The smart grid has been termed a ‘digital infrastructure’ byizon and characterized by a “sdrittenenablement” by Dave Gerding. At the foundation of the smart grid is the premise of a large number of data sources that collection in no particular place and chronicling every aspect of human activity. These sources include data transmitted by people or buildings, devices or machines, and via the use of sensors. The data sources and the way these data is verified by the grid measurement tools is truly amazing.
At the beginning data was collected by silly wires, which were not very accurate, perhaps, a few decimal points maybe. But once electricity was applied the next step in the revolution was the battery powered meter, which allowed us for the first time to truly see what we were paying for. We had no idea what we were measuring, but we sure knew the effect it had on our infrastructure, and that it would not be long before we would be paying a thousand fold what we were now paying.
Then there was the invention of the dial up modem which allowed internet connections to be dialed directly without going through a computer. This meant that the connection speed would be one thousand times faster than normal.
Today, the smart grid has led to the creation of the electronic instrument that allows communication between sex robots. This instrument is a bit of a misnomer because while it can be utilized to measure and report the energy usage of an entire building it can also be utilized to monitor and control energy usage within a building. In other words, it can be used to reduce energy costs.
There are at least 50 peer energy management companies across the US, and hundreds more in operation. Some have not yet been embraced by the SMB community. It is also a fact that the energy that is wasted in operation is also wasted in the storage of that waste. But the biggest question is; “What can the SMB community do with that knowledge?
The first step the SMB community must take is to develop the understanding and tools for the comprehension of what is happening within their environments. The second step is to develop the tools and infrastructure necessary to support the reduction of energy usage. The third step is to empower the board of directors to make decisions based on real world information and their understanding of the situation.
Once the organizations have the fundamental knowledge, they need to begin to devise a plan to achieve the reduction. The first step for the SMB is to develop a comprehensive plan that will identify what upgrades or applications need to be performed, and/or new functionality or apps be created.
The next step is to find the resources to actually perform the upgrades. One option is to make use of virtualization whereby multiple virtual servers can be deployed and managed from one physical server. This will be beneficial for the organization but it will also translate into reduced energy consumption when some of the physical servers are inactive.
The next step is to actually deploy the virtual servers so that users can begin to use the applications. One advantage of virtualization is that it does not require any new hardware purchases for the new virtual servers.
Once the virtual servers are live, the next step is for the organization to exercise caution when it comes to energy consumption. It is not uncommon for energy experts and IT administrators to advice organizations to turn off the virtual servers while they are not being used because of their low energy consumption. The low powered servers will then be free to run, and can then be used for either data storage or internet facing applications.
Depending on the size of the organization, it may be that no matter what type of virtualization the organization decides to use, it is simply not cost effective to implement. Regardless of what virtualization the organization decides to use, it is important to understand that it is not creating a new method of handling energy, but rather a different approach to how energy is used in an organization.
Virtualization is simply a solution that aids in cutting energy costs. The average organization tends to switch to virtualization only when its existing system has shown signs of significant resource usage and the organization is experiencing significant CPU Sprawl. When virtual servers are deployed, it can provide for a number of regional storage locations and it can reduce the amount of servers that would be needed for storing large amounts of data. There are a number of different virtualization platforms, and various models are capable of adapting to the needs of different organizations.
Sprawl and Disk Fragmentation
Disk fragmentation refers to the practice where data files and programs are scattered and saved in different locations on a hard drive. This condition is illustrative of the fact that economical and technical measures can help in enhancing data storage efficiency. The resources that would be needed to store the data in the hard disk if consolidated can be done so much easier.
Sprawl can be defined as a state resulting from various causes.