Energy, Eco-debates for those of you way, way into Technology

posted by Dave Stangis on June 10, 2008

Some high level panelists and speakers from IDC, Microsoft, Sun, IBM, InfoWorld, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Intel and other reputable places will begin a series of on-line debates about the challenges and opportunities of energy efficient computing.

Now, don’t expect a lot of Al Gore or Bush Administration positioning, polar bears or penguins, carbon sequestration, or even cap and trade. These debates are for those folks that might get excited about…

-Alternating Current (AC) vs. Direct Current (DC) Power: Which power architecture is best? How efficient are they really? Where would one use DC instead of AC? Is high-efficiency AC as good as DC? Isn’t it easier to do? What about safety? Can we mix types? Cost to build? TCO? Reliability?

-Liquid vs. Air Cooling: We all know water is a better heat transfer fluid than air; does that make liquid cooling more efficient than air cooling? What does liquid cooling mean? Rack level, server level, or chip level? Isn’t a data center with airflow segregation more efficient than standard air cooling? What about the cost to buy and cost to run? Leaks and reliability?

-Thick vs. Thin Clients: The debaters will discuss the TCO analysis and energy efficiency of a thin client model versus their thicker alternatives.

So don’t say I didn’t warn you up front. This may not be for the CSR mainstream, but if you know the energy profile of AC vs. DC and what TCO means when it comes to thin clients – this might be for you.

If you are unable to join this event, please post any questions or comments that you may have for the speakers and we’ll be sure to pass them along. You can follow the online livecast here.

For additional detail please visit the registration page for the Eco-Technology Great Debate (no registration required for online attendees).

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tagged: csr, debate, eco-technology, energy efficient, Energy Star, ibm, infoworld, intel, IT, microsoft, sun