Low-Cost Green Computing-as-a-Service Testbed for SMEs: Leveraging AI and 6G for Enhanced Productivity

The exponential growth in computing devices and the emergence of high-computing-dependent applications have led to a significant increase in energy demand. In response, this paper proposes the development of a novel green computing testbed aimed at addressing energy efficiency and sustainability in computing infrastructure. The testbed integrates highly energy-efficient computing infrastructure, a virtual machine-driven on-demand computing ecosystem, and Green AI model development as a service. The state-of-the-art 5G/6G infrastructure and services, such as ultra-low-latency communications, are investigated and identified as suitable for connecting the zero clients (with minimal capabilities) to remote computing and other facilities. Through a comprehensive measurement campaign, the testbed’s energy efficiency and sustainability have been evaluated. This research presents a pioneering effort towards achieving sustainability in computing to support Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to enhance productivity with AI, with reduced cost, energy, and minimizing e-waste.