Green Technology

Sustainability is an important topic nowadays and at Clappform we understand the importance of sustainability and Green IT. In this article we will explain the basic principles of Green IT and how Clappform (and other companies) are using multiple sustainable solutions.

What is Green IT?

Before we delve into our green IT solutions; what is Green IT? We are (luckily) not the first ones to think about sustainable IT solutions and we found the following definition of Green IT that best captures what it is:

“Green IT aims to minimize the negative impact of IT operations on the environment by designing, manufacturing, operating and disposing of computers and computer-related products in an environmentally friendly manner. The motives behind green IT practices include reducing the use of hazardous materials, maximizing energy efficiency during the product's lifetime and promoting the biodegradability of unused and out-dated products.”

(Source: click on the following link)

Green Technology at Clappform

At Clappform we focus particularly on the part of “energy efficiency during the product’s lifetime”. As we offer SaaS-solutions we are mostly concerned with providing solutions that are as efficient and sustainable as possible. We focus on two main areas in our sustainable and efficiency efforts:

1. Use of sustainable programming languages ensuring efficient programming
   At Clappform we use the programming language C++, which is one of the oldest, but still one of the most efficient and fastest programming languages. Bjarne Stroustrup is the man who designed this improved programming language back in 1979.  Compared to C, C++ can make use of different programming paradigms at the same time. A famous user-case example is the SpaceX Falcon 9 flight software, which was written in both C and C++ and runs in the x86 environment. In this particular example it makes sense that they would use the most efficient and sustainable programming language: they have limited computing capacity in space.
2. Decentralized cloud infrastructure: “pay for use”
   At Clappform we use the Microsoft Azure instance for our cloud storage. We have a sustainable approach for the usage of our databases and have two strategies: mid-term and long-term strategies. Our mid-term strategy focuses on the virtualization of servers and storage, consolidation and rationalization. For our long-term strategy we have a stronger focus on the location of data centres, design of the data centres and the capacity-on-demand. With these strategies we ensure that we only use the databases that we really need. Additionally, we focus on optimizing our software design. If we encounter performance issues we do not use computer power to resolve the issue, but have a critical look at our design. Changing the design is often a better way to resolve performance issues, because future issues can be prevented and the computing power is efficiently used.

What’s important to you or your organisation, and how do you ensure a sustainable and green technology approach?  Do you want to know more about our sustainable solutions? Or do you have any questions, let us know and contact us.