But Apple has embarked on an ambitious, and far from easy, task of building a new data centre in Maiden, North Carolina, that will be powered by 100% green energy, and not by any of the aforementioned methods. Instead, Apple has laid out a blueprint that combines a number of initiatives, including on-site generation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy sourcing, to achieve its 100% green goal.

The plans are significant, because it effectively represents the first 100% green data centre in more or less real world, albeit perhaps financially distorted, conditions – since Apple has the money to build a facility from scratch and to acquire enough land to build its own solar farm.

In terms of onsite generation, Apple says it will be able to generate about 60% of the projected 20MW needed to power the data centre from its own solar farm.

“We’re currently building two solar array installations in and around Maiden. These sites use high-efficiency solar cells and an advanced solar tracking system,” the company said on a dedicated page on the project. “A 100-acre, 20-megawatt installation on the same site as our data center will produce 42 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy annually. A 100-acre site located a few miles away will produce another 42 million kWh. Together that’s 84 million kWh of clean, renewable energy supplied annually. When our bio-gas-powered 5-megawatt fuel cell installation comes online later this year, it will provide more than 40 million kWh of renewable energy annually. This means Apple will be producing enough onsite renewable energy — 124 million kWh — to power the equivalent of 10,874 homes.”

Obviously, not many companies out there can easily justify the purchase of 200 acres of land and the solar panels to fit them out, but what Apple’s project represents is a proof of concept that such an endeavour is possible.

Direct access green power

But Apple doesn’t stop there. To power the remaining 40% of the Maiden facility, Apple will seek renewable energy from third party supplier. But instead of simply going out and buying RECs, which does not necessarily mean the power it is buying is from green sources, simply that an equivalent amount of green power is being generated somewhere, Apple is very specific about how it is going about buying green power.

According to Apple, it will be “directly purchasing clean, renewable energy generated by local and regional sources.” This is a paramount phase because it means that Apple will be buying energy that is in fact generated by renewable sources such as wind, solar, and bio-gas. Also, the fact it specifies ‘local and regional sources,’ means that it is supporting local green power initiatives, and consuming what is generated. This also minimises any losses to the power during long distance transmission.

“Directly purchasing clean local energy gives us the flexibility to meet our needs over time, helps us to ensure that our sources are reputable and responsible, and encourages local investment in renewable projects such as wind, solar, and bio-gas power in locations best suited for these resources,” the company said. “Adding renewable energy sources like these displaces dirtier energy sources from the grid. We’re also partnering with NC GreenPower — an independent, nonprofit organization created by the North Carolina Utilities Commission — to increase local renewable energy production throughout North Carolina. Today Apple’s largest project with NC GreenPower is helping the local landfill in Catawba County (located just three miles from the Maiden data center) to generate electricity using their waste methane gas.”

Energy efficiency

In addition to relying entirely on renewable energy, Apple will also minimise the energy requirements of the Maiden facility through a number of energy efficient measures. These include the use of a chilled water storage system to improve chiller efficiency by transferring 10,400 kWh of electricity consumption from peak to off-peak hours each day, the use of ‘free’ outside air cooling through a waterside economiser, a precision cool air distribution system, and cold air containment pods, a higher voltage power distribution to lessen losses, efficient LED lighting with motion sensors, and real time power monitoring for maximum efficiency. Apple has even gone as far as to put in a white roof to maximum solar reflectivity.

What’s important to remember is that each of these things are necessary parts to achieving Apple’s goal and each will take a lot of work, in terms of man hours, investment, logistics, operational complexity, and no doubt many other elements. Those are the challenges. That’s what it will take to get to zero carbon emissions for the data centre industry.

For Apple’s part, the Maiden site is not its first 100% green site. According to the company, its operations centres in Austin, Texas, Sacramento, California, and Cork, Ireland, as well as its Munich, Germany facility are also zero emission sites.

Apple is also planning to green two more data centres, a new one in Prineville, Oregon, and an existing site in Newark, California. For these sites, Apple will rely primarily on local direct access renewable energy.

The 48V Flatpack S is designed for applications like wireless base station, broadband, fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC), fiber-to-the building (FTTB) and wireless remote radio head (RRH) cabinets. It provides 95.5% power conversion efficiency and is housed in a standard-width telecom power shelf that is shallow (210 mm or 8.3”) and only 41.5 mm (1.6”) high.

The new Flatpack S rectifiers deliver 1000W of power and can be used in both the two-slot and three-slot Flatpack S power shelves. Additional systems with higher power ratings are planned for future release.

The Flatpack S shelves also can be equipped with 1000W, 24V rectifiers for industrial applications.

“As growing data traffic drives the rollout of high speed mobile and fixed data services, the load is pushed towards the edge of the network and space becomes an increasingly important issue,” said Morten Schoyen, chief marketing officer at Eltek. “The Flatpack S 48V delivers industry-leading high efficiency and power density, as well as advanced reliability and safety features in a small package that meets this demand.”

