The Green Web Hosting Movement Marches On

The Green Web Hosting Movement Marches On

Green Web hosting has come to be a pretty coarse term these days, with a multitude of fellowships proudly taking on the article and promoting clean renewable methods of powering their data centers. Plug in the term "green Web hosting" on the Internet and an spectacular, number of sites will display, promising technologies such as "wind powered hosting," "solar powered servers" or "sustainable websites." TopHosts took a closer look at this new hosting store and at what it truly takes to uphold this environmental stamp of approval.

Phil Nail, Technology manager of Affordable Internet Services Online (Aiso.net) told TopHosts that they currently stand alone within the commerce as a truly green Web host. The company provides a 100% solar powered operation, their own environmentally amiable designed data center, and a redundant solar powered network, on their own land in Romoland, California.

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Their steel framed data town - with no wood except for the door frames - maintains 120 solar panels on two large sets of arrays, capable of generating up to 60 kilowatts of electricity each day. Through its commitment to solar hosting, and Through discrete other clean, renewable practices, Aiso's system eliminates the production of 19,890 pounds of Carbon Dioxide (greenhouse gas) per year, 5.9 pounds of Nitrous Oxide (Nox/smog) per year, and 0.45 pounds of Sulfur Dioxide (acid rain) per year - equivalent to planting 3.5 acres of trees per year. And all the while, Nail says Aiso supplies Web hosting plans comparable in price and just as trustworthy as any other company out there.

Degrees of Green Hosting

But while more green hosting fellowships hit the scene, Nail warns most are not as environmentally committed as they appear. "We check everyday and haven't found anybody else that certainly has green power at their facility," Nail said. "You certainly have to read between the lines to see what they certainly have and then finally you see - green credits."

In fact, what makes the vast majority of these Web hosts green is the buy of renewable vigor earnings (Rec). Web hosts audit the number of harmful greenhouse-gas producing vigor they use, and then buy Recs which fund and sustain the production of renewable vigor across the country. This process is said to offset the number of greenhouse gases produced by the Web host, which allow these fellowships to label themselves "green", Nail explained.

According to Aiso's website, many of the so-called green Web hosts out there don't run any environmentally amiable technologies at all, but instead buy Recs as a marketing tactic in hopes of making you think they're helping the environment. Aiso says many Recs merely go toward helping polluting power fellowships boost their green portfolios and meet Epa or government guidelines. "One of the things that has to change is these fellowships have to stop seeing to original power and data centers. They have to buy their own structure and land and use their own green services... And buying green earnings doesn't make your company green," Nail said.

Green Hosting Compromise

Yet Greg Willson, an Environmental Engineer with PlanetMind.net, a green Web hosting provider, says installing solar panels or constructing wind turbines isn't exactly a viable choice for every Web host at the moment. Without more government help and subsidies, entry costs for implementing renewable technologies can be high and difficult without the proper land, location and money. Willson says purchasing Recs, while employing as many environmentally sound practices as possible, is also a essential part of the green Web hosting movement.

"If a company and employees are true in their own minds about being green and are committed... And help fund green technology they're helping the hereafter of the (Web hosting) industry... They're setting the example now," Willson said.

Wind and Solar Hosting

Planetmind works with a renewable vigor retailer that promotes the improvement of wind energy. Electricity bills are a bit more costly but the venture ensures that money goes directly to wind farms in the U.S.

David Hardy, also of Planetmind, thinks wind power holds a lot of potential as a source of considerable green energy, so funding it helps the cause. Yet, it remains out of reach for the median company. "Wind is tough, you certainly need the right location. It's more considerable for the power fellowships to handle," Hardy said. "But solar isn't out of reach at all for the median company."

Planetmind favors solar power because it can be generated locally and because the cost to install solar panels is currently dropping. Planetmind, in the small mountain community of Nederland, Colorado, generates their own local solar power of about 250 Watts of photovoltaic - enough to power their solar hosting servers and their EcoMail aid of about 1,500 accounts.

Carbon Neutral Web Hosting

Even large-scale hosting operations, like Rackspace Managed Hosting, are seeing greener ways of doing business. In late 2006, Rackspace announced the Uk's first carbon neutral Web hosting service. Together with the International Tree Foundation, for every online application hosted by Rackspace that opts into the program, one tree will be planted for every server used. That equates to between 200-300 servers a month, Rackspace said, which will offset the carbon emissions produced by each customer's hosting solution.

Jacques Greyling, managing director of Rackspace Managed Hosting stated: "Rackspace's clients, which consist of everything from blue chip, multi-national enterprises to innovative start-ups, are increasingly seeing at ways to minimize the negative impact they have on the environment."

Of course, it's not exactly green Web hosting, but the attention paid to the environment by a larger performance such as Rackspace's reflects perhaps a promising hereafter for ecologically aware hosting solutions.

Related Reading: See how server manufacturers and other Web hosts are using technology to save vigor and money.

The Green Web Hosting Movement Marches On

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