Go green with carbon-free webhosting - bit-tech.net Forums

Da Dego · 17th Aug 2007, 13:26

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/08...e_webhosting/1

If you're one of the environmentally conscience out there, then carbon-free webhost Solar Host might be to your liking.

samkiller42 · 17th Aug 2007, 13:36

Nice idea, would be nice to see more things like this.

Sam

Mother-Goose · 17th Aug 2007, 14:17

If anyone want's more information on it I've got a press release from Tom

Fruitloaf · 17th Aug 2007, 14:30

Is that 100% uptime until it gets cloudy?

DXR_13KE · 17th Aug 2007, 15:51

very interesting and cool..... lets see of they can survive.....

Mother-Goose · 17th Aug 2007, 16:06

Fruitloaf, I'm just guessing here, but solar energy is from daylight rather than direct sunlight

The_Pope · 17th Aug 2007, 16:53

Correct - it's photon-based, so cloudy days merely equal diminished performance rather than no juice at all. Plus, that's what batteries are for!

LeMaltor · 17th Aug 2007, 17:30

What building is this housed in? How was it built and by whom? Who works there now, how do they get to work? What do they eat, and where does it come from?

airchie · 17th Aug 2007, 17:39

Sounds like a good idea to me, with only one snag (which I hope I'm wrong about).
I thought solar panels were so harmful to the environment during manufacture, you'd need to use them for longer than their servicable life to offset the damage caused by their production.
Maybe newer techniques have resolved this?

-EVRE- · 17th Aug 2007, 18:42

.... I know how much solar power it takes to run a pair of wifi radios drawing about 5 watts total. At present a 25 watt panel has a little surplus power after a full sunny day. One cloudy day = about 4-8 sunny days of recovery for the batteries. This fall I am going to be investing in 75 more watts of solar at $5 a watt just to run 5 watts continuously.

If their web servers can be as efficient as my laptop at idle (20-30 watts) and only peak at 90 watts, my guess for one server the solar demand would be 800 watts solar per server.... or $4000 USD and thats without the cost of tracking mounts, charge regulators, inverters or batteries! A 5KW bank of batteries (*fuzzy memory on this, correct me if I'm wrong!) will cost about $10,000 USD and to spare your batteries an early death you should only use the top 75% of their capacity. Sooooo to run a small server farm will probably cost in the range of $100,000 +

kudos to that company for taking on such a financial burden to go green!

I wonder if they use any wind power...? would depend on how much wind they get annualy.
Lukily where I live I get a decent amount of wind. For my repeater station I'm also going to buy a 400 watt wind turbine to offset those long nights and cloudy days in the winter.

Mother-Goose · 17th Aug 2007, 19:50

I have spoken to Tom and he told me this:

"we are equipt with 60 days worth of battery backup - yes we can run in the night time and winter! We have a backup generator that runs on propane gas. Propane gas is cleaner burning than diesel, which is found at most other hosting companies. Propane does not emit large amounts of carbon dioxide and produces no sulfur dioxide or particulates which is the primary causes of the greenhouse effect and acid rain. In fact, propane also meets the standards set by the federal Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) for reducing acid rain and controlling air pollution in urban areas. The CAAA heralds propane as one of the solutions to a cleaner, healthier environment. And since propane vaporizes rapidly, it won't contaminate soil or groundwater. The generator is for emergency use only and is tested weekly."

completemadness · 17th Aug 2007, 20:11

Its a very nice idea, but i have to wonder how they get enough power from solar panels to power a data center, i mean were talking kilowatts here ....
"£95 a year for 2Gb of web space"

i know a host (that i usually use) that $6/mo ($60/year) for 200gb space, 2000gb bandwidth per month (inc unlimited email address and unlimited sql databases, users, etc etc)

Still if you want to do your bit for the environment, i guess if you want to pay the premium

hitman012 · 17th Aug 2007, 21:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Da Dego

If you're one of the environmentally conscience out there, then carbon-free webhost Solar Host might be to your liking.

Environmentally conscience?

Mother-Goose · 18th Aug 2007, 12:48

I think the idea is that even though you are paying a bit more, you are doing your bit towards reducing CO2 emissions, there is always going to be a price for that. It's the same with cars, it costs more to start with, but when it's main stream and defacto it will be cheaper.

