Storing internet data in users鈥� homes could save energy in the US alone equivalent to the output of five large power plants.
When you watch a video online it streams to your computer from a data centre, probably a distant, giant warehouse full of servers. But if a new proposal is implemented, some data would reside on the modems of domestic broadband users. Press 鈥淧lay鈥�, and your video would come from the homes of other people in your city.
Vytautas Valancius at the in Atlanta worked with Spanish telecoms firm Telefonica and modem manufacturer Thomson in France on this 鈥淣ano Data鈥� project to cut the inefficient way even state-of-the-art data centres use energy.
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Power guzzlers
Data centres consume much the same energy regardless of how hard they are working. Even in state-of-the-art facilities, cooling can account for 50聽per cent of electricity use, and idle servers can use up to 80聽per cent of the power they do when working at full tilt.
In 2007, US data centres used almost as much energy as 6聽million homes. This figure could double by 2011, which would require the construction of additional 10 power plants.
Having web users transfer data directly between one another, in a peer-to-peer arrangement like that used by file-sharing networks, has been suggested before, says , a computer scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. But companies are wary about handing over control of their data to devices that they don鈥檛 control.
Split personality
The Nano Data idea gets round this problem by effectively dividing a modem and a user鈥檚 connection in two. One part of the device provides internet access as usual using one part of the connection. The other, which runs the Nano Data system, is controlled remotely by the network operator and acts as a scaled-down data centre. That half downloads and stores web data, without affecting the owner鈥檚 connection.
When someone tries to access a video, their computer may be directed to download chunks of it from a nearby user鈥檚 device. Files such as video are the best candidates for distribution in this way, because their large size places a particularly heavy load on data centres.
Because home modems are typically left on all day and do not need cooling, energy use can be cut by up to 60聽per cent, Valancius鈥檚 simulations suggest. , chief scientist at Thomson in Paris, France, says prototype Nano Data devices are being built and will be ready for distributing to users in two years.
Uncommon content
鈥淭his has significant potential,鈥� says Nedevschi, although he points out that the system will work best with popular content that many people want to access: it鈥檚 unlikely that someone seeking uncommon material will be able to download it from a nearby modem.
That鈥檚 an issue that Valancius and colleagues are aware of. Valancius says that the content provider will still need to maintain a small network of servers to provide recherch茅 content that is not worth storing on modems, or to act as a backup when the local network is overwhelmed.
A paper on the project is being presented this week at the in Rome, Italy.
