This book emphasizes the need for organizational improvement to be both environmentally friendly and economically efficient. Different technology domains and disciplines, and design and implementation issues, are covered. Various “green” parameters and resources--storage and server performance, cooling factors, power maximization, and overall software and network performance--should be optimized when business or organizational improvements are made.

The book is structured into four parts: “Green IT and the Green Gap--Real or Virtual?” “Next-generation Virtual Data Centers,” “Technologies for Enabling Green and Virtual Data Centers,” and “Applying What You Have Learned.” These parts contain 11 chapters and two appendices--“Where to Learn More” and “Checklists and Tips.” The most interesting chapters cover cloud-based storage and computing; intelligent and adaptive power management; server, storage, and networking virtualization; and energy efficiency. Also, the book includes numerous figures and tables, as well as a glossary.

This easy-to-follow, interesting book is appropriate for engineers and computer scientists who are already familiar with green issues and data centers. Readers will find its inspiring ideas and practical applications quite helpful. Although it could work as a complementary textbook in an engineering or computer science course, it would be most useful to researchers.