Building a Sustainable Future with Cloud Development Environments

Matt Vollmer

 on December 13th, 2024

4 min read

As sustainability becomes a higher priority for enterprises, modern technologies like cloud development environments are quietly making an impact. Although the primary focus is often on their immediate benefits, such as centralized and standardized development workspaces, improved security, and better developer experiences, they also offer another compelling advantage: environmental sustainability.

Here’s how modern cloud development environments contribute to greener initiatives while evolving how development teams work.

Breaking the Habit of Wasteful Overprovisioning

It’s not uncommon for platform and DevOps teams to provision virtual machines at a 1:1 developer-to-VM ratio. This is like assigning one person an entire building when they only need a single office. VMs typically run 24/7, consuming energy even when no one’s using them, but CDEs flip this inefficient model on its head.

With Coder CDEs, environments and their infrastructure only run when developers actively need them, minimizing wasted resources. Coder automatically monitors resource usage to optimize consumption and create efficiencies across developers’ available infrastructure. Additionally, it enables multiple workspaces to share the resources of a single VM, reducing the number of machines sitting idle in the background.

For example, with Coder’s management layer for automatically shutting down under-utilized VMs, Skydio can run ten Coder workspaces for the cost of a single workspace in their prior homegrown solution. This optimized use of resources reduces costs and substantially cuts energy consumption, benefiting both IT budgets and the environment.

Optimizing Resource Usage

Coder provides mechanisms to manage resource allocation, making sure resources are used as efficiently as possible without negatively impacting developer experience and performance. Resource quotas play a key role in preventing over-provisioning and runaway costs at the developer level, so no individual workspace consumes excessive resources.

Features like autostop for idle workspaces further reduce waste by halting unused environments, while workspace scheduling can be configured to automatically start environments when developers typically need them. Together, Coder’s resource management features maintain a balance between performance, cost efficiency, and sustainability.

Lighter Laptops, Longer Lifespans

Gone are the days when developers needed the most powerful laptops to handle local builds, testing, and resource-heavy tooling. CDEs shift the computational load to scalable cloud resources, freeing developers from relying on top-dollar hardware.

For example, ML engineers and data scientists no longer need laptops with expensive GPUs to locally train models or process large datasets. Instead, they can leverage cloud-based resources tailored for intensive computational tasks, all from a lightweight thin client.

With less stress placed on their devices, laptops can last much longer before they need to be replaced. That’s fewer machines ending up in landfills and fewer resources wasted on producing high-performance laptops.

Supporting Sustainability in the Cloud

Cloud providers like AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure are investing heavily in renewable energy and carbon-neutral operations. AWS is aiming for 100% renewable energy by 2025. Organizations indirectly benefit from these green initiatives by deploying Coder on these platforms.

Coder’s multi-cloud support means it can run anywhere—whether on these renewable-energy-driven cloud platforms or on-premises—giving enterprises the flexibility to meet their sustainability and operational needs. This ensures that the computing power driving developer productivity is increasingly sourced from renewable energy or tailored to leverage existing, efficient infrastructure.

A Win-Win for Developers and the Planet

Security, developer productivity, and cost savings are the key drivers of CDE consideration. However, when sustainability is part of the equation, it can tip the scales in favor of adoption, especially for companies with ambitious environmental goals.

Adopting CDEs doesn’t just save costs and improve workflows; it’s a step towards aligning your organization with the global push for sustainability. By choosing tools that balance productivity with environmental responsibility, enterprises will steward a new era of greener tech ecosystems.