[LINK] Data Centre Green Technology Conference in Melbourne

[Tom Worthington]

Bernard Robertson-Dunn wrote:
> ... The complexity of data centres lies, not in what's inside a data
> centre, but in the non-functional requirements ... None of which you
> mention. ...'

My talk is for a green data centres conference so that is what I have to 
talk about. They have found some more speakers: 
<http://www.dcgtasia.com/dcgt_melbourne_overview.html>.

I agree there are bigger issues and, prompted by you, I have added a 
slide on that to the talk (appended).

> An HP sponsored project and in which you are cited ...

I can't quote your KPMG report unless the government releases it. The HP
sponsored material is not perfect, but has the virtue of being
available. I can't take credit for the work, as I only provided a
few comments on the draft: 
<http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/SustainableIT.aspx>.

> ... I doubt that it will be released outside the public service and
> its release is not a necessary condition for its implementation,
> which has already started. ...

After a hunt around I found a policy document describing the Queensland
Government's data centre strategy and have mentioned that:
<http://www.qgcio.qld.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/Architecture%20and%20Standards/QGEA%202.0/Data%20Centre%20policy.pdf>. 


But like the federal government strategy, the actual Queensland
government strategy is not made public:
<http://www.qgcio.qld.gov.au/qgcio/strategies/Pages/datacentre.aspx>.

It is unfortunate these government data centres strategies are not made
public. Apart from the loss of this government funded advice to the
public who paid for it, most people engaged in ICT development in
government agencies will not have access to it. This will result in a
poorer policy and less effective implementation. The Australian and
Queensland governments should release these reports, in the public interest.

Hopefully the federal data centres strategy is better than the last KPMG 
report for government I read, which was the "Access Card Business Case": 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/technology/it/smartcard/>.
The ACS council was briefed on this project by the then Minister's 
advisor and I had a chance to discuss it briefly with the Minister. My 
advice was "don't do it". Fortunately the project was abandoned when 
they lost the election and the new government is implementing a system 
along the lines suggested.


---
Good Business is Green

     * ... economies of scale through consolidation of small data 
centres to a shared facility ...
     * ... consolidation to shared infrastructure, such as servers, 
storage and networks ...

From: Data Centres Policy, Queensland Department of Public Works, 
December 2009 v1.0.0

Notes:
The key to green data centres, and green ICT in general, is not 
sophisticated energy saving technology, but policies for efficient use 
of resources. To use energy and materials efficiently and thus be green, 
data centres need sufficient economies of scale. This is noted in the 
Queensland Government's Data Centres Policy. The Australian Government 
has a similar strategy prepared by KPMG, in response to the Gershon 
Report, but which has not been publicly released.
---

-- 
Tom Worthington FACS HLM, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
Adjunct Lecturer, The Australian National University t: 02 61255694
Computer Science http://cs.anu.edu.au/user/3890