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This is a fun concept with potentially even more interesting consequences. Using the ocean as a giant heatsink would result in a water temperature slightly higher than elsewhere, I wonder if over time it would suffice to attract the attention of non-local aquatic life, or affect the migratory habits of the existing species
Energy efficient maybe, but not cost efficient. Computers+salt water = bad things. Ask anyone trying to maintain anything within sight of an ocean. Salt gets into everything eventually. Build on the land. Put a heat exchanger in the ocean. Pump nice friendly coolant to and fro. Forget the idea of setting up shop literally underwater.
The pod is sealed, it doesn't even have oxygen inside.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
a datacenter at the poles might also contribute to melting the ice.
More or less than burning fossil fuels to keep the data center cool at non-polar latitudes?
Energy efficient maybe, but not cost efficient. Computers+salt water = bad things. Ask anyone trying to maintain anything within sight of an ocean. Salt gets into everything eventually. Build on the land. Put a heat exchanger in the ocean. Pump nice friendly coolant to and fro. Forget the idea of setting up shop literally underwater.
The pod is sealed, it doesn't even have oxygen inside.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
a datacenter at the poles might also contribute to melting the ice.
More or less than burning fossil fuels to keep the data center cool at non-polar latitudes?
This is a fun concept with potentially even more interesting consequences. Using the ocean as a giant heatsink would result in a water temperature slightly higher than elsewhere, I wonder if over time it would suffice to attract the attention of non-local aquatic life, or affect the migratory habits of the existing species
Power plants already vent excess heat into rivers and oceans. Changes in temperature are usually bad for aquatic life, unfortunately. :-( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_pollution
I might be missing some aspects but would it not be much easier to locate the datacenter on land but close to the ocean (or other large body of water), with similar principles as used for cooling nuclear reactors? Then you would get the benefits but would not have the same strict requirements on reliability of the components.
If you locate it on land you would also have the benefit of using the excess heat for house heating (if located in cold climate and the temperature difference to outside is big enough). This is done in a number of cases in Sweden with excess heat from large industrial plants [1].
[1] Report in Swedish; http://www.svenskfjarrvarme.se/Global/Rapporter%20och%20doku...
This is a fun concept with potentially even more interesting consequences. Using the ocean as a giant heatsink would result in a water temperature slightly higher than elsewhere, I wonder if over time it would suffice to attract the attention of non-local aquatic life, or affect the migratory habits of the existing species
[1] http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/jellyfish-shut-down...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The pod is sealed, it doesn't even have oxygen inside.
And how does data get into this data center? Where is the power comming from? All those connections still must go through penetrations. It can be done, i just question the worth.