Power consumption will cost more than computers in the future

A Google engineer has warned that if the performance per watt of today's computers doesn't improve, the electrical costs of running them could end up far greater than the initial hardware price tag.

Electricity consumption is proving to be one of the big issues for the data centre. We've already had 2005 as the year of the burn-up, with servers liable to overheat when compressed into the tight spaces required in the latest data centers. Electricity is shaping up to be the big theme of 2006. I'm predicting an even greater resurgence in interest in big iron and mainframes as their performance/electricity ratios are so much better than regular old blade servers.

If you're a CIO or IT manager, incidentally, you might like to read my Information Age article on how to make your computing facilities more environmentally friendly: save power, stop using so many resources and you'll save money as well as the planet. It covers the data centre in detail, as well as issues such as DC versus AC.

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