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Cloud Computing is said to be part of Green Computing. How are they related ?

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Cloud computing is related to server and server is hardware. Why didn't you close previous question 'What is green computing?' Please don't close questions that have been asked with some real importance. – user40289 Jul 7 '10 at 12:17
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closed as off topic by heavyd, Mehper C. Palavuzlar, ChrisF, Ivo Flipse♦ Jul 7 '10 at 6:32

Questions on Super User are expected to generally relate to computer software or computer hardware, within the scope defined in the faq.

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They're both buzzwords whose actual meaning is in dispute? Very subjective question.

I guess one decent answer would be that it's "greener" to have a big cluster doing computing for a hundred different companies than it is for those same companies to have their own setups. Less physical hardware, more efficient heating and cooling, etc, etc.

Really it's just marketing though. Many "green" products are no better that their "non-green" counterparts: the only purpose of the label is to fool people who don't want to look at actual power consumption/heat production numbers.

And don't get me going on "the cloud": an icon of a cloud is how "the rest of the internet" is represented on a traditional network diagram. This is because "the rest of the internet" is a complex subject, resistant to easy description. If you put "Here there be dragons" inside the cloud icon, it'd be perfect. A true terra incognita, an unknown land.

So this rush to magical cloud land, instead of various specific hosting or service providers is extremely irritating to me. The cloud can mean anything that's not local, and things that can mean anything really mean nothing. In the context of this discussion, any idiot could be hosting your app on their "cloud", and they could be hosting it in the most wildly inefficient anti-green manner possible.

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Great answer from a superuser whose name means "Accuser". I love it! – Rising Star Jul 6 '10 at 15:34
You just about said it all... But I think the "green" effect they talk about for cloud computing is more on the level of server based versus PC based computing, rather than the need for multiple companies to band together... If everyone's PC is just a terminal into the server it can be a lot more efficient than doing everything on your PC. – Dan Jul 6 '10 at 19:55
@Dan: Agreed. That's what I was aiming at with "less physical hardware". If 100 companies need 25 servers worth of power, then you've seen a 75% reduction in hardware costs, electrical costs, administration costs, etc, etc, when you move those services to a cluster capable of meeting ALL their needs. Very very eco-friendly. My problem with that is that it's not always going to be the case that it's more efficient to move it off site, so you need to look at the numbers and make an informed decision. – Satanicpuppy Jul 6 '10 at 20:05
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