PC Towers Disappearing From Internet Cafes

By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

Desktop computers in public spaces could soon be losing their bulky tower casings should the government's green tech initiatives have their way. The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said it is looking to spend 41.7 billion won (about $33 million) by 2013 to develop technologies for power-efficient Internet data centers (IDCs) and support their commercial deployment.

The plans include a project to create "green" PC bang (rooms), or computer gaming centers, which will reduce the visible components of computers there to screens and keyboards. A server will be installed to replace the computer towers to store data and run programs.

Shop owners should make huge savings by opting for the server-based alternative, ministry officials claim.

"Basically, the end user will be looking at a liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor and nothing more," said a ministry official. "We believe that PC bang could reduce their energy use by around 30 percent this way. Needless to say, the gaming rooms will be a lot less noisy and device maintenance will be cheaper and easier."

A PC bang that has 50 computers could save about 54.7 megawatts of electricity per year should it replace its computers with a server, which reduces its power bill by about 5.47 million won (about $4,300), the ministry said.

The government will pick five or more commercial districts with a high concentration of PC bang on a trial basis, offering financial support to shop owners choosing to switch to server-based computing. Should the trial go well, government officials plan to expand the program to business users, developing similar solutions for companies wanting to have simpler and less power-hungry computers.

There are about 20,000 PC bang across the nation, according to government figures, and they use more than 1 million desktops. The trial operations will cover 100 PC bang by 2011, the ministry said.

The ministry will also spend 21.7 billion won developing energy-efficient IDCs, which include advancing storage technologies and operating software.

Operating IDCs is a power consuming process, as it requires the 24-hour running of power generators, cooling equipment and other support facilities.

With the country's high-tech infrastructure expanding, the power use at IDCs nationwide has increased by an average of 45 percent over the past three years, reaching more than 1.12 billion kilowatt hours last year. This was comparable to the 1.26 billion kilowatts of electricity used by households in Ulsan, a city of 1.11 million people.

The plan for "green" IDCs, which is linked to efforts to foster "cloud computing" solutions, is part of the government's green tech initiatives that focus on low-power devices for personal computers, televisions, displays and servers. Getting particular attention, aside from IDCs, are low-power mobile Internet devices, light-emitting diode (LED) backlighting technology, solid-state drives (SSDs), and electric and hybrid vehicles.

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr

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