Cutting the cloud computing carbon cost

Optimizing cloud computing data centers to reduce energy demands and pollution

2014-09-12

(Press-News.org) Cloud computing involves displacing data storage and processing from the user's computer on to remote servers. It can provide users with more storage space and computing power that they can then access from anywhere in the world rather than having to connect to a single desktop or other computer with its finite resources. However, some observers have raised concerns about the increased energy demands of sustaining distributed servers and having them up and running continuously, where an individual user's laptop might be shut down when it is not in use or the resources utilization of the server is less than the lower threshold , for instance.

Now, writing in the International Journal of Information Technology, Communications and Convergence, researchers at the University of Oran in Algeria, have investigated how cloud computing systems might be optimized for energy use and to reduce their carbon footprint. Jouhra Dad and Ghalem Belalem in the Department of Computer Science at Oran explain how they have developed an algorithm to control the virtual machines running on computers in a cloud environment so that energy use of the core central processing units (CPUs) and memory capacity (RAM as opposed to hard disk storage space) can be reduced as far as possible with affecting performance overall.

"Energy consumption is considered as a major problem in computing systems containing servers, data centers and clouds," the team says. "These resources continue to consume a large amount of energy and produce carbon dioxide emissions." The team's study reveals that virtualization of processes and live migration of VMs within the cloud service using their algorithm of selection and allocation allows different tools and applications to be consolidated to use less CPU and memory capacity. This in turn reduces energy demands on the servers by allowing several virtual machines to be run on a single remote compute accessible to the users without compromising performance.

To optimize the energy consumption of data centers, the proposed approach is divided into two phases. The first one is the selection of VMs using the modified minimization of migration algorithm which takes in consideration the CPU utilization and RAM capacity. The solution is based on upper and lower physical resources thresholds. The second phase is the allocation of the migrated VMs which uses the modified multidimensional knapsack problem. This algorithm must pack in as many items as possible into a bag without exceeding a weight limit and without being forced to leave behind essential items when travelling.

INFORMATION:

Dad, J. and Belalem, G. (2014) 'Energy optimisation in cloud computing', Int. J. Information Technology, Communications and Convergence, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp.1󈝸.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

From worm muscle to spinal discs

2014-09-12

Thoughts of the family tree may not be uppermost in the mind of a person suffering from a slipped disc, but those spinal discs provide a window into our evolutionary past. They are remnants of the first vertebrate skeleton, whose origins now appear to be older than had been assumed. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have found that, unexpectedly, this skeleton most likely evolved from a muscle. The study, carried out in collaboration with researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Janelia Farm, USA, is published ...

New family of materials for energy-efficient information storage and processing

2014-09-12

Switching the polarity of a magnet using an electric field (magnetoelectric memory [MEM] effect), can be a working principle of the next-generation technology for information processing and storage. Multiferroic materials are promising candidates for the MEM effect, due to the coexistence of electric and magnetic orders. On the other hand, the coexistence of spontaneous electric and magnetic polarizations is rare in known materials, which hinders the application potential of the MEM effect. This article briefly reviews a new family of multiferroic materials—hexagonal rare ...

Conjecture on the lateral growth of Type I collagen fibrils

2014-09-12

Whatever the origin and condition of extraction of type I collagen ﬁbrils, in vitro as well as in vivo, the radii of their circular circular cross sections stay distributed in a range going from 50 to 100 nm for the most part of them. Jean Charvolin and Jean-Francois Sadoc from the solid state physique laboratory at the Paris-Sud University propose therefore that, once the growth of the ﬁbrils has been triggered by external biological factors, their lateral size be limited by internal physical stresses generated during the growth. Their conjecture is based ...

