Europe’s second largest Web host takes concrete steps to be energy efficient and climate friendly. Over the past 18 months STRATO has reduced energy consumption per customer by 30 percent. In addition, the company has joined The Green Grid to help raise energy efficiency in data centres. As of 2008 STRATO powers both data centres with environmentally compatible energy supplied by NaturEnergie. In addition to increasing the production of green energy, STRATO wants to see its share in the electricity market rise. STRATO’s responsible and clear-sighted approach is groundbreaking in the highly competitive Web hosting sector.
Active against exploding cost and the rising use of energy
Electricity has become the largest direct expense factor for IT. In consequence, many Web hosts purchase cheap energy produced in risky nuclear power plants or polluting coal-burning power-plants. But: Short-term savings do not help solve the problem. IT service providers need to raise their energy efficiency in order to be competitive in the long run. STRATO has successfully done so, especially in three areas: hardware, building services engineering and software.
High-performance and energy efficient hardware
STRATO relies on modern and energy efficient hardware made by renowned producers such as Sun Microsystems and AMD. The new shared Web hosting platform is based on Sun Microsystems T2000 servers with UltraSPARC T1 “Niagara” processors and ten times more energy efficient than the previous system.
Precise cooling
Using the cold corridor concept, warm and cold aisles allow for the highest conservation of energy: Cold air is sucked in at the front of the server. After passing the server, the heated air leaves the rear of the server and enters the air conditioning system again. Special covers and indicators keep the cold air in the cold aisles and thus ensure that only a part of the data centre is constantly cooled. In cooperation with the Technical University of Berlin STRATO wants to further optimise the airflow in both data centres.
Customised software
Although not as obvious, software can help conserve a lot of energy. STRATO’s Sun based shared Web hosting platform functions under Solaris 10 a program perfectly fit for STRATO’s purpose. Since Solaris 10 performs only necessary operations and since it needs only a few commands to do so the software saves 30 percent of energy in comparison to the old one. STRATO writes most of its software itself always bearing resource efficiency in mind. The self-developed spam filtering system, for example, is extremely secure and uses ten times less energy than conventional systems.
Shaping a climate-friendly future
STRATO has reduced electricity consumption per customer by thirty percent and is going to raise its energy efficiency even further. This pays off on STRATO’s balance sheet, the company’s ecological footprint and in the customer’s wallet. As of 2008 the Web host will be carbon-neutral due to CO2-free energy from NaturEnergie—at no extra cost for the customer. STRATO Web hosting is climate-friendly and affordable.