HandMadeAndroid · 18th Aug 2007, 22:00

maybe if we all turned off ou

jezmck · 18th Aug 2007, 22:42

Dreamhost went green 4 months ago.
http://blog.dreamhost.com/2007/04/20/were-green/

DougEdey · 18th Aug 2007, 22:43

not really the same thing Jazzle. Dreamhost are buying out of it.

Alaskan Assassin · 19th Aug 2007, 05:45

and if, during the inevitable machine uprising, the skies are permanently darkened, how will we get our data?
(I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist.)

jezmck · 19th Aug 2007, 08:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by DougEdey

not really the same thing Jazzle. Dreamhost are buying out of it.

Oh I know that, but it's still a positive thing.

DougEdey · 19th Aug 2007, 08:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by jazzle

Oh I know that, but it's still a positive thing.

I don't agree with the whole carbon credits thing.

It becomes an extra income source for some companies and lets other companies get away with not reducing pollution even one iota.

17th Aug 2007, 13:26	#1
Da Dego Brett Thomas Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Cleveland, OH USA Posts: 3,906	Go green with carbon-free webhosting http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/08...e_webhosting/1 If you're one of the environmentally conscience out there, then carbon-free webhost Solar Host might be to your liking. __________________ "Frankly that seems overkill. iluvtrees2 arguing with spec is the intellectual equivalent of a bunny rabbit taking on a pissed-off lion." - Nexxo

17th Aug 2007, 13:36	#2
samkiller42 KEEP IT CLEAN! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Havant, Hampshire, England Posts: 3,188	Nice idea, would be nice to see more things like this. Sam __________________ The Rig: i7 920 D0, Gigabyte EX58-UD5, 12GB DDR3 1600mhz, BFG GTX295, Samsung 64gb SSD, WD 640gb Black, Samsung F2 Eco 1TB, Dell 3007WFP, Windows 7 RC. The Netbook: Samsung NC10 Black, Intel Atom, 2gb DDR2 Xbox Live: samkiller42¦PSN: samkiller42¦Bungie: samkiller42

17th Aug 2007, 14:17	#3
Mother-Goose Tories ftw! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: England - Surrey Posts: 3,750	If anyone want's more information on it I've got a press release from Tom __________________ Goose Q6600, Striker Extreme, 4GB 6400C4 Dominator DHX, Raptor X, 2x400GB spinpoints, BFG 8800GTX OC, Stacker 830 Evo, HX620, Nova T 500, Freezer 7 Pro

17th Aug 2007, 15:51	#5
DXR_13KE Madeira's banana is the best!!! Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Madeira ; Portugal Posts: 6,476	very interesting and cool..... lets see of they can survive..... __________________ *Renegade X - 0.40 Release!* <---- CLICK!

17th Aug 2007, 16:06	#6
Mother-Goose Tories ftw! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: England - Surrey Posts: 3,750	Fruitloaf, I'm just guessing here, but solar energy is from daylight rather than direct sunlight __________________ Goose Q6600, Striker Extreme, 4GB 6400C4 Dominator DHX, Raptor X, 2x400GB spinpoints, BFG 8800GTX OC, Stacker 830 Evo, HX620, Nova T 500, Freezer 7 Pro

17th Aug 2007, 14:30	#4
Fruitloaf Multimodder Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 112	Is that 100% uptime until it gets cloudy?

17th Aug 2007, 16:53	#7
The_Pope Geoff Richards Moderator Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: UK Posts: 2,089	Correct - it's photon-based, so cloudy days merely equal diminished performance rather than no juice at all. Plus, that's what batteries are for!

17th Aug 2007, 17:30	#8
LeMaltor >^_^< Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: No. Posts: 1,397	What building is this housed in? How was it built and by whom? Who works there now, how do they get to work? What do they eat, and where does it come from? __________________ Welcoming the riff-raff since February 2009.

