SILICON VALLEY, Calif — ITRenew announced it has joined forces with Hydro66 to enable companies across the European Union (EU) to reduce the cost and carbon footprint of hosting their data at scale.

The explosive growth of data collected in recent years, and the new applications and business models using it — including those emerging from the COVID-19 crisis — has made rapid, efficient, and cost-effective data center scaling a must. At the same time, the exponential rise in e-waste and CO₂ emissions make it imperative to do so responsibly and sustainably. 

With this in mind, ITRenew and Hydro66 are bringing a combination of disruptive thinking and tested innovation to the dual challenges of driving down infrastructure costs and maximizing sustainability at scale.   

Sesame is the latest ITRenew innovation created to keep assets in their highest utility for as long as possible. There are currently over 75 million servers in use in large data centers, but 46 million of those will reach the end of their working lives and need to be replaced within the next three years. ITRenew creates reuse pathways for data center hardware that extend their lifetime value, lower total cost of primary and secondary ownership, and maximize sustainability by reducing e-waste and the demand for the CO₂-producing manufacture of new materials. In the case of Sesame, the company has transformed proven premium technology, used by the world’s largest data center operators, into cost-effective, high-density, high-performance rack-scale servers, pre-engineered for the demanding open system, AI/machine learning (ML), and converged workloads of Hydro66 customers.   

“The current model for how to process and store data is broken,” said David Rowe, founder and CEO, Hydro66.  “’Business as usual’ has met its limits, and new thinking and leadership is required. ITRenew’s circular data center approach adds to our core proposition of cost-effective and environmentally friendly compute and store. Given the current global climate, it’s more important than ever that businesses adopt sustainable, circular models that create value by making use of the resources already in-play. But you have to also do this without compromise to performance or quality and at the best economics. This is the main reason we were eager to work with ITRenew.” 

Hydro66 has changed the economics of colocation with radical design decisions and created an eco-friendly data center with its innovative and pioneering approach to sustainability. Situated by the largest hydro-electrical grid in the Nordics, with amongst the lowest-cost green energy in the EU, Hydro66 benefits from cool climates; unlimited bandwidth; and scalable, reliable, and low-cost green energy. As Hydro66 moves to launch its own public and private cloud, ITRenew further adds to this capability by providing robust, reliable, low-cost server racks that make the power of hyperscale accessible and affordable for customers.   

A focus on the flexibility, scalability, and other competitive advantage inherent in open technology models is another part of the DNA the two companies share. Both participate in the Open Compute Project (OCP) — a large and growing collaborative community focused on redesigning hardware technology to efficiently support the growing demands on compute infrastructure from data-heavy trends like the IoT, AI/ML, and 5G. As a Platinum member of OCP, ITRenew built Sesame on open architecture that drew from thousands of person-years of design effort by the organization’s membership and was proven via extensive use in hyperscale data centers.  As an OCP Ready™ Colo Facility, Hydro66 offers enterprise clients an assured way to deploy OCP servers, storage, and networking equipment in a cost-effective and scalable way. Compliance means a proven method for accepting OCP pre-built racks, safe in the knowledge that the data center has been pre-vetted and meets or exceeds all the criteria for hosting OCP gear.

“Hydro66 backs their belief that forward-thinking, innovative companies deserve better, cheaper, and truly environmentally friendly colocation solutions, with a conscientious approach to democratizing access and increasing sustainability that closely matches our own,” said Aidin Aghamiri, CEO, ITRenew. “Together, we have the opportunity and imperative to provide real alternatives to outdated, wasteful behaviors that bring benefits normally reserved for hyperscalers to the broader service provider, enterprise, and startup markets. Green, innovative, open, and affordable data center solutions are not only the way forward, they are real now.”

To learn more, join Ali Fenn and David Rowe in conversation at the OCP Virtual Summit live on May 13 at 12:30 PT. Register for free here.