A newly-launched UK company has developed a piece of system management software that could help significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the information communication technology (ICT) sector, tackling the emissions and energy efficiency of even the smallest of data centres.
Warwick-based
Concurrent Thinking’s
technology integrates every aspect of monitoring and managing the largest
data centre to the smallest machine room at a price it says is affordable. According to Dr Michael Rudgyard, ceo and founder of Concurrent Thinking, the system can save 20 per cent of power usage "easily" and in many cases up to 80 per cent.
The
ICT sector is growing at such a rapid rate that its annual
carbon emissions risk overtaking that of the
aviation industry, which accounts for two per cent of worldwide
emissions.
Helping SMEsSet for launch later this year, Concurrent Thinking’s software could play a key part in reducing those annual emissions because its technology is suitable for
small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which make up a large proportion of data centres, and can typically find the cost of the more heavyweight data centre management software suites on the market too high.
"We have a unique angle and good piece of software built on the latest platforms, which is very easy to use," said Rydgyard. "It is suitable for small data centres and machine rooms with a single rack to five to 10 racks, of which there are a lot."
Rydgyard said entry level costs of Concurrent Thinking’s new software would amount to a "few thousand pounds".
Web 2.0-enabled software The remote, web 2.0-enabled software is accessed through a single, easy-to-use interface that can be managed from a handheld device. It enables data centre and
IT managers to optimise their distributed IT environment and pin-point problems such as overheating, high power usage or a lack of system
resources 'at a glance’.
Spun out of Streamline Computing Ltd, a high performance computer (HPC) software company, Concurrent Thinking is using software adapted from the HPC world, where single management systems are the norm.
"Data centres have traditionally been addressed on a point solutions basis, where for example you have a software solution to manage power and another to monitor temperatures. But if you really want to make a difference to
efficiency in data centres then you need a much more holistic system that monitors everything from power and environment to servers," said Rydgyard.
"The high performance computing space is traditionally about scientific computing – forecasting weather and that sort of thing – which requires this holistic approach."
Carbon Trust investmentConcurrent Thinking has just raised £1 million worth of
investment through the Carbon Trust, Mercia Fund, Streamline shareholder Midven and other investors. The new investment will enable the company to drive international
sales growth of its unique technology.
"Our aims are worldwide and to grow quickly and take on additional investment in coming years," said Rydgyard.
Peter Linthwaite, managing partner of CT Investment Partners, which advises Carbon Trust Investments, said: "Carbon Trust Investments is delighted to be backing a UK business that is poised for rapid growth and will make a meaningful difference to cutting the ICT sector’s carbon emissions."
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