What's the average lifetime of a data center? I wonder how the enclosure for this underwater one compares, and whether it's comparable.
Microsoft has sunk a data centre in the sea to investigate energy efficiency
121–130 of 397 posts
Re: Microsoft has sunk a data centre in the sea to investigate energy efficiency
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even in the coast of large cities, like NYC or Boston. The real state cost of having a data center in those regions are high, but it would be much cheaper to just hide your servers underwater, near where your users are.
This is a big reason. The cost of leasing out space is definitely more expensive than the cost of cooling these datacenters. Why spend several million dollars in leasing space when you can drop a datacenter capsule off the coast with free cooling? Who cares about the cost of hardware.
The cost of connecting the thing via submarine cable to a suitable land point is likely to be a lot higher than you think.
Re: Microsoft has sunk a data centre in the sea to investigate energy efficiency
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I know, the oceans are big, but so is our data. Meh. The biggest data center (ChinaTel's Inner Mongolia Information Park) consumes about 150MWe, assuming all of it becomes waste heat it's basically nothing: a nuclear reactor (each plant has 2~8) releases 2Wt for each We it produces, and they're usually sized between 800 and 1300MWe. Hell, earth averages 160W/m^2 from the sun, oceans cover 360m km^2, so oceans get 1…
In addition, the heat represents extra energy. Warmth and water (and carbon) are the very fabric of life. Nature will adapt to utilize this free energy source before you could say "thank you". My prediction is we'll be amazed at the life forms that develop and explode around such submerged cooling structures.
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Re: Microsoft has sunk a data centre in the sea to investigate energy efficiency
#124At what point does this become a problem? They're using the naturally cool sea water to regulate the temperature in the container, but that heat needs to go somewhere... it heats the water. If this becomes a popular alternative to classic server farms, at what point does it start to increase the temperature of the sea? I know, the oceans are big, but so is our data.
> I know, the oceans are big, but so is our data. Meh. The biggest data center (ChinaTel's Inner Mongolia Information Park) consumes about 150MWe, assuming all of it becomes waste heat it's basically nothing: a nuclear reactor (each plant has 2~8) releases 2Wt for each We it produces, and they're usually sized between 800 and 1300MWe. Hell, earth averages 160W/m^2 from the sun, oceans cover 360m km^2, so oceans get 1…
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Re: Microsoft has sunk a data centre in the sea to investigate energy efficiency
#125Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I know, the oceans are big, but so is our data. Meh. The biggest data center (ChinaTel's Inner Mongolia Information Park) consumes about 150MWe, assuming all of it becomes waste heat it's basically nothing: a nuclear reactor (each plant has 2~8) releases 2Wt for each We it produces, and they're usually sized between 800 and 1300MWe. Hell, earth averages 160W/m^2 from the sun, oceans cover 360m km^2, so oceans get 1…
In addition, the heat represents extra energy. Warmth and water (and carbon) are the very fabric of life. Nature will adapt to utilize this free energy source before you could say "thank you". My prediction is we'll be amazed at the life forms that develop and explode around such submerged cooling structures.
Heat is not really useful energy the way your taking about.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_law_of_thermodynamics
Life wants entropy like sunlight or glucose becase it can do something with it. Heat can speed up chemical reactions which makes a minimal amount useful indirectly but not as an energy source.
PS: Heat gradients are a form of entropy and for example create thermals which are then useful.
Re: Microsoft has sunk a data centre in the sea to investigate energy efficiency
#126I don't understand why not locating it in a city in a cold climate and using the waste heat to heat the city buildings? There is precedent. In Seattle there's the old "steam plant" which piped steam to many local buildings to heat them in winter.
Hi Walter.
Also.
I'm assuming it has to do with distribution and reliability within regions, hence why you even need datacenters at different locations and not just one location.
Re: Microsoft has sunk a data centre in the sea to investigate energy efficiency
#127At what point does this become a problem? They're using the naturally cool sea water to regulate the temperature in the container, but that heat needs to go somewhere... it heats the water. If this becomes a popular alternative to classic server farms, at what point does it start to increase the temperature of the sea? I know, the oceans are big, but so is our data.
If my calculation is correct, the total annual electricity production in the world (I used 20 279 PWh) would heat up the oceans (1 347 000 000 km³ of water) by 0,0129°C. It's rather easy to calculate because one calorie is the energy required to heat up one gramme of water by one degree Celsius, the rest is just unit conversions, but I could have messed up anywhere of course. Even if I'm off by a few orders of magnit…
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Re: Microsoft has sunk a data centre in the sea to investigate energy efficiency
#128For years we've used water to cool our CPUs ... what happens if we drop the entire datacenter into water?
Re: Microsoft has sunk a data centre in the sea to investigate energy efficiency
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think part of it is that even problems that are small/unnoticeable at the individual level become big when multiplied by a huge N. For example, I don't think I've ever had a hard drive fail in ~30 years in computing, well without being dropped that is, yet look at the Backblaze reports: https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-benchmark-stats-20...
I have. Including things like the heads falling off and spinning around, grinding everything to junk.
That sickening click sound that a disk drive makes when it's on the verge of failure is ingrained in my head.
I tried putting one of those in the freezer once, and maybe it was a folk remedy, but it worked enough to boot and get my data off!
Re: Microsoft has sunk a data centre in the sea to investigate energy efficiency
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
In addition, the heat represents extra energy. Warmth and water (and carbon) are the very fabric of life. Nature will adapt to utilize this free energy source before you could say "thank you". My prediction is we'll be amazed at the life forms that develop and explode around such submerged cooling structures.
Heat is not really useful energy the way your taking about. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_law_of_thermodynamics Life wants entropy like sunlight or glucose becase it can do something with it. Heat can speed up chemical reactions which makes a minimal amount useful indirectly but not as an energy source. PS: Heat gradients are a form of entropy and for example create thermals which are then useful.
You're correct of course, but same difference here. The extra energy will kickstart processes that nurture life.
I was actually pondering whether to expand on "energy", "water", "carbon" and "life" in the original post (none of them trivial concepts) but decided against it. It'd only muddy the waters, so to speak, missing the point:
A submerged data centre will be a net boon to the biological life around it.