eBay has been examining how its systems work with reference to how much energy the server hardware they use consumes and come up with some pretty astonishing results. In an effort to use less energy, eBay boffins examined the code that underpins the site and discovered ways to make key processes run with less memory.
By implementing these changes, eBay needed fewer servers and has publicly stated that it has saved $2m in equipment costs as a result of what appear to be fairly small amendments.
You can find a more detailed (and technical) precis of the process here.
Now, you’d be right to think that $2m saved by eBay is a drop in the ocean to the revenues they raise and you’d be right. But that doesn’t mean that such exercises are not to be encouraged and congratulated. It’s also good news for the planet: fewer servers needed, less carbon used.
But it’s also a very useful reminder that every business has a scope for finding efficiency and saving cash.
