Grid storage, also known as cloud computing, is rapidly becoming more popular. The ability to store and retrieve mass amounts of data for a very low cost is allowing for applications to be built faster and more reliably. It is a relatively new technology that is gaining popularity, especially among custom software development companies.

We have been testing the feasibility of moving our website BLAST! (Business Leaders in Action for Sustainability Today!) into the cloud over the last couple of weeks. BLAST! Is a not-for-profit community based program of like-minded businesses contributing ideas to create a better, cleaner, and greener work environment.

There has been lots of hype about cloud computing lately and some of that hype is centered around how cloud computing is better for the environment. So far I would say that cloud computing offers hope of being better for the environment (on the tech side there are lots of reasons why cloud computing makes sense). I say hope of being better vs. actually being better because there hasn't been enough time to do thoughtful studies BUT one thing that is understood is the way we currently run the ever increasing number of data centers isn't green! The EPA has estimated that data centers in the US use 61 billion kilowatt-hours or 1.5% of all electricity consumed and is estimated to double within 5 years. Data centers are so power hungry that the preferred facility location is near hydro-generated electricity. Companies that have large data centers actually fight to be the closest to power generation. Google alone is rumored to have 600,000 servers! Imagine what Google's electric bill is.

So how can cloud computing offer the promise of less energy consumption? The main advantage has a lot less to do with the technology directly but rather with the implementation. Cloud systems by design are decoupled from the physical hardware which offers the advantage of near instantaneous creation and destruction of a server (Virtual Server actually). Companies no longer have to scale to their anticipated max load but rather they can run exactly the right amount of hardware. So say you are an e-commerce company that sells solar panels and every year the week around Father's Day your sales triple. This extra demand requires an extra 10 servers. Because of the time it takes to purchase, set up, and configure those servers it is likely that you will keep them around all year. By being able to quickly commission and decommission servers you can increase and decrease your capacity on demand which saves power by not using electricity for servers sitting idle. This and some other technical advantages create the opportunity for significant savings as the industry matures. So in the end it is logical to bet on the solution that has the possibility of being better vs. staying with one that isn't going to improve.