Extension of standard model by knot algebra

2014-09-12

This paper makes a connection between the quantum group SLq(2), which described knots, and the elementary particles of the standard model. The elements of the fundamental (j = 1/2) representation of SLq(2) are interpreted as creation operators for preons. The preons interact through a preonic vector field defined by elements of the adjoint (j = 1) representation. The leptons and quarks then appear (as required by the electroweak data) as elements of the j = 3/2 representation. Unexpectedly the electroweak quantum numbers of the so defined preons, leptons, and quarks agree ...

Scientists show that nicotine withdrawal reduces response to rewards across species

2014-09-12

Cigarette smoking is a leading cause of preventable death worldwide and is associated with approximately 440,000 deaths in the United States each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population continues to smoke cigarettes. While more than half of U.S. smokers try to quit every year, less than 10 percent are able to remain smoke-free, and relapse commonly occurs within 48 hours of smoking cessation. Learning about withdrawal and difficulty of quitting can lead to more effective treatments to help smokers ...

Favoritism linked to drug use in 'disengaged' families

2014-09-12

Before you revive the debate about which sibling in your family is the favorite, you'll want to know what the latest research shows. Brigham Young University professor Alex Jensen analyzed 282 families with teenage siblings for a study that appears in the Journal of Family Psychology. Favoritism in parenting is a complex topic for sure, but here are some important take-aways. Does it really matter? Yes, at least for some families. Jensen looked at perceived preferential treatment in different types of family dynamics. For families that aren't very close to each other ...

Brain inflammation dramatically disrupts memory retrieval networks, UCI study finds

2014-09-12

Irvine, Calif., Sept. 10, 2014 — Brain inflammation can rapidly disrupt our ability to retrieve complex memories of similar but distinct experiences, according to UC Irvine neuroscientists Jennifer Czerniawski and John Guzowski. Their study – which appears today in the Journal of Neuroscience – specifically identifies how immune system signaling molecules, called cytokines, impair communication among neurons in the hippocampus, an area of the brain critical for discrimination memory. The findings offer insight into why cognitive deficits occurs in people undergoing chemotherapy ...

No innocent bystander: Cartilage contributes to arthritis

2014-09-12

Melbourne researchers have discovered that cartilage plays an active role in the destruction and remodelling of joints seen in rheumatoid arthritis, rather than being an 'innocent bystander' as previously thought. Dr Tommy Liu, Professor Ian Wicks, Dr Kate Lawler, Dr Ben Croker and colleagues from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute made the discovery while investigating the role of the protein SOCS3 in controlling inflammation during rheumatoid arthritis. The study was published in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatology. Rheumatoid arthritis affects more than 400,000 ...

A meta-analysis of 3 types of peer norms and their relation with adolescent sexual behavior

2014-09-12

Researchers at Utrecht University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute collaborated on a meta-analysis of research on adolescent sexual behavior. The goal was to analyze how this behavior is related to adolescents' perceptions of three types of sexual peer norms, including how sexually active their peers are, how much their peers would approve of being sexually active, or how much they feel pressured by their peers to have sex. Awareness that these are different ways in which peers can affect adolescents' sexual behaviors is important for parents, teachers, and ...

Protein appears to protect against bone loss in arthritis

2014-09-12

AUGUSTA, Ga. – A small protein named GILZ appears to protect against the bone loss that often accompanies arthritis and its treatment, researchers report. Arthritis as well as aging prompt the body to make more fat than bone, and the researchers have previously shown GILZ can restore a more youthful, healthy mix. It also tamps down inflammation, a major factor in arthritis. Now they have early evidence that GILZ might one day be a better treatment option for arthritis patients than widely used synthetic glucocorticoids, which actually increase bone loss, said Dr. Xingming ...

The Lancet: Plastic pollution is an underrecognised threat to health, experts warn as they launch a project to track plastics’ health impacts and monitor progress

The Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics to track impact of plastic production and pollution on human health

Announcing The Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics

Study unexpectedly finds living in rural, rather than urban environments in first five years of life could be a risk factor for developing type 1 diabetes

Cutting the cloud computing carbon cost

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: