The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is wrapping up work on an Energy Star program for data centers that it hopes to launch in June, EPA officials said this week.

IBM has opened a football field-size data center in North Carolina it says will rely heavily on outside air for cooling as it turns up the heat inside, gradually.

After a huge spike a few years ago, better power-management tools, multicore chips and advanced power supplies have helped keep temps down. But, ironically, virtualization may make things hotter again.

By Reuven Cohen

As we end 2009 and prepare for the next decade there seems to be a nagging question, a question that I have to say, I frequently answer without any concrete proof. A question that seems to be becoming more important then ever. The question is simple yet profound in its implications as a global citizen, is cloud computing actually environmentally friendly?

A large data center co-location provider in Phoenix is starting an ambitious project to cover its roof in solar panels.

While the acquisition cost for servers is declining, the total cost of ownership for housing, powering, and cooling them has increased by 500 percent since 2000. Yet research from the Uptime Institute reveals that 60 percent of the available cooling in a typical computer room is wasted due to airflow losses, also called "bypass airflow." The upshot: You are likely spending more money on energy than necessary because of the inefficiencies created by over-capacity and poor conditioned airflow management.

While the acquisition cost for servers is declining, the total cost of ownership for housing, powering and cooling them has increased by 500% since 2000. Yet research from the Uptime Institute reveals that 60% of the available cooling in a typical computer room is wasted due to airflow losses, also called "bypass airflow."

Intel is honing its sights on many-core chips that are far more powerful than today's dual and quad-core processors. As expected, Intel took a big step in that direction today by unveiling a 48-core research chip that it says is 10 to 20 times more powerful than current the top end offering in its multi-core Core line of processors. Intel also noted that the experimental chip uses the same amount of energy as two household light bulbs.

Energy, staffing, and hardware costs lead the list of worsening challenges facing data center managers, research firm says.

Uninterruptible power supply systems from APC target energy efficiencies in network closets and server rooms.