17th Aug 2007, 18:42	#10
-EVRE- Supermodder Join Date: May 2004 Location: Idaho U.S.A Posts: 343	.... I know how much solar power it takes to run a pair of wifi radios drawing about 5 watts total. At present a 25 watt panel has a little surplus power after a full sunny day. One cloudy day = about 4-8 sunny days of recovery for the batteries. This fall I am going to be investing in 75 more watts of solar at $5 a watt just to run 5 watts continuously. If their web servers can be as efficient as my laptop at idle (20-30 watts) and only peak at 90 watts, my guess for one server the solar demand would be 800 watts solar per server.... or $4000 USD and thats without the cost of tracking mounts, charge regulators, inverters or batteries! A 5KW bank of batteries (*fuzzy memory on this, correct me if I'm wrong!) will cost about $10,000 USD and to spare your batteries an early death you should only use the top 75% of their capacity. Sooooo to run a small server farm will probably cost in the range of $100,000 + kudos to that company for taking on such a financial burden to go green! I wonder if they use any wind power...? would depend on how much wind they get annualy. Lukily where I live I get a decent amount of wind. For my repeater station I'm also going to buy a 400 watt wind turbine to offset those long nights and cloudy days in the winter. __________________ (Phenom II 940)(Foxcon A7DA)(8gb OCZ DDR2 800 )(8800gt aka hair dryer)(Big yellow case, CPU, GPU)(Enermax Liberty 500w)(lite-on DVD-RW w/LightScribe)(Seagate 300gb sata)(Seagate 320gb x2)(WD 200gb)(Dell 3007WFP 30"LCD, 19" Samsung, Acer 1280x720 projector)

17th Aug 2007, 19:50	#11
Mother-Goose Tories ftw! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: England - Surrey Posts: 3,750	I have spoken to Tom and he told me this: "we are equipt with 60 days worth of battery backup - yes we can run in the night time and winter! We have a backup generator that runs on propane gas. Propane gas is cleaner burning than diesel, which is found at most other hosting companies. Propane does not emit large amounts of carbon dioxide and produces no sulfur dioxide or particulates which is the primary causes of the greenhouse effect and acid rain. In fact, propane also meets the standards set by the federal Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) for reducing acid rain and controlling air pollution in urban areas. The CAAA heralds propane as one of the solutions to a cleaner, healthier environment. And since propane vaporizes rapidly, it won't contaminate soil or groundwater. The generator is for emergency use only and is tested weekly." __________________ Goose Q6600, Striker Extreme, 4GB 6400C4 Dominator DHX, Raptor X, 2x400GB spinpoints, BFG 8800GTX OC, Stacker 830 Evo, HX620, Nova T 500, Freezer 7 Pro

17th Aug 2007, 20:11	#12
completemadness Hypermodder Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 887	Its a very nice idea, but i have to wonder how they get enough power from solar panels to power a data center, i mean were talking kilowatts here .... "£95 a year for 2Gb of web space" i know a host (that i usually use) that $6/mo ($60/year) for 200gb space, 2000gb bandwidth per month (inc unlimited email address and unlimited sql databases, users, etc etc) Still if you want to do your bit for the environment, i guess if you want to pay the premium

18th Aug 2007, 12:48	#14
Mother-Goose Tories ftw! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: England - Surrey Posts: 3,750	I think the idea is that even though you are paying a bit more, you are doing your bit towards reducing CO2 emissions, there is always going to be a price for that. It's the same with cars, it costs more to start with, but when it's main stream and defacto it will be cheaper. __________________ Goose Q6600, Striker Extreme, 4GB 6400C4 Dominator DHX, Raptor X, 2x400GB spinpoints, BFG 8800GTX OC, Stacker 830 Evo, HX620, Nova T 500, Freezer 7 Pro

18th Aug 2007, 22:00	#15
HandMadeAndroid Multimodder Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Newcastle Posts: 125	maybe if we all turned off ou __________________ Give them cake

18th Aug 2007, 22:42	#16
jezmck ____ Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Whiteley, Hants Posts: 4,092	Dreamhost went green 4 months ago. http://blog.dreamhost.com/2007/04/20/were-green/ __________________ Have you seen The SketchUp Components Collection's latest items? Interested in a DXF Blueprints Collection? Discuss it here.

18th Aug 2007, 22:43	#17
DougEdey I pwn all your storage Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Southampton Posts: 13,933	not really the same thing Jazzle. Dreamhost are buying out of it. __________________ Burnout: Paradise Stats!XBL: DougEdey Bindi PSN ID: DougEdey Twitter

19th Aug 2007, 05:45	#18
Alaskan Assassin cooling? Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: guess Posts: 16	and if, during the inevitable machine uprising, the skies are permanently darkened, how will we get our data? (I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist.) __________________ CAPSLOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL. Posted at 4:06AM on Aug 17th 2006 by ZOMGCAPSLOCK