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Verne Global pledges greener cloud: No cost premium attached

Why cloud computing will inspire even more attention to green IT.
Written by Heather Clancy, Contributor

Here's a prediction for 2010: You're going to hear more and more about how green your business can make its cloud computing infrastructure strategy by choosing one data center over another.

Consider the example of Verne Global, which is building what it calls the first carbon-neutral data center campus, which is located on the former Naval Air Station Keflavik in Iceland.

Verne Global CEO Jeff Monroe says advances made in virtualization, remote management and high-speed bandwidth around the global -- all of which are critical for the adoption of cloud computing infrastructure -- have made his company's new Iceland facility possible. Cloud computing infrastructure in turn makes it possible for businesses to escape the "server-hugging mentality" that once required facilities be within a close drive of a company's headquarters.

There are three big reasons the company has chosen Iceland:

  1. Verne Global has access to 100 percent renewable energy from geothermal and hydroelectric sources
  2. The climate allows for year-round free cooling (no chiller plant required)
  3. The employee base is English-speaking and tech savvy, backed by a government-sponsored and installed fibre optic network

The facility in question is being constructed right now and we should hear soon about the anchor customer. There is no cost premium for this client: "We are green with no premium ... We can actually save them money by putting their servers in Iceland," Monroe says.

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