What's green hosting??:confused:

Environmentally friendly hosting, Datacentres using renewable energy sources and servers that are low on electric consumption

pollution less or at least environment frndly hosting

Some hosting companies plant a number of trees each time they get a new account sign up.

Another way of looking at it is simply energy efficiency. The great thing about "green hosting" is that when a data center designs the infrastructure to be energy efficient it both reduces its carbon footprint as well as reducing operating cost. In the long run this translates to saving green by going green.

Green Hosting is environment friendly, now how cool is that? It helps lower pollution.

I dread to think about the power consumption of some of the larger datacentres. I guess we should all be doing our bit to host with companies that are using green technologies.

We have invested a large sum of money to go "green". At first it has cost us a lot of money but in the long run, it will begin to pay for itself and besides, we are helping save this dying planet.

Another way we have gone green is because we only use the newest technology in our servers, we donate used equipment to charities, schools and the like.

We are in the process of building a datacenter to go green but each module will cost a whopping $865,000. That too will be well worth it as opposed to places like The Planet that consume a lot of resources.

Google and Walmart are purchasing the type of module we are looking into so there is a future in going green even for datacenters.


<<Signature to be setup in your profile>>

Green hosting is definitely revolutionary.
I think it is important for us to conserve energy and reduce our carbon footprints. Go green and save our future generations and descendants.

This means NEW servers, right?

Energy is purchased off the grid with a % of "green" energy.

But really GREEN HOSTING just means using new servers that are energy efficient, as compared to older one.

Kinda like an old air conditioning system, refrigerator or TV.

Am I missing something?

green hosting may also mean that they know how to manage their business, their servers, there is no waste in useless software, focus on quality and in general avoid waste, money, resources. This ultimately means lower prices for you, efficiency, top server uptimes.

Green hosting as I know it is unmanaged and as energy efficient as possible.
There is a tendency for some eco cloud and vps technology but is rather complicated. The paradox is this stuff is that the extra pollution from this energy efficient servers comes from the transport and the production line. So this mean that a eco server will compensate the CO2 footprint in around 3-5 years depending on performance, then it will get obsolete and be replaced.
The eco part is tricky and highly complicated. To make a comparrison the guys on top gear made a outstanding descovery that is 100% real. A landrover made in great britain has a smaller CO2 footprint for 300.000 miles than a prius made in japan and driven in great britain plus the prius has batteries very dangerous to the enviroment.
So, to be on topic, the eco servers must be seen as a whole starting with the production line rather than the actual power consumption on the server.

With the backing of a respectable green web host, you can feel good about your role in saving the earth, since green web hosts use alternative / renewable energy, plant trees, recycling waste and purchase RECs to power their datacenters.

Thanks for all of this! Didn't want to pollute the forums with newbie questions, so it's great to find this info so easily.

Eviornmental friendly, datacenters using solar powers and planting trees etc.

As some have touched upon, it's actually a lot more complicated than it sounds, and requires a holistic perspective.

Many hosts simply buy carban credits. This is a good start, in offsetting your carbon footprint. However, as others have suggested, it is much better to actually increase efficiency in the first place. So instead of offseting normal consumption, you're reducing your energy demand, and then if you want to support eco projects and plant trees as well, great.

There are many issues too. Like Anynaseo said about the Prius, which is very true. I personally think the Prius etc is good though, because it's a stepping stone, and in the long run, hrybrid and electric vehicles will have less of a total lifespan impact than the alternatives. But it illustrates that the wider picture needs to be looked at. And just as safe battery recyling/disposal is paramount to ensuring that the so called green move isn't causing more harm, the lifespan of alternative energy sources and their manufacture should be carefully considred too.

For example, solar panels are made from rare earth minerals, and the cost of their production both in energy and environmental terms should be considered with regard to the effective lifespan of the product. And when the product comes to the end of its lifespan, it needs to be handled effectively and recyled so as not to pose an environmental risk.

True green web hosting requires the host to take into full consideration its Corporate Social Responsibility, the waste it produces, how it manages that waste, its energy consumption, the source of that energy, the efficiency of its equipments vs the energy/environmental cost of producing that equipment and so forth.

Another topic rarely touched on is the environmental impact of renewable energy. And I call it that, and not green energy which it is often mislabelled as, because the environmental impact of that energy source should be considered.
For example the WWF, the worlds largest conservation charitable foundation, tries to raise awareness of the damage certain renewable energy can have on local wildlife and ecosystems.
Whilst the renewable energy might help by not contributing to the world's carbon output, wind turbines can kill birds, tidal generators can damage delicate marine ecosystems, and massive damns such as that in china, which produces about a third of all of its energy, can require the flooding and destruction of land on which various flora and fauna depend.

So to be truely green, a web host needs to consider carefully every aspect of its operation, and should look carefully at the projects it supports in the purchase of carbon credits and the source of its renewable energy, and the impact it may have.

Some further reading that may be of interest:
Unfortunately I can't post urls yet, so look up "Corporate_social_responsibility" on wikipedia if you're interested.

And for WWF's input, you can search "wwf uk renewable energy" and choose the second link, which is hopefully their policy position on renewables.

Whilst simply buying carbon credits without much thought might make you feel good, and is used by many hosts to claim they're green, careful thought and consideration is required to truely make a positive impact. So do some research, and come to your own conclusions.

All of us hosters are going to melt the ice caps. Oh No, can it not be so?

Green hosting is ok, but who will pay for this?
If in some country is program for implementing green things , then ok.
But in general green things is expensive, but users always asking cheapest prices...

I think the most enviroment friendly hosting, with good surroindings.

I don't think the OP is monitoring this thread, so closed to prevent further bumping.