A decision framework for placement of applications in clouds that minimizes their carbon footprint

Abstract

Cloud computing gives users much freedom on where they host their computation and storage. However the CO2 emission of a job depends on the location and the energy efficiency of the data centers where it is run. We developed a decision framework that determines to move computation with accompanying data from a local to a greener remote data center for a lower CO2 emissions. The model underlying the framework accounts for the energy consumption at the local and remote sites, as well as of networks among them. We showed that the type of network connecting the two sites has a significant impact on the total CO2 emission. Furthermore, the task's complexity is a factor in deciding when and where to move computation. © 2013 Makkes et al.