The Fujitsu Forum organized by the world's third-largest IT service provider will be held in Tokyo on May 15 and 16 with an emphasis on the environment.

The forum will hear how the company has developed new policies to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 7 million tons between 2007 and 2010.

Held annually since 1993, the forum will this year showcase Fujitsu's Green Data Center, an infrastructure platform that reduces energy consumption and enables more sustainable development.

Through its experience of managing data centers, the Japanese IT giant has developed ways to improve hi-tech infrastructure to reduce electricity costs and the environmental burden.

Through its network of 50 data centers across Japan it has developed expertise in energy efficiency, cost analysis and innovative approaches to management.

Its hi-tech services and products include simulation of heat flow in designs and overall temperature control. It also uses new IT approaches such as outsourcing and advisory services to reduce its clients' impact on the environment.

Its solutions range from diagnostics on equipment status to optimization and outsourcing services to support customers IT equipment energy efficiency.

In response to customers' needs for lower power consumption by its server computers, Fujitsu designed what it calls a blade server that balances load and availability, enabling horizontal scalability to integrate and use servers efficiently and greatly reduce their environmental load.

The blade structure of its Primergy BX620S4 can accommodate 10 servers in 50 percent less space and wirelessly connect to network switches, power supplies and other modules for an 87 percent reduction in the number of cables needed.

Compared with a rack server of the same performance, some 2,447 kg of CO2 will be eliminated over its lifecycle, the equivalent of a car traveling 14,900 km.

Linux and Unix

Fujitsu uses virtualization technology in large Unix servers and storage systems for maximum utilization of resources and cost controls.

Its SPARC Enterprise Solaris Unix server has micro-partition technologies that assist in maximum system utilization via virtualization, while its RCVE virtualization management software can reduce the workload of blade servers and bring down total costs.

Its Primequest server series transfers large computer technologies to an open platform to tailor a data center's need and provide maximum reliability and availability.

Its mirror function increases the reliability of Intel's Itanium structure, providing key services with the most virtualization functions and higher system scalability in Linux and Windows environments.

Fujitsu also conducts research and development for Linux. Its latest Linux operating system accommodates a broader range of hardware to provide enterprises with better applicability and availability.

The FujitsuLinux large server platform includes Linux core validation, server application management, high-performance computation software and a storage self-discipline system.

Virtualized storage

Through virtualization technology, Fujitsu's storage system can improve utilization and investment results of enterprises' data centers.

Its Systemwalker RCVE high-performance virtualization management software in combination with VMware ESX Servers realizes uniform management of a physical blade server and virtual server, enabling connections to an existing SAN environment and reducing losses due to manmade errors. With VMware HA and a common standby server, the physical server and the virtual server can support automatic recovery.

The environment is now one of the most important concerns in the world. Statistics show that over 8 billion tons of carbon is emitted to atmosphere each year with global computers responsible for the discharge of 35 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere annually.

Energy consumption in the IT industry is increasing by 8 to 10 percent a year, much higher than the global average of 2 percent. IT products in China consumed 30 to 50 billion kWh in 2007, equivalent to the total output of the Three Gorges Dam in 2006.

There is now increasing demand for more energy efficient and environmentally friendly IT products, services and solutions to ease emissions.

Customized solutions

Fujitsu says it gives top priority to environmental considerations in its operations and is dedicated to optimizing customers' computer rooms and data center equipment.

Helping customers build more efficient, flexible and reliable data centers promotes energy conservation, reduces environmental impacts and eventually mitigates global warming.

After completion of the Fujitsu forum in Tokyo, another will be held in China to introduce the concept of "we make every activity green" to fulfill its corporate social responsibility and set a trend of green IT solutions in China.

Fujitsu's first overseas forum was held in China in 2007.

(China Daily May 5, 2008)