The underlying theory that cloud computing is more energy efficient than on-premises hosting is pretty sound, generally speaking: Cloud service providers have the advantage of economies (more users per server), as well as shared power and cooling resources. Additionally, their business model is based on providing services as efficiently as possible. INFOWORLD

By actively monitoring and understanding relevant marketplace trends, such as eco initiatives, system builders can align their offerings with customers’ critical needs and drive a conversation that establishes a deliberate connection between customer objectives and technology. CRN

BlackSky Computing, providing leading High Performance Computing (HPC) and storage system solutions purpose-built by users for users, unveiled their

new Apollo enterprise storage system for HPC at SIGGRAPH 2011 in Booth 1020.

The extreme performance and massively scalable Apollo enterprise storage system for HPC has a small, green footprint packing 180 TB in a 4U chassis

which can be easily expanded to support a single file system of over 2 Petabytes with no degradation in performance. The BlackSky storage system can

work with HPC data sets up to a blistering 80 Gb/s resulting in a storage system that has four times faster the I/O and one fourth the price of the leading

competitors. BENZINGA

OCZ Technology Highlights the Latest Enterprise-Class Solid State Drives at Flash Memory Summit 2011

With growing emphasis on cloud computing and big data, enterprises are contending with ever-increasing amounts of data, making OCZ’s high endurance

drives the pinnacle of performance, reliability, and security. The recently announced Z-Drive R4 PCIe SSD was developed to revolutionize data transfer rates

and bandwidth and address these enterprise storage challenges. Available in both half-height and full-height configurations, Z-Drive R4 is a truly unique

solution that combines hardware and software managed approaches with OCZ’s proprietary Virtualized Controller Architecture (VCA) 2.0. At the show OCZ

will be demonstrating the Z-Drive R4 PCIe SSDs running live within a range of servers from partners and clients. MARKETWATCH

Verizon will be proving ground for energy efficiency, green power

Along with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the giant telco plans to publish a series of blueprints for energy efficiency across buildings, data centers and the smart grid.

Telecommunications giant Verizon Communications has signed up with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to help build out a blueprint for green operations within the information and communications technology (ICT) industry. ZDNET

Onity’s Green Solutions Generate Cost-Savings at The Peabody Orlando Hotel

Onity’s SensorStat™ DDC Thermostat is part of an innovative Energy Management System installed at The Peabody Orlando hotel that will cut energy consumption, provide real-time temperature, occupancy and activity status and reduce operational costs. Onity, one of the world’s leading providers of electronic locking solutions, is a business of UTC Fire & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp. HOSPITALITYNET

The East Bay Green Job Corps (EBGJC) is offering a free 8-week bridge program designed to help young adults (ages 18 to 24) get the skills they need to enter green careers.

The program is a collaboration between Rising Sun Energy Center in Berkeley, Solar Richmond and Berkeley City College, and will run from Sept. 6 to Dec. 16 — with classes in Berkeley and internships in Oakland and Richmond. A total of 90 to 108 participants will be chosen for the 240-hour program, and will be paid for 100 of those hours. PATCH

China Intelligence Information Systems Signs Virtualization Project Agreement with Shandong Pengxiang Automobile

China Intelligence Information Systems, Inc. (“China Intelligence”) (OTCBB: IICN), who offers virtualization technology application and cloud computing products in the People’s Republic of China, today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Jinan Yinquan Technology Co., Ltd. (“Jinan Yinquan”), has signed a full virtualization project agreement with Shandong Pengxiang Automobile. The total value of the contract is $290,000.

Jinan Yinquan will install a full suite of virtualization infrastructure for Shandong Pengxiang including a datacenter, post-virtualization management and virtualized desktops. Installment will take approximately 20 days after which Shandong Pengxiang will enjoy such benefits as lower operating costs including a reduced number of servers, enhanced datacenter security, higher energy savings and an environmentally friendly solution with reduced carbon emissions. This agreement marks the second within the automotive industry for China Intelligence after successfully working with the Geely Group since February of 2010. PRNEWSWIRE

DOE takes innovative approach to data center consolidation

The Energy Department has forged a partnership with Lockheed Martin to increase energy efficiency through data center consolidation and IT enhancements.

The partnership is the first use of a federal Energy Savings Performance Contract to reach sustainability goals through improved IT practices, DOE and Lockheed Martin officials said. ESPC contracts let agencies embark on energy-savings projects without upfront capital costs and without special congressional appropriations. GCN

University of Sydney adopts desktop virtualisation

When the University of Sydney decided to deploy desktop virtualisation technology to improve computer services for students, it wanted a system that it could scale to meet its long-term needs.

It has 16 faculties, each with its own sub-set of schools and disciplines, which adds up to about 500 bits of curriculum-required software.

The university is creating a series of spaces within its new buildings that will allow students to use technology for collaboration and learning. To ensure the spaces met the objectives, the university needed a flexible technology platform. THEAUSTRALIAN

Last week’s Verdantix and AT&T report on the energy and carbon emission savings to come from cloud computing is the latest in a long line of studies stating the obvious: Shifting computing from inefficient, dispersed data centers to highly efficient, centralized cloud data centers should save everyone energy. But there are several data-center-efficiency metrics you will need to know to figure out how to differentiate green-cloud-marketing hype from reality. GIGAOM

Like others, it believes that the cloud approach can be inherently more energy-efficient than other IT infrastructure approaches. But it says that infrastructure and facilities professionals should take a stronger stand on the choices they make for private cloud infrastructure strategies, or cloud infrastructure that will serve a limited set of hand-chosen constituents versus the public at large. ZDNET

During the one-day event, organised by MP TFCI Events, discussions ranged from security over cloud, bringing down power consumption inside data centres, green initiatives in data centers, to emerging technologies such as cloud computing and virtualization. CIOL

With more and more ‘green’ practices being adopted, there is a need to develop a pool of highly trained Green IT professionals, it added. TIMES OF INDIA