ho$ter

I don't think you can stop the Green movement, it's already gathered enough steam. I'm glad Web hosting companies are part of the solution.

There's a seminar for other tech companies coming up, if you're in the UK:
Interwise Brings Together Green Experts and Tech Innovators to Discuss Environmentally Responsible Business Practices

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JENNIFER MEARS
About two hours south of Los Angeles in the desert town of Romoland,
Calif,sitsa2,000- square-foot building made
of sheet metal. Gigantic solar arrays flank each side of the
structure that looks out on a dirt road, punctuated by a
single sign that says "Burro Crossing Next Mile."
It would be hard to guess that inside there are more than 300
servers hosting Web sites for some 12,000 clients worldwide.
It's not a typical location for a hosting service provider's data
center But Affordable Internet Services Online (AISO) isn't your

typical hosting service provider Instead of drawing energy
from traditional power sources, AISO is one of a growing number
of hosting firms that is thinking green when it comes to
power consumption. And it's one of just a very few that, despite
running businesses that depend on always-on service, actually
produces all the energy it needs on-site.
"We wanted to generate our own electricity and be more
self-sufficient," says Phil Nail, cofounder of AISO.
Also launched in 1997 with the aim of moving to solar energy
"We watched the kind of equipment we put in to make sure we
had the lowest power consumption possible," Nail says.
In 2001,A1SO invested $100,000 in the solar panels. Two huge
arrays — which contain dozens of 2-foot-square solar panels and
are each about 10 feet wide and 70 feet long — generate about 60
kilowatts of electricity per day enough to power the company's
operations. Nail says.The energy from the solar panels is fed into
battery banks, which then connect to servers and other equipment
via an APC UPS system that keeps the energy supply steady
At the same time,AISO is like most companies today in that it
is always looking for ways to reduce energy consumption. It is
migrating away from Intel servers and now 99% of its systems run
on lower-power-consuming AMD Opteron processors. Nail says. An
environmentally friendly cooling system draws in outside air once
the exterior temperature drops below 60 degrees, and about a
dozen solar tubes on the roof bring in sunlight to brighten the
building during the day, reducing the need to power artificial
lighting.
Nail estimates the company is

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saving about $3,000 per month in energy costs, compared with
what it would be paying if it were receiving a monthly electric bill.
In addition, the environmentally friendly business model is attracting
new customers.
"It has really brought in a lot of new clientele that are environmentally
conscious or their Web sites are," Nail says."Companies
are looking for this type of thing." MacGillivray Freeman Films, for
example, has long been committed to the environment, producing
movies such as "Mystery of the Nile" and "The Living Sea"
that aim to capture the preciousness of nature for giant Imax
screens. MacGillivray Freeman Films first signed on with AISO
in the late 1990s and was happy when the company made the
shift to solar energy "Our company clearly has a
mission to raise awareness of conservation issues in the world
and having this Web site powered via solar power is something
that we like and appreciate very much," says Mike Lutz, director
of distribution for MacGillivray Freeman Films in
Laguna Beach, Calif. While environmentally conscious
enterprises have focused for years on efforts such as recycling
to lessen business impacts on the environment, they now
can show their commitment to nature by letting customers know
that their Web sites are powered by renewable energy
MacGillivray Freeman Films has an image of a solar panel at the
bottom of its Web site and the words "Site hosted with 100%
solar energy "It's absolutely something that
we're proud of," Lutz says.'There are certainly a lot of other factors
that we think about when looking for a Web host, but hearing about
someone who has this type of program is pretty persuasive."
That type of customer demand is what is fueling a growing indus-

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I will post the full story later, gotta go research paper you know.

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