The Flatpack S systems are managed by the Smartpack S controller, which monitors all active components and batteries, and offers extra warning and alarm relay outputs for attaching other alarm sensors.  The controller has a large display for onsite setup, status and log access.  These functions can also be set and monitored remotely.

The Smartpack S also features an extensive list of battery health and monitoring algorithms to extend the life of battery backup systems and ensure backup power when it is needed.

The Flatpack S DC power system can be configured for a variety of output power levels to meet individual application requirements. It can be flush-mounted or mid-mounted, has two plug-in battery breaker positions, low voltage battery disconnect (LBVD) and several load options. In addition, there is a pull-out drawer for easy access to the connection points and cable strain relief.

The Flatpack S 48V rectifiers are available now from Eltek’s sales force and resellers worldwide.

Meanwhile, Eltek announced that it has entered into an alliance with Stored Energy Systems to provide ruggedized DC power systems based on Eltek’s high efficiency and scalable switchmode power conversion technology to demanding industrial customers.

Under the new alliance, SENS will integrate Eltek’s core Flatpack 2 rectifier and Smartpack controller products into DC systems hardened for the rigors of industrial environments, focusing primarily on the power generation, power transmission & distribution and industrial controls markets.

Cotecna is the foremost supplier of transit monitoring services with its Cotrack® solution, helping governments to fight fraud and secure the transport of sensitive merchandise such as petroleum products, according to the companies. Cotecna first installed Cotrack in Senegal in 2009 and is backed by more than 38 years of experience in customs and border control solutions and in the implementation and operation, in challenging environments, of complex solutions involving very specialized and advanced technologies.

For its part, Orange Business has over 200 dedicated experts working on M2M solutions, providing services that include consulting, design, innovation, integration, project management and service management.

M2M solutions from Orange allow machines, devices and objects to communicate in real time without human intervention and can be integrated with communication tools, such as the Internet, networks, and telephone systems, necessary for an optimal track and trace solution, Orange said, adding that it now offers a long-lasting, adapted SIM that can cope with extreme conditions and can be used anywhere in the world.

Through this Cotecna-Orange Business Services partnership, Cotecna will be able to propose specific Orange M2M solutions in many market segments. Already, the added value of this partnership has been clearly proven in the development of an exclusive turn-key transit monitoring solution, which has been successfully operating in the West African country of Togo since December 2011.

Pierre-Olivier Pellegrin, senior vice president Security & Inspection Technology, Cotecna, said:  “As a company that prides itself on its flexibility and ability to provide specific tailor-made solutions for our clients, the capability of Orange to supply such a comprehensive package of technologies across a global landscape is of utmost importance to Cotecna’s expansion.”

Helmut Reisinger, senior vice president, Orange Business Services Europe. “Orange has created M2M solutions in a wide spectrum of industry sectors. Our M2M and industry expertise provides a solid foundation for Cotecna’s plans to implement M2M solutions tailored to the secure transit monitoring industry. Business M2M is a perfect example of how Orange is helping customers like Cotecna use innovative technology to evolve their business models, even into fast growing emerging markets.

The new sites will handle a host of applications and services, including Medicare, Centrelink and Child Support, as well as the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

According to Minister for Human Services, Senator Kim Car, the project will merge 500 servers into just eight, thus improving utilisation rates, and lowering power and space requirements.

Fuelling that growth will be greater adoption, and availability, of cloud-based ERP and CRM  solutions, the report, published by Market Publishers, summarised.

“Among the key factors driving the expansion of the market one can name cost reduction, speed, flexibility and responsiveness, widespread adoption of internet, rising smartphone usage, indigenous innovation, and scope in (medium and small-sized enterprises) MSMEs,” the researchers noted.

The report finds that significant cost reduction motivates Chinese customers towards adopting cloud computing services. Also, nearly half of the survey respondents believe that cloud computing reduces upfront IT costs. In addition, faster computer processing speed and greater internet bandwidth drives the cloud computing in China. As china’s internet population estimated to rise by 17% during 2007–2015 propels the growing cloud computing market, mobile cloud computing market is also showing huge potential to grow owing to rising smartphone use and development of 3G/4G networks in China. Chinese indigenous companies have contributed to the growth of innovation in cloud computing. Many Chinese colleges and institutions have made indigenous technological innovation in cloud computing. China’s cloud computing market stands to capitalize upon the untapped potential in 47 mn domestic MSMEs.

“However, the growth of cloud computing in China could be challenged by the lack of expertise and knowledge among IT executives, lesser use of virtualization and data security concerns,” the report added. “Barely 14% of Chinese companies have adopted virtualization as compared to that of 74% in the U.S. Over 80% of Chinese executives consider data security threat as one of the major concerns in cloud computing.”

