Sustainable Application Development

Sustainability is the buzzword these days. Some regions are aggressively looking at reducing [or at least measuring] their carbon footprint. EMEA (Europe) region has strict guidelines and rules that mandate organizations to report their sustainability numbers to government agencies. I am a network Architect so my focus is primarily on creating more sustainable IT infra for my customers. 

Over the past decade, there has been a remarkable surge in the energy demand for data centers. Recent research has revealed that data centers now account for 3% of the global electricity supply and contribute 2% to the total greenhouse gas emissions. Leading cloud providers and IT giants like Facebook, Google, and Apple have initiated and continue to pursue initiatives aimed at achieving environmental sustainability.

To enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of data centers, two complementary approaches can be employed:

• The first approach involves designing energy-efficient data center facilities. This can be achieved by constructing data centers in colder regions, where local renewable resources can be harnessed to power these facilities.
• The second strategy focuses on optimizing server utilization through server consolidation, leveraging virtualization techniques.

Up to now, most efforts have concentrated on optimizing a metric known as Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE). PUE measures the ratio of energy consumed by the IT equipment within a data center to the total energy required to operate the entire data center, including cooling and uninterruptible power supply units.

But most of the time discussions regarding sustainability are limited to Data center optimization, one critical element that is always neglected is Sustainable Software/Applications

However, as we are moving into the era of cloud-native applications, It is important that we also look at the way applications are written. Are they written in a way that will support sustainability?  Let’s look at the ways in which poorly written code can impact sustainability 

Inefficient Code: Poorly written or inefficient code can lead to increased energy consumption, longer processing times, and greater resource utilization.

Resource Waste: Inefficient code can lead to the underutilization of hardware resources, which can result in the need for more servers and data centers to support the same workload, increasing energy consumption.

Data Storage and Transmission: A code that generates excessive data, such as unnecessary logs or redundant information, can increase storage and transmission requirements, leading to higher energy use and environmental impact.

Security Vulnerabilities: Code with security vulnerabilities can lead to data breaches and other incidents that require extensive remediation efforts, consuming additional resources and energy.

There is a need to adopt The Sustainable Application Design Process (SADP). SADP is a methodology used in software and application development to ensure that the products being created are environmentally and socially sustainable. It focuses on minimizing the negative impact of software development and usage on the environment while also considering the broader social implications of the technology being developed. Here are the key steps and principles typically associated with SADP. Some of the key elements if SADP are:

Green Software Development Practices: Incorporate green software development practices into the development process. This includes optimizing code for efficiency, reducing resource-intensive operations, and minimizing the use of energy-intensive technologies.

Efficient Resource Management: Optimize resource usage by designing the software to run efficiently on hardware. This can involve techniques such as resource pooling, load balancing, and containerization.

Energy-Efficient Algorithms: Use algorithms and data structures that are energy-efficient and resource-friendly. Avoid wasteful algorithms that consume excessive computing power or storage.

Modularity and Scalability: Design the software in a modular and scalable manner. This allows for easier upgrades and expansion, reducing the need for constant redevelopment and hardware replacement.

In summary, a Holistic approach to sustainability is required including both hardware and software/applications while looking into the sustainable network Infra or Data center design.