Thursday 24 May 2018

Microsoft Cloud could provide sunny outlook for low carbon data

Microsoft says its cloud technology offers significant energy and carbon emissions reductions compared to companies storing information in on-premises data centres.

The global technology firm claims its online solution is around 93% more energy efficient and up to 98% more carbon efficient, thanks to extensive investments in smart 'chip-to-data centre' infrastructure, its adoption of renewable energy and efficient operational practices.

It defines cloud technology as "large-scale, shared IT infrastructure available over the internet".

The firm says the efficiencies it offers translate into both energy and carbon savings for customers using Microsoft Cloud services and the company itself.

It has reduced its power demand by fitting multiple users' data onto single servers, reducing the amount of servers needing to be running and using energy at any one time.

The technology multinational also says it offers improved matching of server capacity with actual demand to minimise waste.

Brad Smith, President and Chief Legal Officer at Microsoft, said: "The world is producing more data than ever, making our infrastructure decisions about how to power this digital transformation incredibly important.

"Today’s report confirms what we’ve long believed — that investing in sustainability is good for business, good for customers and good for the planet."