Data Center Metrics Demystified
Data center efficiency goes beyond knowing if servers are still up. These days, data center managers are accountable for energy usage, energy efficiency, compliance, regulation, and the list goes on. more

The Green Gold Rush Over Iceland’s Data Centers
There is a gold rush mentality right now when it comes to building data centers in Iceland, according to execs of the companies that have been moving into that market. The latest person to reference this phrase to me is Tate Cantrell, CTO of startup Verne Global, and he told me it’s not uncommon for his web-serving customers to bring up the description when asking about the industry. more

Carbon Footprint

At Verne Global, your carbon footprint will be a toeprint. If your company is one of the many adopting greener practices for regulatory or societal reasons, you will not find a better data center choice. Our green features contribute to a significant reduction in cooling costs and carbon emissions.

Far and away the best method of reducing carbon emissions is the use of zero-emission renewable energy. Since Iceland's electricity is 100% sourced from geothermal and hydroelectric power plants, the energy you use at Verne Global produces no carbon footprint. If you transfer 8MW of critical load power to a data center here, you would save approximately 50,000 metric tons of CO2 annually. This is equivalent to a savings of hundreds of thousands of USD annually if you were to purchase carbon offsets on carbon exchanges.

At Verne Global, not only is the power "green," but less of it is needed for the same amount of IT capacity. Iceland's relatively low ambient temperatures allow us to provide year-round, 100% free cooling. Our design uses variable-speed fan drives to efficiently support a wide range of low- to high-density cabinet deployments. Year-round free cooling allows you to minimize the effective PUE of your data center deployment. Energy for non-computing uses can be reduced by up to 80% compared to typical data centers.

Additionally, we believe in reducing overall energy consumption through optimization of data center design and server utilization. Our facility as well as our design and construction program are centered around LEED Gold standards, while meeting the stringent requirements of today's computing platforms. We follow and encourage our customers to follow the following best practices:
  • Efficient system design, including proper floor layout (e.g., hot-aisle/cold-aisle configurations), proper server software configuration and vented flooring
  • Rightsizing physical infrastructure to the IT load and reducing underutilized hardware infrastructure
  • Installation of power efficient equipment, including the use of technologies such as the latest generation of UPS systems, which are up to 70% more efficient
  • Adoption of server virtualization
  • Use of close-coupled cooling solutions when it is necessary to augment natural cooling