Pedro Hernandez

Green IT writer, blogger, geek.

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For established players in the storage industry, the message is clear: Dedupe or risk losing those big enterprise contracts to rivals. For storage startups and smaller outfits, recent history indicates that having data deduplication in your IP portfolio makes you an attractive acquisition ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Power grids that emerged unscathed from the recent heat wave in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states have demand response companies to thank. Here’s why it’s a good idea to get the demand response word out when the electrical grid starts feeling the ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Power grids that emerged unscathed from the recent heat wave in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states have demand response companies to thank, and proved it’s a good idea to get the demand response word out when the electrical grid starts feeling the strain. Read more »

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It’s imperative that smart grid firms start wooing consumers, and EcoFactor’s consumer-friendly approach to monetizing its technology looks very promising. Here are three tips from the home energy management firm’s playbook for other startups eyeing ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Soon, cloud providers will be struggling to squeeze more computing out of the power they have on hand. Let’s look at two themes to emerge from Structure 2010 that can help IT vendors cater to their data center energy efficiency ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Not too long ago, the idea of deploying a server with Intel’s Atom processor would get you laughed right out of the data center. But there’s a good chance a startup called SeaMicro could soon set the benchmark for cloud ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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This week while pondering how BP’s oil spill stacks up against Exxon’s in terms of Google search results, it occurred to me how badly BP is losing the social media war. No bones about it, BP’s online image is in tatters. How bad is it? ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Remember Carbonetworks? This week, the carbon management firm underwent a dramatic change by ditching its name. Let’s explore a key market insight that this act of rebranding ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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The smart grid may indeed become an opportunity that’s bigger than the Internet, but like the Internet, it won’t be without its stumbling blocks. Fortunately for us, some web pioneers are unwittingly providing utilities and energy management firms with an education on privacy, one of the ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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HP researchers this week put forth an intriguing idea for powering data centers: harvesting and processing cow waste. Under their setup, dairy farmers get an additional revenue stream and data center operators get a clean and cost-effective source of energy. Sounds like a solid win all ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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In a few years, we’ll look back at 2010 and remember it as the year that LEDs (light emitting diodes) turned a corner and went from a pricey niche lighting technology to a mainstream contender. Read more »

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In a few years, we’ll look back at 2010 and remember it as the year that LEDs turned a corner and went from a pricey niche lighting technology to a mainstream contender. Here are three reasons ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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A cluster of recent announcements, launches and other maneuvers indicate that energy-efficient ARM chips could be headed from mobile devices to the data center. Read more »

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If you have a smartphone, it’s a safe bet that there’s an ARM-based chip under the hood. Why not Intel? For the same reasons you wouldn’t stuff a V8 engine into a Smart Car; it’s overkill and it would deplete the gas tank in a hurry ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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A new aspect of data center energy use is getting increasing attention lately: software. If the code running on all the servers in a data center was inherently more energy-efficient and governed by its own energy-aware logic, IT managers could have another, less costly option to ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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As you know, I thought Earth Hour was a bit of a dud this year, at least from a social media perspective. Certainly, the biggest names in IT wouldn’t disappoint, particularly now that every company is under a big green microscope. (Just ask Facebook.) Surely, they ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Each year, the WWF encourages individuals, businesses and communities to participate in a global rolling blackout campaign called Earth Hour, which calls for shutting off the lights for a solid hour and leans heavily on social media. But is WWF tweeting up the wrong tree? Read more »

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Greenpeace says the iPad — and the cloud computing future it foretells — means bad news for the environment. But coal-powered data centers aren’t the whole story. We say it’s OK to want an iPad. Read more »

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According to a recent Harris Interactive poll, 68 percent of Americans haven’t even heard of the smart grid. And without a sense of how the smart grid and an ecosystem of devices, apps and services help consumers save money on electricity, the whole concept remains an abstraction. The challenge therefore is not merely to prepare consumers for the smart grid’s arrival, but to make the wait unbearable. Read more »

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Cisco is no stranger to the green IT scene. It has publicly announced its smart grid intentions and, for years, has touted the carbon-cutting benefits of its teleconferencing technologies. But when it comes to data centers, Cisco has been outgunned by its rivals. While IBM mounted […] Read more »

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Google pushed the hype machine into overdrive on two fronts this week. First it sprinkled some social networking features on Gmail and released Google Buzz. It quickly followed up with an announcement revealing plans to test a high-speed fiber-to-the-home network encompassing up to 500,000 households. The ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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By all accounts, mobility is the name of the game in 2010. Smartphone shipments shot skyward last quarter and major handset makers, particularly LG and Samsung, are ramping up production this year. The same bullish sentiment is expanding into tablets in general and Apple’s iPad in ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Nnow that U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) stimulus funding has practically dried up, venture capitalists can’t count on more government-induced tailwinds to propel their cleantech ambitions. So, how are they coping? I’d say pretty well, if you factor in an encouraging string of early 2010 ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Each year, the holidays spill well into January for tech-obsessed geeks, thanks to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). In 2010, CES will continue that tradition with some decidedly green flair. Like Japan’s CEATEC this fall, eco-consciousness will be a major theme, from the show’s larger Sustainable ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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During the next few years, EV and plug-in choices will multiply and the newness of being propelled by an electric motor will wear off. When that time comes, you can expect potential buyers to start paying closer attention to the technology packages and convenience features ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Ah, Bakersfield, California. A lot has happened since the city’s new smart meters delivered jaw-droppingly high energy bills to residents. Fast-forward a couple of months and the technology is being called into question, a lawsuit has been filed and PG&E is tapping the brakes on ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Utilities are raking in stimulus funds and smart meter manufacturers are working feverishly to imbue the grid with the smarts to redistribute the electrical load down to the household level when consumption rates spike. Envision automatically time shifting that EV charging or dish washing cycle to ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Consumers are peeling back the green labels and examining what makes green gadgets eco-friendly. Few electronics makers revel in this kind of scrutiny, but the smart ones will view it as an opportunity.
For electronics makers, green is a potential differentiator in an industry where products ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Ask your favorite sysadmins or IT experts about computer security and you’re likely to get more of an earful than you bargained for (with a healthy dash of paranoia thrown in for good measure). Why? Because years of outwitting hackers, guarding against malicious code, and bringing ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Are you ready to trade the gas pump for a power cord? Over the next few years, drivers will have to contend with that question when a handful of new electric cars take to the road.

Nissan’s as-yet unnamed electric vehicle (EV), which the automaker plans ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »