By: Vasanth Natarajan and Bharath P.

According to Gartner, one of the upcoming environmental sustainability technologies that will enter the mainstream early by 2025 is ‘cloud sustainability.’
Let’s start by going through the most well-known technology that fundamentally altered how the world functions: cloud computing!

The term ‘cloud computing’ describes providing computer services, such as servers, storage, databases, software, analytics, and more, via the Internet. Cloud computing enables customers to use these services from anywhere with an internet connection instead of managing and storing data or executing apps on a local server or personal computer.

Cloud computing is described by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as a ‘model for enabling widespread, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be quickly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider.’

Below are the eco-friendly reasons that make the cloud sustainable:

• On-Demand Resource Allocation
• Containerization
• Automated Scaling
• Microservices Architecture
• Cloud-based Data Storage

What is the role of cloud computing in sustainability?

Let’s take a closer look. Cloud computing offers several sustainability advantages, including:

• Energy efficiency: Energy efficiency can be achieved by optimizing the cooling and power usage of cloud data centers, resulting in lower energy consumption and reduced carbon emissions.
• Resource sharing: Cloud computing enables resource sharing, which allows multiple users to share the same physical infrastructure, resulting in higher resource utilization and reduced waste.
• Reduced hardware waste: Cloud computing reduces hardware waste by allowing users to access computing resources on-demand, eliminating the need for users to purchase and maintain their hardware. This, in turn, reduces the amount of electronic waste generated.
• Virtual meetings: By enabling virtual meetings and teleconferencing, cloud computing reduces the need for business travel, a significant source of carbon emissions.
• Remote work: With cloud computing, employees can work remotely, reducing the need to commute and reducing transportation-related emissions.

Additionally, there are more critical benefits of using cloud technologies for sustainability:

• Reduces Energy Consumption:
  • Cloud providers can use server virtualization to increase server utilization, which reduces the number of physical servers needed to provide computing resources. Doing so will require less energy to power and cool the servers. Companies can avoid overprovisioning resources, leading to waste and unnecessary energy consumption.
• Powered by Renewable Energy:
  • Many cloud providers use renewable energy sources, such as wind or solar power, to power their data centers.
  • Some cloud providers purchase carbon offsets to offset their non-renewable energy use emissions. This allows them to support renewable energy projects and other carbon reduction initiatives.
• Reduces Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions:
  • Cloud computing can help reduce GHG emissions by optimizing data center operations, enabling resource sharing, promoting renewable energy sources, and enabling remote work.
  • Companies can contribute to a more sustainable future by reducing their GHG emissions. Using less energy helps many cloud providers stand better when compared to traditional data centers, thus improving the efficiency in lowering CO2 emissions.

Energy efficiency across programming languages:

Do you know which programming language is more environmental and uses less energy?

The energy efficiency of a programming language depends on several factors, including the efficiency of the underlying hardware, the performance characteristics of the language itself, and the programmer’s skill in optimizing the code for energy efficiency. However, some programming languages are generally considered to be more energy-efficient than others.

Here are some examples of programming languages defined with the corresponding model:

• C and C++: C and C++ are generally considered very energy-efficient languages. They allow for fine-grained control over memory management and provide low-level access to system resources, which can result in very efficient code.
• Rust: Rust is a newer systems programming language that is gaining popularity for its efficiency and safety. It is designed to provide similar performance to C and C++ while providing better memory safety and security features.
• Go: Google has developed a fast and efficient programming language called Go. It provides features like garbage collection and efficient concurrency primitives that make it well-suited for building large-scale distributed systems.
• Python: A high-level programming language, Python is commonly used for scripting and data analysis. While it is not as efficient as C or C++, it is still considered relatively energy-efficient due to its simple syntax and built-in memory management features.
• JavaScript: In web development, JavaScript is most used scripting language. Due to its compatibility with web browsers and support for asynchronous programming, it is nevertheless considered energy-efficient, even though it is not as effective as some of the other languages on this list.

The choice of the fastest and most energy-efficient programming language depends on the application’s specific requirements, the hardware platform, and the development team’s expertise. A careful analysis of these factors can help identify the most suitable language for a particular use case.

