Faster, more efficient servers recycle heat to reduce carbon footprint

Data centres are vital for banks, but are highly energy intensive. New technologies can help reduce energy consumption and still improve processing speed.

BNP Paribas Corporate and Investment Banking is replacing part of its server farm used for risk calculations as well as reduce its environmental impact. The Bank invested in a new, more efficient server solution that recycles heat generated by the servers to warm the building it is housed in, reducing the associated electricity consumption by 64%.

Some of the heat produced by the 40,000 processor cores, which are hosted by server technology company 2CRSi, is treated and reused to keep the building warm. Saving energy also doesn’t have to compromise quality of the processors as the server farm is using energy efficient state-of-the-art Intel processors.

As well as providing a response to technical needs, 2CRSi reuses the heat generated by the servers, which is recycled in the heating system of the building that hosts the data centre, reducing BNP Paribas’ energy footprint.

Ricardo Jantarada, Global Head of Telecom & Data Centers from BNP Paribas CIB

This is a win-win for the Bank, as the new technology improved its risk calculations while reducing the servers’ energy consumption. To ensure that these servers are reliable and close to hand, BNP Paribas keeps them in France.

We are extremely proud of the confidence and recognition that BNP Paribas has shown us. Since our first discussions, BNP Paribas CIB teams have been sensitive to the environmental performance of our solutions, which will allow them to reduce costs, said 2CSRi founder Alain Wilmouth.

“We are proud to be able to work with a French company that is at the forefront of technology, able to innovate in order to meet our environmental and economic needs” said Boris Leblanc, head of BNP Paribas CIB IT & Operations.

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