Large-scale Distributed Systems and Energy Efficiency: A Holistic View

Chapter 1Introduction to Energy Efficiency in Large-Scale Distributed Systems

Jean-Marc Pierson¹ and Helmut Hlavacs²

¹IRIT, University of Toulouse, France

²Faculty of Computer Science, University of Vienna, Austria

1.1 Energy Consumption Status

The demand for research in energy efficiency in large-scale systems is supported by several incentives [1–3], including financial incentives by government or institutions to energy efficient industries/companies [4–5]. Indeed, studies such as [6] reported already in 2006 that the information technology (IT) consumption accounts for 5% to 10% of the growing global electricity demand and for a mere 2% of the energy while data centers alone account for 14% of the information and communication technology (ICT) footprint. It was projected that by 2020, the energy demand of data centers will represent 18% of the ICT footprint, the carbon footprint rising at an annual 7% pace, doubling between 2007 and 2020 [7]. The study of Koomey [8] in 2011 highlights that the rise of energy consumption is not as bad as expected in 2007: between 2005 and 2010, the electricity demand for data centers increased by (only) about 56% worldwide instead of the projected doubling and even as low as 36% in the United States. Altogether the electricity used worldwide for operating data centers in 2010 accounted for about 1.3% of total electricity use.

The past 5 years have witnessed the increase of research focusing especially in energy reduction. While being a major ...