Research
Green and Serverless Cloud Computing:
Green cloud computing is a concept that revolves around the environment friendly aspect of cloud computing. The idea is to “reduce energy consumption” in order to “reduce the waste disposed to the environment” (Green, 2020). With an increase in standard cloud computing the consumption of energy has also increased. This energy increase has led to a significant rise in carbon emissions in the environment. With the implementation of green cloud computing there is hope for a decrease in energy usage and thus a decrease in carbon emissions. The overall goal for Green Cloud Computing is to “produce energy-saving digital ways” (Serverless, n.d.) to aid in the reduction of carbon emissions within our ecosystem. Serverless cloud computing is a perfect way for cloud computing to move toward a greener way of usage. Serverless cloud computing is the method of “providing backend services on an as-used basis.” Here users “purchase backend services on a flexible ‘pay-as-you-go’ basis” (Serverless, n.d.) where users are only required to pay for services they are using. In relation to green cloud computing, serverless cloud computing prevents the usage of servers being used all the time and “consolidates machine use by operating servers at a higher utilization rate than the traditional data centers” (Serverless, n.d). This means that energy usage decreases as hardware maintenance is removed and servers are not always running. Topics such as green cloud computing and serverless cloud computing relate to the material covered in class by following the concepts within AWS cloud computing. For instance, Amazon Web Services uses environmentally friendly methods to achieve the concept of green cloud computing. They are committed to “achieving 100% renewable energy usage for [their] global infrastructure” and are “3.6 times more energy efficient” (Sustainability, n.d.) than corresponding enterprise data centers. Amazon Web Services also offers serverless cloud computing that enables users to “build more agile applications” to “innovate and respond to change faster” (Sustainability, n.d.). AWS Lambda is a perfect example of serverless computing where “automatic scaling, built-in high availability, and a pay-for-value billing model” (Sustainability, n.d.) are offered. MIS3406 covers the subjects of auto-scaling and launch configuration and they relate to the topics of green cloud computing and serverless cloud computing with AWS’ pay-as-you-go method. Auto-scaling within AWS helps maintain application availability that creates or destroys EC2 instances according to demand conditions. Auto-scaling and launch configurations together allow users to pay only for the resources they consume when they consume them. Green cloud computing has been applied in practice in the recent years. Google, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services have been some of the big companies making investments towards clean energy productions. Companies like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services can promote the concept of green cloud computing around the world and properly implement or expand the use of serverless cloud computing within their services. With these services and methods, the world has a chance to see a greener and more efficient future.
Works Cited
Green Cloud Computing: An Easy 4 Step Beginner’s Guide. (2020, November 23). Retrieved from https://www.jigsawacademy.com/blogs/cloud-computing/green-cloud-computing/#:~:text=’Green Cloud Computing’, the,waste disposed to the environment.&text=The increase in energy consumption,data servers and other infrastructure.
Oberhaus, D. (n.d.). Amazon, Google, Microsoft: Here’s Who Has the Greenest Cloud. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-google-microsoft-green-clouds-and-hyperscale-data-centers/
Sustainability in the Cloud. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/environment/the-cloud?energyType=true
What is serverless computing? | Serverless definition. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/serverless/what-is-serverless/#:~:text=Serverless%20computing%20is%20a%20method,bandwidth%20or%20number%20of%20servers.