STEM and green IT

Most students know about Information Technology (IT) through the use of their PCs, laptops, IPads, smart phones, and all the social media used with those devices. Thus energy efficient IT (or Green IT), is an area that should grab their interest. Most schools in the U.S. use IT as a tool with their instruction. The student will need to understand the basics on data centers since data centers house the servers that students access when they use Google, Facebook, or any of the many Internet applications used by all users, young and old. This paper provides an overview on how Green IT is an excellent topic for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). An important aspect of the STEM project would be data centers. Data centers are found in nearly every sector of the economy including financial services, media, high-tech, universities, and government institutions. Dramatic server growth at data centers is indicated by well known web services such as Google, Amazon, and eBay. Estimates indicate that Google maintains over 450,000 servers, arranged in racks located in clusters in cities around the world. Google has major data centers in California, Virginia, Georgia, Ireland, and new facilities in Oregon and Belgium. In 2009 Google opened one of its first sites in the upper Midwest in Council Bluffs, Iowa, close to abundant wind power resources for fulfilling green energy objectives and proximate to fiber optic communications links. There are also thousands of servers for Amazon.com and eBay. It is estimated that the Second Life Internet-based virtual world launched in 2003 has over 9,000 servers. Even with these large numbers of current servers, IBM Consulting estimates that in the next decade server shipments will grow by six times and data storage by an amazing 69-fold. Green energy efficient data centers will help us reduce greenhouse gases – which in turn will help reduce global warming. The ongoing UN and White House sessions on climate change emphasize the environmental importance of green projects. Although the extent of the Global Warming danger may continue to be open to debate, implementing Green Data Centers presents a significant opportunity for all of us to help reduce greenhouse gasses. This paper will bring in case studies based on the authors experiences with energy efficient computing and experiences discussing Green IT with STEM students.