Varnish Software: The Environment Needs Efficient Cloud Computing

Will climate change also change the way IT companies do business? Varnish Cache says it is already urging organizations to build more efficiency into their software in the interest of leaving lighter electronic footprints.

Varnish develops caching software designed to make servers more efficient. The company pitched its solutions in a recent blog post, in which it argued that consumers and companies alike are growing increasingly concerned with the environmental impact of computing.

Traditionally, the energy used to deliver content over the Web or via the cloud is not something most users thought much about. Personal computers themselves use relatively little energy. But massive amounts of electricity are required to power and cool the servers that store cloud data.

That is changing, Varnish says. “Discussion has reached fever pitch,” according to the company, which noted that part of the debate is about “clean” vs. unclean sources of electricity. However, the conversation is increasingly shifting toward how energy use overall can be made more efficient.

It makes sense for a company like Varnish to play up this angle to promote the products it sells, of course. But before dismissing the blog post as a sly attempt to profit from concern about climate change, it’s worth considering how it reflects similar moves.

Not long ago, we covered a high-performance computing device, the Q.Rad, designed to heat homes and crunch numbers at the same time. And as Varnish noted in its blog post, the Atlantic last week rolled out a long article about the IT industry and energy efficiency. Against this backdrop, Varnish is not a lone climate-change profiteer.

The effects of climate change on the disaster-recovery sector became clear in the wake of storms like Hurricane Sandy. Now, the discussion seems to be broadening. Energy-efficient computing may well emerge as an important trend going forward.