Read the Case Study information and Watch the 3 videos below. As you watch the
videos, consider the impact of “big data” on the environment and the responsibility of
large online businesses to be socially responsible in terms of controlling both pollution
and global warming. Using what you’ve learned, do the following:
- Craft an argument identifying the 2 best techniques employed (by any of the 3
companies) to enhance environmental responsibility. The 2 best techniques do not have
to be from the same company. - Additionally, identify the technique from the case study narrative or videos that
you believe to be the LEAST effective in having a positive impact on the environment
and explain why. - Identify the company (of the 3 in this case study) that you believe to be most
environmentally responsible and briefly explain why.
Be sure to support your positions (in parts 1 & 2) with at least 2 external sources – these
sources can be used to support either your “best techniques” argument or your “least
effective” argument, but the textbook is not considered an external source.
Videos:
Facebook (Note that this video starts at a specific time where the data center is
discussed. You’re welcome to watch the entire video if you’d like.):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r97qdyQtIk&t=332sLinks to an external site.
Google:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voOK-1DLr00Links to an external site.
eBay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcD47Y-TQQw&t=9sLinks to an external site.
Case:
Consumers of technology constantly demand devices that are smaller, more efficient,
and more powerful than the ones they have. But most consumers don’t understand the
massive back-end infrastructure that powers their “front end” devices, like mobile
phones, smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers.
Take, for example, smartphones and tablet computers. iPhones, Androids, iPads, and
other tablets represent a trend in all forms of mobile technology towards smaller devices
that perform an increasingly large number of functions. But every time a smartphone or
tablet user connects to the Internet, places a call, or sends an instant message, it uses
power not only on their phone, but at every step of the infrastructure used to perform
that function. More often than not, data centers are intimately involved in any Internetbased communication.
In 2022, there were over 7 million data centers of all sizes worldwide. IDC estimates that
the number of data centers will eventually decline due to the growth of very large cloud
mega-data centers. Because most data centers use air conditioning of one sort or
another to keep operating temperatures of microprocessor chips within a safe range,
they are significant contributors to pollution and global warming. Many data centers do
not practice effective energy management and waste billions of kilowatt hours annually.
The growth of cloud computing, in particular streaming of music, television, and movies,
is expected to accelerate data center power consumption in the next ten years even as
the number of data centers declines.
Data centers are growing not only in number, but also in sheer size. For instance,
Facebook has a data center which covers approximately 1.1 million square feet and
contains thousands of servers. The cost of running large data centers is a significant
component of the overall IT budget of firms. There are two components to the energy
cost of data centers: the cost of running the computers, and the cost of cooling them.
For this reason, large-scale data center operators are seeking a variety of new ways to
cool their servers.
Of all the websites in the world, Google and YouTube may get the most hits per day, but
no site can top Facebook as far as raw traffic. Facebook is by far the “stickiest” of the
top sites, meaning its users spend more time per visit there, so it’s reasonable to argue
that no site has a greater need for a robust infrastructure than the social networking
giant. With a mind-boggling 2.9 billion monthly active users as of 2022, Facebook faces
computing demands that no other company has ever faced. Not only is their site traffic
unparalleled, but users are contributing 100s of petabytes of photos and videos on
Facebook each day, and that data requires storage.
To manage this demand, Facebook has 18 data centers around the world. They also
lease server space across the United States and worldwide. Facebook has chosen
locations that allow them to use environmental factors (such as cooling water from
rivers, and cooler northern climates) to reduce the costs of cooling computers, and to
minimize their carbon footprint. Each location consumes roughly 30 megawatts of
electricity. To ensure 100 percent uptime of the flagship Facebook site, each site has
backup power. For example, the Oregon location has 14 diesel generators capable of 3
megawatts apiece in case of a power generation failure.
A widely used method for assessing data center efficiency is Power Usage Effectiveness
(PUE). PUE measures the ratio of total facility energy divided by IT equipment energy in
watts. IT equipment refers to the computers and hard drives used in the facility. Total
facility power would include lighting, and cooling the computer equipment, a major cost.
PUE measures the energy used to power and cool a data center. In 2012, a typical data
center consumed 2 watts of total facility power to support 1 watt of IT equipment.
Today the number is much closer to 1.5 because of changes in IT equipment, and
