Lyon/Grenoble, January 24, 2018. iExec and Stimergy have signed a partnership agreement to provide greener computing solutions and support smart buildings. Stimergy has made available its computer servers in the iExec network and became the first ever cloud computing provider in the iExec marketplace.

Centralized Data Centers Are Not Energy-Efficient

In recent years, cloud computing centralized many processing workloads. While data centers are essential to run our current information systems, centralized data centers are too energy-intensive to run the servers and cool them down. Cooling alone represents 45% of the total energy consumed.

In addition to this excessive energy consumption, centralized data centers do not fulfill requirements of emerging IoT systems and applications, which include data processing at or near the collection source. This computation requiring to be run at the data source can be achieved by the decentralized cloud.

Decentralizing the Cloud

iExec is an innovative French startup utilizing global computing and blockchain technologies to decentralize the cloud. The team behind iExec is creating a decentralized and global cloud marketplace, where anyone can rent out idle processing power for profit.

This ensures data is computed close to the user, at an affordable rate and in a scalable fashion. Collecting available computer resources from all over the world will ultimately result in a completely new internet, in which anyone can be a resource provider.

iExec has recently announced the release of a Software Development Kit (SDK) that can be used by developers to build compute-intensive applications. The startup is now welcoming cloud providers to be part of its network, and Stimergy has answered the call.

Recycling Heat From Server Rooms

Did you know that one computer server can heat 80 liters of water every day? This represents the average daily water consumption of 2 adults and 1 kid.

The French startup from Grenoble, Stimergy, has developed a novel system that rethinks heating. Its data centers use twice less energy than traditional data centers, and the heat generated by the servers is recycled to heat buildings. So, the savings are double: the servers require less cooling power to operate, and hot water bills are reduced thanks to the waste heat that is recycled.

The business model of Stimergy combines the two trends of digitalization and energy efficiency. Founded in 2013 by Christophe Perron, an engineer from Centrale-Supélec, the startup has already been awarded multiple times for its invention of the “digital furnace”.

“The partnership with iExec opens up entirely new possibilities for Stimergy, by reaching a new pool of customers looking for intensive cloud computing resources. We will benefit from iExec’s decentralized infrastructure to rent our servers and be remunerated in a transparent and open blockchain-based network”, announced Christophe Perron, CEO and Founder of Stimergy.

A Partnership to Innovate in Green IT

Stimergy has made available its computer servers in the iExec network and became the first ever cloud provider in the iExec marketplace. By distributing servers throughout the city in buildings in need of heating power, iExec and Stimergy are supporting the emergence of an inventive society mixing economic growth with the respect of the environment.

“By partnering with Stimergy, we are taking a step further towards the two future markets of digitalization and energy efficiency. This partnership will allow us to provide computing power to blockchain-based applications all while being aligned with our energy efficiency driver. Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are often criticized for their excessive energy consumption, this initiative is also a demonstration of the possibility of innovating in this field while remaining environment-friendly”, explained Wassim Bendella, Business Developer at iExec.

The partnership will power a new generation of blockchain-based applications in the fields of machine learning, IoT, fintech or scientific calculations, and at the same time build a powerful local digital infrastructure to support new digital services for smart buildings and eco-neighborhoods.