Here are some general observations:

• Energy efficiency: Low-level languages such as C and assembly language tend to be more energy-efficient than high-level languages such as Python or Java since they allow for more fine-grained control over hardware resources.
• Execution time: In terms of execution time, compiled languages such as C, C++, and Fortran tend to be faster than interpreted languages such as Python and Ruby. However, there are exceptions to this, and the performance of a language can vary depending on the specific use case and the optimization techniques used.
• Memory usage: Low-level languages such as C and C++ tend to be more memory-efficient than higher-level languages such as Python or Java since they offer more control over memory allocation and deallocation.
• Productivity: High-level languages such as Python and Ruby offer more productivity and ease of use than low-level languages such as C or assembly language since they provide built-in libraries, garbage collection, and other features that simplify programming.
• Portability: High-level languages such as Java and Python are more portable than low-level languages such as C or assembly language since they can run on multiple platforms without modification.

Performance tuning and its benefits in designing energy efficient applications:

Role of performance tuning:

Performance tuning plays a critical role in designing energy-efficient applications. Optimizing an application’s performance makes it possible to reduce the amount of energy consumed by the application without sacrificing functionality or user experience.

Here are some ways in which performance tuning can help in designing energy-efficient applications:

• Minimizing resource utilization – Optimizing algorithms, reducing memory usage, and minimizing I/O operations.
• Improving code efficiency – Reducing the number of instructions executed, minimizing branching and looping, and reducing the computation required.
• Optimizing hardware utilization – Optimizing the usage of hardware resources such as CPUs and GPUs.
• Improving user experience – Reducing page latency, improving response times, and minimizing delays.

How can performance tuning help in carbon savings?

• As we are in the cloud era, we are occupied by the platforms managed by major cloud providers such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform that will help move our infrastructure costs from capital expenditure (CapEx) to operating expenditure (OpEx).
• Cloud OpEx and CapEx can help in performance tuning by providing the financial resources needed to implement performance optimization techniques.Here are some ways where OpEx and CapEx enable investment in,
  • Energy-efficient hardware
  • Performance optimization tools and techniques
  • Renewable energy sour
• For frontend applications, energy usage can be measured using tools such as web performance monitoring software, which can track the energy consumption of a web page as a user loads it. This can be used to calculate the carbon emissions associated with delivering the web page to the user.
• For backend services, energy usage can be measured using power meters or other tools that monitor the energy consumption of servers and other hardware used to power the services. This can calculate the carbon emissions associated with running the backend services.

Security in the cloud for sustainability:

Here are some ways in which security can help promote sustainable computing:

• Data protection:
  • Data must be safeguarded against unauthorized access, theft, and loss for the cloud to be sustainable. Cloud providers must therefore implement robust security measures, such as encryption, access controls, and data backups, to ensure that customer data is secure and can be recovered in case of a security incident.
  • By protecting data, cloud providers can promote sustainability by reducing the environmental impact of data breaches and associated remediation efforts.

• Compliance:
  • Many sectors, including the healthcare, financial, and governmental sectors, have stringent laws governing the handling and storage of sensitive data. Cloud providers must ensure that their services comply with these regulations, often requiring strict security measures.
  • By complying with these regulations, cloud providers can promote sustainable computing by reducing the environmental impact of regulatory penalties and compliance efforts.

• Cybersecurity:
  • Cybersecurity threats, such as malware, phishing attacks, and hacking, can compromise the security and availability of cloud-based applications and services.
  • To combat these dangers, cloud service providers must implement robust cybersecurity measures, including firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, and security audits. By preventing security incidents, cloud providers can promote sustainable computing by reducing the environmental impact of incident response and remediation efforts.

• Transparency:
  • Cloud providers should be transparent about their security measures and practices, allowing customers to understand the level of security provided by the service.
  • This can enable customers to make informed decisions about which cloud provider to use based on their security and sustainability goals.

How is LTIMindtree helping customers in cloud sustainability?

At LTIMindtree, we endeavour to be a trusted digital transformation partner to our customers while being a socially and environmentally responsible organization. We are convinced that this combined focus on growth and sustainability is the way to build long-term value for all our stakeholders.

Sustainable IT – LTIMindtree helps to adopt green software engineering and eco-design into packaging and influences these solutions to reach clients, suppliers, and partners.

Sustainable Intelligence – LTIMindtree’s digital customer experience services achieve a fine balance between form, function, and usability.