IBM's is pursuing its ambitious objective of "Smarter Planet" green IT initiative a step further, with the proposed new data center at the Syracuse University campus. The

data center, to be built over the next six-month period, will curtail the energy-consumption by nearly 50 percent, using next-generation tools, techniques and practices for energy generation and efficiency

Detailing about the IBM-Syracuse project on cards, Vijay Lund - VP for development and manufacturing operations at IBM said that the proposed plan will also integrate the so-called "advanced 21st-century technologies" into the green IT scheme.

Saying that the efforts in the direction thus far have only been confined to "solving little pieces of the IT problem," Lund added: "With this project, we're saying, 'Let's not just

deal with a piece of the problem,' which is what the industry has been on all these years. This work of holistically looking at the green IT problem requires multidisciplines."

The comprehensive project does not merely restrict itself to the forthcoming data center's hardware and software, but would involve energy-saving solutions for the entire structure of the facility.

At the power supply base, an on-site electrical co-generation system will be built, which would make use of a natural gas-fueled microturbine engine for catering to all the energy demands of the center. It will use the turbine-generated DC power, thereby saving energy on the DC-AC conversions.