Green-memory movement takes root

Internet data center power requirements are rising as much as 20 percent a year; already, according to experts' estimates, these facilities in total consume as much electricity as some countries, including Iran, Mexico, Sweden and Turkey. The industry hopes to reverse the trend by revisiting the design of cooling systems, power supplies and server architectures.

In servers, the notoriously voracious microprocessor is passing the power-hog mantle to the DRAM, which offers fast data access but requires a heat-generating refresh every few milliseconds. Thus the greening of the data center includes a focus on lower-voltage DRAMs, nonvolatile alternatives and the emerging category of storage-class memories.

Whether the green-memory movement thrives or dies on the vine, the DRAM status quo could be uprooted.

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