SWITCHING TO CLOUDFLARE CUTS CARBON EMISSIONS UP TO 96 PCT

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 (Bernama) -- Cloudflare Inc, the security, performance, and reliability company helping to build a better Internet, has shared a new independent report published by Analysys Mason.

The report found that switching enterprise network services from on premises devices to Cloudflare’s cloud-based services can cut related carbon emissions up to 96 per cent, depending on the current network footprint.

According to Cloudflare in a statement, the report is one of the first of its kind to calculate potential emissions savings achieved by replacing enterprise network and security hardware boxes with more efficient cloud services.

Its chief executive officer and co-founder, Matthew Prince said the best way to reduce information technology (IT) infrastructure’s carbon footprint is to move to the cloud.

“At Cloudflare, we have built one of the world’s most efficient networks, getting the most out of every watt of energy and every one of our servers. That is why, with Cloudflare, companies can help hit their sustainability goals without sacrificing security, speed, performance or innovation,” he said.

The greatest reduction comes from consolidating services, which improves carbon efficiency by increasing the utilisation of servers that are providing multiple network functions. On premises devices are designed to host multiple workloads and consume power constantly, but are only used for part of the day and part of the week.

Cloud infrastructure is shared by millions of customers, often worldwide, thus enabling cloud providers to achieve economies of scale that result in less downtime, less waste and lower emissions.

Furthermore, the Analysys Mason study found that there are additional gains due to the high Power Usage Effectiveness of cloud data centres, and differences in the carbon intensity of generation in the local electricity grid.

Analysys Mason compared a typical hardware stack deployed in an enterprise data centre or IT closet, and its associated energy consumption, to the energy consumption of comparable functions delivered by Cloudflare’s global network.

-- BERNAMA