0133050866_vc MIS13_CH01_Case2_GoogleDataCenter.pdf

Management Information Systems 13e KENNETH C. LAUDON AND JANE P. LAUDON CHAPTER 1 INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN GLOBAL BUSINESS TODAY CASE 2 Google Data Center Efficiency Best Practices VIDEO CASE Systems SUMMARY Google operates some of the largest data centers in the world to support its search engine, Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, and a host of other applications delivered to a global audience. Google’s Technical Program Manager describes how Google manages the energy consumption of its data centers using industry best practices. L=10:01. URL /watch?v=voOK-1DLr00 CASE Consumers of technology constantly demand devices that are smaller, more efficient, and more powerful than the ones they have. But most consumers don’t understand the massive back-end infrastructure that powers their “front end” devices, like mobile phones, smart- phones, tablets, and desktop computers, nor the impact that this infrastructure has on the environment. Take, for example, the smartphone. iPhones, Androids, and BlackBerrys represent a trend in all forms of mobile technology towards smaller devices that perform an increasingly large number of functions. But every time a smartphone user connects to the Internet, places a call, or sends an instant message, it uses power not only on their phone, but at every step continued Chapter 1, Case 2 Google Data Center Efficiency Best Practices 2 of the infrastructure used to perform that function. More often than not, data centers, also called “server farms,” are intimately involved in any Internet-based communication. These