The award, in recognition of NTT Com’s green data centre initiaitves, is shared with Vigilent, who provided the intelligent energy management systems to reduce electricity consumption and carbon emissions, as well as to significantly cut energy costs, at NTT Com’s two largest North American data centres. The companies will be recognized in a joint award for Facility Product Deployment, which highlights facility infrastructure products that significantly improve data center energy and resource efficiency.

“Projects like this prove that the right technology can deliver both corporate sustainability and reduced energy costs,” said Andy Lawrence, program director of the Uptime Institute Symposium and research director of Eco-Efficient IT at the 451 Group.

Previously, NTT America/NTT Communications announced it is helping enterprises achieve their energy efficiency goals through the telecom industry’s first data center deployment of Bloom Energy Servers, which run on renewable biogas.

Using the Vigilent system to address its energy management, NTT Com expects to reduce its electricity consumption in North America by over 7.6 million kWh and carbon emissions by 8.8 million lbs. a year, saving the company a projected $630,000 annually in energy costs.

“After installing Polycom video solutions, our meeting culture has changed for the better. Now, employees of the 11 offices can meet face-to-face on a moment’s notice, regardless of where they are, which has really contributed to raising productivity and streamlining our business processes,” said Dongsoo Kim, Assistant Manager of General Affairs, Woori Investment and Securities.

The new system has established a new conferencing culture in which real-time video collaboration is considered an important tool across the company to improve meetings, enhance training and development, support product launches, and speed decision making, the companies said. Woori is currently looking to expand Polycom’s video conferencing solutions to its overseas branches.

In addition, Woori is now exploring ways to drive further competitive advantage with Polycom video, including innovative uses of the technology to improve customer service levels by offering private banking services to remote and mobile customers anytime, anywhere. The Polycom video system also provides greater product accessibility for customers and support more convenient customer consultation in compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). All financial institutions in Korea are required by the Financial Supervisory Service to follow the guidelines relating to the DDA and obtain appropriate certification.

According to Polycom, Woori selected its RealPresence Platform for its carrier-grade reliability, security, and scalability – supporting up to 25,000 concurrent sessions and 75,000 device registrations on up to 64 video servers. Another advantage is its open standards approach, which means more interoperability with other industry systems, and allows enterprises to extend existing video infrastructure investment.

Polycom’s system also uses the least bandwidth, the company said. “Because of Polycom’s many patented innovations (Polycom holds over 800 patents) and use of the H.264 High-Profile open standard, Polycom RealPresence video solutions use as much as 50-percent less bandwidth than competing solutions.”

Analyst firm Ovum however askes: “What is driving this new launch?”

Below is the comment from Ovum principal analyst at Ovum, Mark Little:

“With Google Drive, Google has recognised the potential of shared cloud storage as a consumer hub or open platform that can be central to developing third party apps such as video editing, sending faxes, and creating websites, with potential for a far greater range of applications from its busy community of third party developers.

“For Google the platform potential of Google Drive is of strategic importance, leveraging its developer strengths and competitive pricing (50% cheaper than Apple’s iCloud in some cases) to drive penetration of its cloud offering via both consumer and enterprise channels. This is a major challenge to Apple’s iCloud and others whose propositions are selling cloud storage as a useful ancillary to using their applications. The Google Drive proposition is the other way around, offering cloud storage as a core service from which users can access an ecosystem of highly useful applications.

“Sharing is the other key element that will create beneficial network effects for Google Drive and as usual cause an IP headache for content owners: books can be scanned and shared and even edited using the Optical Character Recognition software, and it will be interesting to see how shared storage impacts legal movie services. This is a strong strategic move on Google’s behalf but I expect it to be ‘working’ on the iOS version for some time yet.”

“The development towards a Networked Society is increasing complexity of networks and business for operators. It also creates a market more and more driven by consumer needs as consumers can choose from an abundance of brands, products and services when communicating, sharing, and socializing. As the capacity and capabilities of the networks’ opens up for new innovations and business opportunities competition is also increasing, or ‘the market is hyper competitive and highly dynamic,’ as Akshay Lamba, from Indian operator MTS put it. On top of this many operators face a financial pressure,” Ericsson said.

All that complexity means that network operators must now prioritise their operational focus.

“In this context the Managed Services model can play a vital part in operators’ strategies as it frees up resources and enable specialization, higher focus on user experience and customer relationships and improve innovation power, agility and speed. All key for sustainable business differentiation and success in the Networked Society,” added Ericsson.

Ericsson adds that the nature of managed services is also changing to adapt to more consumer-oriented services. Instead of traditional network operations-centric models, managed services is now shifting towards user and service-centric models.

“The main objective is not only to deliver on certain technical key performance indicators but to proactively assure that user services are delivered at the expected quality,” Ericsson said. “This shift of focus requires a broader, holistic perspective including the network, the IT environment, the applications and the devices as the user experience is determined by all these parts.”