Mini data centres have become increasingly prevalent in diverse organizations in recent years. They can be easily deployed at large scale, with high resilience. They are also cost-effective and provide highsecurity protection. On the other hand, IT technologies have resulted in the development of ever more energy-efficient servers, leading to the periodic replacement of older-generation servers in mini data centres. However, the disposal of older servers has resulted in electronic waste that further aggravates the already critical e-waste problem. Furthermore, despite the shift towards more energy-efficient servers, many mini data centres still rely heavily on high-carbon energy sources. This contributes to data centres' overall carbon footprint. All these issues are concerns for sustainability. In order to address this sustainability issue, this paper proposes an approach to extend the lifespan of older-generation servers in mini data centres. This is made possible thanks to a novel solar-powered computing technology, named Genesis, that compensates for the energy overhead generated by older servers. As a result, electronic waste can be reduced while improving system sustainability by reusing functional server hardware. Moreover, Genesis does not require server cooling, which reduces energy and water requirements. Analytical reasoning is applied to compare the efficiency of typical conventional mini data centre designs against alternative Genesis-based designs, in terms of energy, carbon emissions and exploitation costs.

翻译：近年来，小型数据中心在各组织中的普及程度日益提升。这类设施具备大规模部署便捷、高弹性、成本效益显著及高安全防护等优势。与此同时，信息技术的发展推动了能效更高的服务器迭代，促使小型数据中心定期更换老旧型号服务器。然而，退役服务器的处置产生了电子废弃物，进一步加剧了本已严峻的电子垃圾问题。此外，尽管能效更高的服务器得到推广，许多小型数据中心仍严重依赖高碳能源，导致其总体碳足迹持续增加。上述问题均对可持续性构成挑战。为应对这一可持续性难题，本文提出一种延长小型数据中心老旧服务器使用寿命的方案。该方案借助名为Genesis的新型太阳能计算技术，补偿老旧服务器产生的额外能耗，从而通过复用可正常工作的服务器硬件减少电子废弃物，同时提升系统可持续性。此外，Genesis无需服务器冷却，可降低能源与水资源消耗。通过分析推理方法，我们基于能量消耗、碳排放及运营成本等指标，对比了传统小型数据中心架构与基于Genesis的替代架构的效率差异。