“For Every 10PB of data storage shipped by SoftIron, an estimated 6,656 tonnes of CO2e is saved by reduced energy consumption alone.
SoftIron – the leader in purpose-built and performance-optimized data center solutions, which is soon launching the first base-level computer manufacturing facility on Australian soil – today announced that an assessment conducted by Earth Capital Ltd. had affirmed SoftIron’s status as a global leader in energy-efficient data infrastructure solutions for core-to-edge data centers.
As a member of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, which aims to galvanize the asset management industry to commit to a goal of net zero emissions, Earth Capital produces assessments on all of the companies it invests in, including SoftIron.
Now available, the assessment highlights SoftIron’s leadership in sustainable IT solutions through its design and manufacturing initiatives. The report demonstrates how SoftIron is helping its customers reduce their carbon footprints through the use of its highly integrated HyperDrive storage platform that dramatically reduces space and energy footprint, highlighting that the energy usage of the forum “is up to five times smaller than that of equivalent appliances on the market.”
Highlighting the impressive carbon reduction results that SoftIron’s HyperDrive storage platform enables its customers to achieve, the assessment states: “how can SoftIron help reduce their customers’ carbon footprint? Compared to similar data storage and processing appliances available on the market, SoftIron’s product has a greatly reduced carbon footprint mainly because of comparably low energy usage during operation.” The report states that for every 10 PB of data storage shipped by SoftIron, an estimated 6,656 tonnes of CO2e is saved by reduced energy consumption alone. This is the equivalent of taking nearly 1,500 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles off the road for a year.
The report also calls attention to the reductions in heat that SoftIron’s appliances can achieve through their reduced energy consumption, noting that “SoftIron appliances produce up to 80% less heat than the standard, thereby radically reducing emissions about the cooling of data centers.”
While reduced emissions related to the cooling of data centers is one carbon-reducing benefit, the extension of the lifespan of SoftIron’s solutions is another critical factor that the report highlights. “Typical data center servers have a lifespan of three-five years. SoftIron’s products use less power and therefore generate less heat during operation, so they place less stress on the server (and hard drives) than an industry-standard appliance, reducing the likelihood of system failure.” The report notes that because SoftIron solutions only contain the components necessary for its specified function, a system fault is less likely, thus extending the appliance’s lifespan. The report deduces that “it is reasonable to assume that SoftIron’s products have a minimum lifespan of five years.”
The report further highlights that the industry is actually moving in the wrong direction where energy consumption is concerned, lauding SoftIron’s approach to creating optimized solutions that challenge industry norms. “Many of the industry-standard products adopt a generic model, capable of numerous functions while SoftIron appliances are fully integrated and task-specific such that each appliance only contains the components and processing power necessary for its specified function.”
The Earth Capital assessment also states, “Many market-leading data center suppliers acquire commoditized, off-the-shelf hardware which uses the latest iteration of central processing units (CPUs). Research indicates that each iteration of the CPU requires more power than its predecessor. Therefore, industry-standard data center appliances are, becoming,g less energy-efficient, thereby creating more financial and environmental costs for data centers. Meanwhile, SoftIron’s task-specific and fully integrated design means that every aspect (from the hardware to the software) is optimized to make the most energy-efficient product possible. This enables SoftIron to deliver industry-leading performance while using less power-hungry CPUs.”
In addition to highlighting the industry-leading performance metrics that SoftIron is achieving, the Earth Capital report also highlighted how SoftIron is tackling the reduction of carbon footprints through its efforts, including standardizing the product design, reusing/recycling at manufacturing facilities, reducing software configuration time, installation of a Hot Aisle Containment (HAC) system in its manufacturing facilities, reducing plastic packaging, and its clean supply chain pledge.
The report also highlighted SoftIron’s unique “Edge Manufacturing” approach. Australia will be the first to benefit from and use the most modern technologies available, including digital twin technology, to bring new efficiencies to IT manufacturing and allow for global operations, including in Australia.
“SoftIron is moving towards a model of operation (known as “Edge Manufacturing”) which involves locating manufacturing sites closer to the customer, thereby enabling greater use of local supply chains and reducing emissions about transportation,” the report explained.
“When we founded SoftIron in 2012, we did it recognizing that the industry’s path for manufacturing IT solutions was fundamentally broken for the future requirements, both in the core data center and especially at the edge,” said Phil Straw, CEO and Co-founder of SoftIron.
“SoftIron has completely reinvented and modernized how data infrastructure is designed, manufactured, and delivered in virtually every regard. The results are superior solutions in virtually every way possible, from power draw and heat emissions to density and eliminating vendor lock-in through our use of open source – the list goes on. We’ve designed a platform for IT solutions centered around our customers’ modern needs, enabling them to flexibly scale their IT solution wherever needed without the constraints and limitations of traditional commodity hardware-based solutions,” added Mr. Straw.
SoftIron will host a webinar titled “Power at the Edge: the role of the data center in sustainability”. To attend this webinar, please register for free on BrightTALK soft iron. ltd/Webinar_PowerAtTheEdge.
For more information on SoftIron’s sustainability efforts, please visit the following URL: https://softiron.com/choose-softiron/sustainability/
The Earth Capital “SoftIron Carbon Footprint Report 2022” can be found directly at the following URL: https://softiron.ltd/SoftIronCarbonFootprintReport
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