Amazon Web Services and their contribution to a cleaner server structure

Most companies are keen to calculate their carbon footprint, reduce emissions and talk about their eco credentials – it's in their best interests. But how many of us are looking at the carbon footprint of our websites – let alone the servers and computers that power the business?

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Did you know that the average web page produces around 0.5g of CO₂ per page view?  So, a site with 100,000 page views per month generates around 50 kg of per month. That’s just over half a tonne per year.

“...the average web page produces around 0.5g of CO₂ per page view...”

Of course, some of these emissions are unavoidable. After all, you can’t control where your users get their energy from (although, you can bet it’s expensive in this day and age). But there is actually a lot you can do to reduce your footprint.

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Really, it’s all about efficiency. Did you know the cleanest website on the internet is run by the Musk Foundation? You can probably see why. There’s one, very stark, incredibly simple page. It won’t come as a surprise that anything with the Musk name attached takes it to the extreme. But focusing on reducing the size of your pages, and the assets included within them, does go a long way towards reducing the footprint of your website.

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However, today we’re going to focus on the servers that run your websites and other IT infrastructure.

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As a real-world example, here at P+S we have a number of on-premise servers that run some of our IT infrastructure, including a file server for around 4 TB of data and 1 TB of buffer caching. It runs 24/7 on a 550 W machine, using 13.2 kWh per day, which would add up to just shy of 1.9 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year in line with the UK Government’s latest conversion factors.

“…it would take almost 950 trees to absorb that much carbon in a year…”

According to the Forestry Commission it would take almost 950 trees to absorb that much carbon in a year. Fortunately for us, we have a roof covered in solar panels, generating over 100 kWh per day. So, we are largely covered.  

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Using the example above, if the average amount of data a company stores is 170 TB, and 60% of a company’s data is already stored in the cloud, on-premise data storage would create around 25 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year.  

“…on-premise data storage would create around 25 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year…”

That’s the weight of approximately 12.5 rhinos. The same amount of carbon would take 12,450 trees to absorb.

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Sustainability in the cloud

You’d be forgiven for thinking of Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a tool that’s primarily used for hosting websites and applications running on the internet. But with its 200+ services, you can migrate almost any workload into the cloud.

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As an AWS partner, we specialise in AWS and web applications running in the AWS cloud. We chose AWS not only because of its myriad services and tools and its market position as a leader in cloud services, but also because of its sustainability targets. AWS is committed to being powered with 100% renewable energy by 2025, and a large chunk of its global infrastructure is already powered by renewable energy.

“…with its 200+ services, you can migrate almost any workload into the cloud…”

According to AWS itself, companies moving to the AWS cloud from on-premises infrastructure typically reduce carbon emissions by 88%. This is because its data centres can offer environmental economies of scale. When using the AWS Cloud, organisations generally use 77% fewer servers, 84% less power and tap into a cleaner mix (28%) of solar and wind power compared to their own data centres.  

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This is just one of the reasons migrating on-premise IT infrastructure into the cloud is beneficial, especially if you have green targets to meet.

“…companies moving to the AWS Cloud from on-premises infrastructure typically reduce carbon emissions by 88%...”

If we consider our data storage example from above, AWS Simple Storage Solution (S3) is a perfect low-cost storage solution for all kinds of data and has flexible tiering so you can optimise the costs by archiving less frequently accessed data or less important data. You can also use tools such as AWS Direct Connect or AWS Site-to-Site VPN to access your data securely from your on-premise applications. And it has complete encryption, along with security tools to meet any compliance requirement.

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Shifting your data storage into the AWS Cloud is a really simple example and could eliminate a significant proportion of your carbon footprint.

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Rehosting and replatforming

Data storage is just one of any number of solutions that can be migrated into the cloud. In some cases on-premise workloads can be simply rehosted (lift and shift), moving virtual machines and applications into the cloud with no changes to the infrastructure. Other workloads may require a degree of replatforming or rearchitecting, depending on the nature of the solution required.  

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As an example, a common problem facing some organisations could be migrating legacy applications or datasets into more modern cloud-based applications.

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AWS Glue is a powerful, serverless ETL tool that can discover, transform and combine data into more modern or relevant locations for analytics and application development.  

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In simple terms, it can take messy data and transform it into organised data which you can then use from your replatformed cloud-based application.

“…the benefits of cloud-based workloads are not just limited to your environmental impact…”

There are many options available for businesses looking to reduce their carbon footprint by migrating their workloads into AWS Cloud, taking advantage of its 100% sustainable energy promise. But the benefits of cloud-based workloads are not just limited to your environmental impact. You can also take advantage of AWS economy of scale and reduce internal IT infrastructure costs associated with running and maintaining these workloads.  

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If you’d like to discuss your options, reach out to us via marketing@proctors.co.uk.

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We’re more than happy to talk through potential solutions and help you find a more sustainable way to store your data and manage your workloads.