Toward a Zero-Carbon Network: Converging Cloud Computing and Network Virtualization

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is one of the most challenging research topics in ICT because of people\´s overwhelming use of electronic devices. Current solutions focus mainly on efficient power consumption at the micro level; few consider large-scale energy-management strategies. The low-carbon, nationwide GreenStar Network in Canada uses network and server virtualization techniques to migrate data center services among network nodes according to renewable energy availability. The network deploys a "follow the sun, follow the wind" optimization policy as a virtual infrastructure-management technique.