Induction green Microsoft

Author: the Internet weekly reporter Wu Jia

The African side there is a small island, the island has the world's most beautiful coastline, with the little Prince "symbolize Love Monkey bread tree, soft white sand beaches, people call it" the utopia of "— Madagascar.

However, this island will likely to nationwide relocation!

"Scientists predict that by the end of this century will rise a metre seas, many beautiful coastal cities will be covered;

whereas, if the global oil consumption as unchanged, all oil deposits found together, as long as 30 years it has been used up. "Microsoft Research Asia Executive Vice President of Feng Zhao in speaking these words, a serious face.

Microsoft Research Asia Executive Vice President Dr. Feng Zhao

Experience with General researcher, Feng Zhao travels a lot of people never set foot in the area, "whether it's deep forests, glacier or the volcano, the sensor can detect changes in the environment, and even went to the volcano, detection of toxic gases, sometimes in (volcano) outbreak occurs some small before, and can detect up to early warning.

" Before joining Microsoft Research Asia, Feng Zhao is Microsoft headquarters in Redmond principal researcher of the Institute, through a number of his research and development of technology, Microsoft's data center was hailed as a global instrument and monitor the most dense cloud computing infrastructure. In his eyes, sensing technology goes well beyond IT, the more important is the integration of other disciplines, to improve the living environment of human beings, which he is concerned but a big issue for Microsoft.

Black box

Regression, Feng Zhao, joined Microsoft Research Asia will seems to return to the same.

"Asia Research Institute is a very interesting place, here's innovation very fast, very in-depth research, we can say that was love at first sight", Feng Zhao himself and Microsoft Research Asia's fate to a game of love, five years ago the first encounter Research Institute, he was very impressed, "spent five years, we managed to talk about a" Feng Zhao said laughing, see that he is very satisfied.

In order to prove himself, Feng Zhao put a little black box is placed in front of journalists, this is a Microsoft Research do wireless sensors, the shape is a little like small BP machine, used for measuring temperature and humidity changes.

"We use sensors to achieve energy-saving, and directly put it in the data center of the shelf, where excessive heat, where cooling information will be sent back, the sensor will help controllers automatically make decisions to regulate the use of the data center. " But this wireless sensor from discovery to the Guinea pig, less than half a year.

Data center of the first meaning is changing from space to energy consumption.

Technology driven server's ability to process the data faster and faster, the appropriate, energy consumption is increasing, "before you use the server space, you have already started to energy consumption," to a more rational use of energy, and some countries or regions to data center energy consumption, in order to set the limit too high power consumption affects the efficiency of the power supply system, and even other institutions of power supply. If you are unable to achieve the balance between energy consumption and efficiency, the reliability of the server data will likely is compromised, the consequences of a sudden power loss.

The purpose of the "sensor is an optimized, reduced energy consumption, without affecting your work, the key importance of Email, finally lost, no more energy, which is the last application to have the quality of service.

> "The purpose of Feng Zhao or Microsoft's obvious, the sensor this little black box effective monitoring bearing the cloud computing data center, server become smarter.

SensorMap

Longer than software technology Microsoft why do hardware? in sensor behind the Microsoft outlines how blueprint?

"We do hardware, because there was no right for us to do research on hardware platforms.

When the hardware is mature, we may not do, and the adoption and hardware company forms of cooperation. But our software is an independent and common platform, this platform can see different sensor as reflected in the data. ”

Feng Zhao refers to the software platform is Microsoft research design SensorMap (sensor map), a Microsoft Data Center within the layout of the thousand sensor will be reflected on this map, you can use the Internet very easy find

What is overheating, or whether you need to provision servers, from the more macro perspective about the company's energy consumption. SensorMap does, of course, limited to Microsoft internal, "Australia related Department now and our cooperation with sensors to detect changes in the great barrier reef, as the ocean water temperature change one or two degrees, it will have on coral reefs. " You can even learn through SensorMap Alps snow melts, the sensor detects the environment at the same time, the calculation has penetrated into the Interior of different disciplines.

"Energy saving and environmental protection is an interdisciplinary, cross-laboratory cooperation for the realization of a 1 + 1-> 2 effect, all the different disciplines together, you can do something very special.

" With this, Feng Zhao put the mouse on the West coast of the United States, although the window foretold, but Seattle night gradually in computer SensorMap screen.

Green Business

7 min, Greenpeace, according to technology company CEOs in the field of environmental protection, to Ballmer's score.

And give the reasons for this low score is, Microsoft set emission reduction target is relative, not absolute.

Ballmer addressed this score, although Microsoft had long planned, in 2012, per unit of revenue caused by carbon emissions than reduced by 30% in 2007, he is still in the memorandum record: done to reduce the carbon products.

This is a good signal, it seems that also gives Microsoft the future: the use of energy-saving technology innovation of the product.

"Energy saving has two meanings: one is IT's saving energy, reducing energy consumption and increase efficiency;

also, how to use computing to help save energy, such as our energy consumption in houses, and other various high-voltage line, etc. require energy to help IT. In fact, power generation, transmission technology is very good, the calculation of the software quickly, but also the whole industry chain are faced with a shortage of energy, use IT to help the entire energy consumption of industry chain efficiency, is a very important task. Why do we have to burn so many coal, because we don't have many other sources of energy. ”

Have witnessed the world exciting natural landscape, Feng Zhao on energy saving and environmental protection in the sense of more obvious that he expected to pass his research to help save energy.

" From the phone to the data center, by calculating the energy conservation is interoperability, from hardware, software, applications, such as angle, we often discuss how to put our research to a new level, define a new field, make better things, thus contributing to the further development of IT. ”

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Perhaps, in the near future, open SensorMap can know your home every installed a sensor of electrical energy consumption, light is an effective energy management can assist families to save a little, but the "energy-saving can not only help you save money, it can also help you to make money", Feng Zhao says with a smile, "energy is important, the environment is also important, in view of the current hot carbon trading, will have a new product to make it so (control power) has a very good prospect.

" On the green ideas have started in Microsoft's brews wisdom library.

Feng Zhao introduction: Executive Vice President of Microsoft Research Asia, primarily responsible for the system, wireless and network, hardware, computing and multimedia communications, and other areas of research.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Dr. Zhao is Microsoft headquarters in Redmond principal researcher of the Institute, responsible for network embedded computing group. He led the development of Microsoft Research sensor dust particles, micro-network services, SenseWeb and SensorMap, data center genome, Joule meter and GAMPS data compression. With the help of a number of research and development of technology, Dr. Zhao, today's Microsoft Data Center was hailed as a global instrument and monitor the most dense cloud computing infrastructure. He is the United States industrial IEEE transactions on sensor networks ", the magazine Chief Editor, and written or co-authored more than 100 pieces of technical papers and several books.