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RedEnvelope and Green Data Centers

Upscale e-tailer, RedEnvelope, despite doubling its data center footprint, has dramatically slashed energy costs thanks to 365 Main.
365 Main operates a handful of data centers across the US, primarily in California. RedEnvelope's servers are housed in a 4-story, 227,000 square foot site in San Francisco (handy data sheet here, PDF).
Since moving to 365 Main in July 2005, RedEnvelope has more than doubled its data center footprint and has scaled the number of hits it processes per second from 800 to 1700. The site, which specializes in all-occasion gift- giving, has also closed its redundant data center in the Midwest and moved its excess capacity to 365 Main, tripled its systems capacity and its storage capacity, and converted its point-to-point networks to an MPLS backbone.
RedEnvelope's smaller power bills aren't necessarily a result of more efficient servers, rather 365 Main bills for the electricity a customer consumes instead of charging a typical flat fee. This is a fantastic way to promote energy efficiency since it encourages businesses to operate efficiently in return for lower costs.
Flexible billing isn't the only way 365 Main is supporting clean tech. In addition to joining The Green Grid, their 136,000 square foot Newark, CA location is up for LEED certification.
Update: This is just bad timing. 365 Main has been affected by an unfortunate case of power issues affecting San Francisco, or according to Valleywag, a drunk employee (unlikely). Kiss that 100 percent uptime good-bye.




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