I use a number of web hosts. Website hosting is big business and the server farms involved are huge. You’re looking at racks and racks of servers in huge air conditioned rooms with CCTV and 24 hour security. All that costs money, and energy.
When choosing your web hosting provider there are a number of things to consider. The most obvious is whether to go with Microsoft technologies, IIS & SQL Server or to go with Apache and MYSQL. There are of course other factors including hosting location and price. Something that never occurred to me before regarding web hosting was the energy efficient nature of some web hosts compared to others.
That’s the reason for this blog post. I was playing around in the 1and1 control panel and stumbled across their green credentials.
1&1 state they are the first large web host who relies solely on renewable energy. They go on to say,
At 1&1 we believe in a sustainable society for all and that every business has a role in this responsibility. We have therefore made a strong commitment to fight pollution and preserve our natural resources. 1&1 now uses wind, water and solar power in accordance with the Renewable Energy Certification System (RECS).
1and1 also mention they currently operate around 40,000 servers running a bespoke operating system based on Linux technologies, which consume 50-60 Gigawatts per hour (GWh). That’s a lot of juice and therefore a really amazing commitment to renewable energy and energy efficiency, apparently the custom operating system helps with resource management and there’s open air cooling when the outside temperatures permit. They go further to state they have achieved less than 20% heat loss which is one of the best in the industry.
In closing the 1and1 website article states,
By hosting your site with 1&1, you choose an environmentally sound and sustainable future and directly support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions that come from conventional power plants.
That’s pretty cool stuff and something the rest of the industry should be looking to duplicate. Off the grid internet worldwide would be awesome. Oh and their web hosting packages start from as little as £1.99 per month – bargain!
You can see their current sign-up offers here.
Dan (@HungryCodeMonke)
We have just began our endeavors and found your site very helpful.
Seems the easiest way to make extra money in the present economy is to hold onto more of what you have already earned. Solar energy has been one of these methods to cut cost.
Our 11 year old daughter got us interested in the whole “green energy ” thing.
After several class projects and now coupled with the information we have found here and other sites, we are definitely rockin and rollin.
Thanks for sharing your resources with us!
Blessings!
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