Joseph Keane (Techbuyer Europe) interviewed on the importance of sustainability in the data centre sector.

Techbuyer, a Harrogate based supplier of sustainable IT solutions, has been helping to pave the way for sustainable data centres with the University of East London.

This December the company was invited to the University’s launch event for their new data centre research facility, Royal Docks Centre, to highlight the importance of sustainability in the technology sector.

UEL’s new facility is designed to demonstrate and evaluate the latest technologies, with a particular focus on environmental sustainability and reliability.

As part of the launch of this facility, the University has invited data centre technology suppliers, innovators and researchers, including Techbuyer, to exhibit. Attendees of the event included special guests, Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, local MPs, as well as students and professors from the university.

Techbuyer and the University of East London have traditionally worked closely together to develop front line research on server configuration and efficiency.

Techbuyer’s Research with the University of East London

In 2019 the two organisations began a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) led by research fellow Rabih Bashroush and Techbuyer’s Lead Application Developer, Nour Rteil. This study focussed on examining Moore’s Law and the efficiency of refurbished devices against the newest models of servers.

The KTP proved that refurbished, with the right configuration, performed as well as, and even outperformed, new devices in terms of performance and efficiency, highlighting that Moore’s Law is in fact slowing down. This means that companies can reliably use refurbished technology without compromising on performance or efficiency, making it a viable option for businesses.

The KTP also resulted in the development and launch of Interact. The Interact tool analyses the performance of a data centre’s infrastructure and highlights the weaknesses. The tool then suggests where upgrades can be made to boost efficiency and performance whilst also reducing running costs of the devices, improving the environmental impact of the data centre as a whole.

Royal Docks Centre Research Facility

The newly launched Royal Docks Centre is designed to explore the limits of data centre technology in terms of environmental sustainability. Following this event, the university look to launch their sustainable data centre in 2024.