The drive for Net Zero means that every business process is under scrutiny – including IT. Every byte of data stored requires energy, and the collective carbon emissions from global data centres are substantial.
Making data storage more environmentally is now a significant, board-level KPI. To assist, NetApp has identified four key strategies for reducing the carbon footprint of your data storage infrastructure.
1. Reassess your storage strategy
The age of Big Data has encouraged businesses to collect and store as much information as they can. Compliance issues aside, storing unneeded data simply increases energy consumption in data centres. Your business should audit its data estate to identify what is truly necessary for your operations and eliminate the rest.
The next step is to be smarter about where the remaining data is stored. Data centres in regions with cooler climates or powered by renewable energy sources tend to be far more carbon-efficient, reducing the environmental impact of information stored there. For instance, storing data in countries like Iceland, where infrastructure often runs on geothermal or hydroelectric power, can significantly reduce your carbon footprint. Take the time to research data centre providers that operate in carbon-efficient locations or have robust commitments to sustainability.
2. Review your data infrastructure
Without first understanding your current data infrastructure and its environmental impact, you cannot accurately identify improvements. This includes knowing the energy consumption of your servers, where your data is stored, and how often it is accessed. Many businesses lack a full grasp of these factors, making it difficult to take strategic action toward reducing carbon emissions.
Monitoring energy usage across your data infrastructure will help you identify energy hotspots and take action where it’s most needed. For example, data that is frequently accessed might need to be stored on more efficient servers, while rarely accessed data could be moved to less energy-intensive storage solutions.
3. Adopt energy-efficient on-premises solutions
Upgrading to more energy-efficient hardware can make a significant difference. NetApp solutions are designed with energy efficiency in mind, offering higher storage capacities with lower energy consumption. By switching to more efficient hardware, you can cut down on energy without compromising on capacity.
Adjusting on-prem cooling to deliver better or using energy-efficient cooling technologies, can further reduce the carbon footprint of your data storage. Any upfront investment in on-prem hardware should deliver long-term savings in energy costs and carbon emissions.
4. Get smarter with cloud services
Cloud storage offers an incredibly efficient and scalable way to manage data. Many providers now offer tiered storage solutions, storing frequently accessed data on high-performance servers while moving rarely accessed data to low-energy, high-capacity servers. This kind of tiered storage helps minimise energy use (and cost) without sacrificing performance.
NetApp Cloud has made strong commitments to reducing carbon emissions from their data centres. NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP is significantly more sustainable than traditional data storage methods.
Sustainability in computing is a multi-stage process
Sadly, sustainable IT is not a simple transition. Minimising your corporate carbon footprint takes diligence, planning and effort – but these four steps will point you in the right direction.
To learn more about planning for a zero-carbon storage future and sustainability in computing please give the WTL team a call.