools such as video conferencing, IP telephony can also be easily set up at homes. Such communication tools now can be integrated to the corporates’ networks; therefore, even the employee works at home, all capabilities of the corporate’s communication network can be easily used at home. This would also help reduce travels to the clients, employees can directly communicate with the clients without leaving their homes.

Telecommuting offers great benefits, we can categorize these benefits under several categories: environmental, social, financial, personal, business, risk management.

For environmental benefits, we can easily say that, as the name applies, telecommuting eliminate the daily commute to work therefore it helps reducing the fossil fuel usage and helps environment by reducing CO emission. Furthermore, not having big business buildings also helps reducing energy consumption by eliminating the heating, cooling, lighting etc.

Telecommuting also offers some social benefits, overall traffic would be reduced, communities would start offering more jobs to the disabled, retired and people live in remote regions, employees would have opportunities to adopt better parenting practices, it would help employees to improve their social life by keeping the delicate work-life balance.

Financial benefits are one of the main reasons for corporations to adopt these practices. Telecommuting would help reducing the office space requirements substantially. This would lead to reduce cost of the property, rent or cost of ownership, cost of utilities, insurance etc. It would greatly lower the overhead expenses.

Telecommuting is said to promote employee’s morale. It would reduce employee’s absents and turnover rate, employees would have opportunity to have better time management.

Business wise, telecommuting provides some advantages too. Since there is no single location but the business locations are widely distributed, business can be conducted accross multiple timezones easily. In case of a disaster, disaster recovery could be initiated more easily and the business could be restored in a shorter time period.

Similarly, businesses that adopt telecommuting practices have better risk management. This type of businesses are more strong against natural disasters, terrorist attacks, wide spread illness etc. Furthermore, by eliminating the need for commuting everyday, traffic accidents are no longer a threat for employees.

Overall, telecommuting aim to empower colleagues without an office setting to conduct their jobs effectively and productively without compromising corporate standards. This in return provides countless benefits to the business itself.

Vedat YOZKAT