The Technology Context – B101

Affordable Internet Services Online, Inc. Web Hosting [AISO.NET ]

Who among us does not use the internet ? Internet is an abundant resource of free information. Development and progress of the internet could perhaps be one of the greatest achievement of the twentieth century. According to a survey conducted by netcraft.com the World Wide Web currently hosts more than an estimated 142 million websites as of October 2007, and there somewhere between 100 million to 6 billion visitors who surf the internet daily. I know what you are thinking,

“What’s all this got to do with sustainable technology?”

Well, the answer is simple: Most of us tend to overlook the fact that all the websites which are currently running on the web, require resources to stay on the web. For those of you who did not know, all these websites which are accessible online need to be made accessible with the help of a web host.

[For Example CNFOLIO.COM is hostedregistered with Yahoo Web Hosting]

Web hosts are companies that store all the data of a website on a web server and make them accessible to the end user via the Internet.
The more visitors a particular website gets, the more intensive are its server needs, which in turn, [obviously] leads to greater electricity consumption. Websites with too many visitors may even need more than one server. Google.com for instance has thousands of web servers.[NOT A HYPERBOLE]
This leads to excessive consumption of natural resources like coal, wood, etc, and eventually takes us back to “sustainable technology.”
Well, the good news is that some people have realised the importance of our resources and are trying to come up with different ways to improve the present situation. Affordable Internet Services Online, Inc.[ASIO] is one of those companies who are trying to make a difference in their own way. AISO is currently the only 100% solar powered web hosting company in the world.

What AISO is doing!

Above are the photographs of 2 out of the 12 solar panels that AISO uses to power its data centre, offices and servers. According toBPsolar.com this solar panel system will eliminate the production following things per year:

• 19,890 pounds of Carbon Dioxide (CO2/GHG)

• 5.9 pounds of Nitrous Oxide (NOX/smog)

• 0.45 pounds of Sulphur Dioxide (SO4/acid rain)

But thats not all, as AISO has gone a step further and built their entire data centre, offices, and server rooms from scratch so in order to make them as cost effective and eco-friendly as possible.
One of the other ways in which they harness solar power is by the use of solar tubes. Solar tubes bring in natural light from the sun, eliminating the need to use electric powered sources during the day, saving more energy.

Conclusion:

“In one hour more sunlight falls on the earth than what is used by the entire population in one year.” [Courtesy: link]
OK, I know its a fancy quote but its definitelyy true...


I feel that what AISO has started is remarkable in its own way. The World Wide Web is growing at an exponential rate, more and more websites are being set up daily. There is a greater need for “power saving” web servers than ever, and right now, as I see it, solar powered web servers are the best alternatives to the normal ones, even though they are currently more expensive. I believe that the cost factor could potentially be mitigated with enough people willing to harness the solar energy.

Why is this project relevant to me?

1. I am absolutely amazed by the internet and World Wide Web.
2. I am addicted to the internet and use it for a minimum of 3 hours a day.[THAT SERIOUSLY IS THE MINIMUM]
3. I turn to the web to solve any tiny problem that I have. [Like most of us]
4. I am currently studying “Internet Engineering” here in the University of Portsmouth.
5. I have until now hosted 4 websites, 5th to come soon ;)
6. One day I hope to set up my own hosting company. [DEFINITELY SOLAR POWERED]
7. I CARE FOR THE ENVIORMENT

What is my plan of inquiry?

1. Well, I will first try to get in correspondence with someone from AISO.NET via email.
2. I would ask him/here a few questions regarding their project, their motivation, their profits, etc,
3. I will also try to find answer to the questions like what makes solar energy more costly than conventional energy? And what can be done to make solar energy cheaper?
4. I then intend to read a few books on solar energy like:
5. The Passive Solar Energy Book: A Complete Guide to Passive Solar Home, Greenhouse and Building Design, Got Sun? Go Solar, etc
6. I will also be trying to provide more definite figures as to how much electricity do web servers actually consume?
7. I will try to compare the AISO web hosting with other web hosting services to understand more about the company and to aid in my project.
8. Needless to say I will try to find on the internet as much information as I can on solar energy.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Sustainable_development
http://www.answerbag.co.uk/q_view/17770
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/21829.wss
http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/definitions/server.html
http://news.netcraft.com/archives/web_server_survey.html
http://blog.ideascope.com/public/blog/160222
http://blog.ideascope.com/public/blog/160222
http://www.aiso.net/virtual-desktop-solutions.asp
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Article3373.html