On the sustainability of virtual platforms: a behavioral intervention
The energy required to supply data centers today is estimated to be around 1% of the global demand of electricity, with the cloud computing paradigm being the main driver of computing demand. Leading cloud providers are already making efforts to reduce energy expenditure of their data centers. Howev...
| Autores: | , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión aceptada para publicación |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2022 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) |
| Repositorio: | O2, repositorio institucional de la UOC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:openaccess.uoc.edu:10609/146674 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10609/146674 https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3159242 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | cloud sustainability environmental impact virtual platform cloud platform impacte mediambiental plataforma virtual plataforma al núvol impacto medioambiental plataforma en la nube computer science informàtica informática |
| Sumario: | The energy required to supply data centers today is estimated to be around 1% of the global demand of electricity, with the cloud computing paradigm being the main driver of computing demand. Leading cloud providers are already making efforts to reduce energy expenditure of their data centers. However, the role that online platform operators and end-users can play towards a more sustainable cloud is still unclear. In this article, we raise the question whether making end users aware of their impact on cloud energy expenditure leads to more efficient use of the platforms. Focusing on non-retail platforms, we have run an A/B test in the Virtual Campus of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), one of the biggest online universities worldwide. In this intervention, we show the test group real-time information about the energy consumption of the platform, as well as tips on how to reduce it. Alongside, we monitor user behavior in terms of session duration and volume of traffic generated. Our results reveal that users who received this information did not change their behavior significantly. This result encourages us to find alternative ways to reduce the energy impact associated with the platform without the active participation of the end user, such as a more intelligent session management in conjunction with auto-scaling tools. |
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