A Two-Way Street: Green Big Data Processing for a Greener Smart Grid

Integrating renewables into the mainstream energy market is pivotal for the green revolution promised by the smart grid. The real power behind realization of the smart grid goals lies in the volume, variety, velocity of the big data generated by a variety of sources. Nevertheless, the smart grid needs data centers to digest the big data for its profound green revolution. However, big data processing is the radix for data centers to be seen as energy black holes. Unless data centers are transformed into energy-efficient enterprises, big data are going to be responsible for superfluous energy burn, potentially reversing the smart grid genesis with regard to green environmental impact. This paper describes the role of the big data enterprise in envisioning the smart grid. We dissect the big data enterprise into six vital planes impacting the energy footprints of data centers. We present a survey of key strategies to make these six vital planes greener. Moreover, we present open challenges and directions in this context. We assert that a cross-plane approach toward a greener optimization is crucial. In this vein, we present a green orchestrator that is capable of incorporating different planes in an integrated fashion to boost energy profile of the big data enterprise.