Think you're up to speed on Green IT and green computing? Here's a chance to test just how much you really know. Answer the following ten questions and then rate yourself from Know-Nothing to Maven.
All the questions in this quiz, and the answers to them, are taken from InforWorld's Ted Samson's excellent post 25 facts you should know about green IT. So you may want to study there before taking this test. Even if you don't plan on studying, it's an extremely useful post to read. With that in mind, here goes:
1. How much paper does an average office worker use per year?
A. 500 sheets
B. 1,000 sheets
C. 5,000 sheets
D. 10,000 sheets
2. What percent of the heavy metal in landfills is there due to e-waste?
A. 10%
B. 50%
C. 70%
D. 90%
3. On average, what percent of server reduction can an enterprise expect to gain from virtualization?
A. 15%
B. 50%
C. 65%
D. 80%
4. Which produces the most CO2 emissions:
A. Data centers
B. The airline industry
C. The steel industry
5. Which of the following devices have the highest power consumption growth and highest overall power consumption?
A. Storage devices
B. High-end servers
C. Mid-range servers
D. Networking equipment
6. How much money could the federal government save over five years in electricity costs by using Energy Star-rated PCs?
A. $130 million
B. $230 million
C. $330 million
D. $430 million
7. What percent of companies with large data centers will have to add additional power and cooling capacity to them in the in the next two years?
A. 30 percent
B. 50 percent
C. 70 percent
D. 90 percent
8. In a McKinsey study of four production data centers, what percent of servers were found to be zombies, running at or below average and peak utilization of 3 percent?
A. 12 percent
B. 22 percent
C. 32 percent
D. 42 percent
9. Increasing the temperature of your data center by a single degree can reduce your energy consumption by how much?
A. 1 to 2 percent
B. 2 to 3 percent
C. 3 to 4 percent
D. 4 to 5 percent
10. A PC running a screensaver uses on average more than 100W of power. How much electricity does that same PC use in sleep mode?
A. 5W
B. 10W
C. 20W
D. 30W
Answers
1. The answer is D, 10,000 sheets --- a whole tree's worth of pulp.
2. The answer is C, 70%.
3. The answer is C, 65%.
4. The answer is B, the airline industry, which produces 0.6 percent, followed by data centers, which produce 0.3 percent, and the steel industry, which produced 0.1 percent.
5. The answer is A, storage devices, which according to the EPA have a power consumption growth rate of 191 percent, and consumed 3.2 billion kWh of electricity last year.
6. The answer is C, $330 million
7. The answer is D, 90 percent.
8. The answer is C, 32 percent.
9. The answer is D, 4 to 5 percent.
10. The answer is B, 10W.
How did you rate? If you answered from 0 to three questions right, you're still a novice; from four to seven, you've got a a reasonably good understanding of Green IT. And if you got eight or more questions right, ask your boss for a raise --- you're a Green IT maven.