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Nerdalize: warm house, cheap datacenter

nerdalize.com

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Re: Nerdalize: warm house, cheap datacenter

#11

Post by dylandrop »

tehwalrus wrote: post #10
dylandrop wrote: post #9

I think this is cool, but I don't think the homeowner should have to pay up front for this datacenter in their home. I would be much more convinced to adopt this if I didn't have to pay for something that could be potentially loud, not work well, etc. For one thing, it just seems a bit scammy -- "Hey, just pay us to be our facility"! Also I don't think what the homeowner gets back from this system should be hinged on…

It does say they pay you back for the electricity, that's the whole point.

Ok, well that's good. But this doesn't really answer my other questions

Re: Nerdalize: warm house, cheap datacenter

#13

Post by josh-wrale »

Physical access to a computer is complete access, in terms of security. Therefore, this cannot be used for most computations. Latency is also an issue. A lot of computations can locally be done more cheaply and efficiently if two long journeys must take place with each unit of work at a distance. Ergo, this is likely to be viable only for "public" computations like Bitcoin mining or Folding at home. Public computations usually are poorly funded. Therefore, this business plan is unlikely to succeed without some vast innovation in terms of distributed computing reaching the masses. Example: Intelligent job scheduling ala Google Omega and beyond.

Re: Nerdalize: warm house, cheap datacenter

#15

Post by ISL »

This general theme is something I'd love to do and have talked about with others in the past. It looks like Nerdalize and Qarnot aren't quite ready for prime time.

I'm sitting next to an electric space heater that's heating our office. It's cold. If there's someone out there with a trivially installed image (think knoppix) that wants to pay for computer time, please send me an email. If the rate is sufficient to pay for the retail purchase of a computer and electricity in a winter season, I'm in.

Re: Nerdalize: warm house, cheap datacenter

#17

Post by ISL »

lightblade wrote: post #16

Hmm, I don't think heating is a strong enough use case. What about as cloth dryer? Those things uses a lot of energy to produce heat and you need them even in hot summer. Especially in dense city apartments.

You're obviously not sitting next to an electric space heater and typing with cold hands :).

As long as the pricing pencils out, using computation to provide winter heat can be a win-win for everyone who needs computation, heat, and a planet.

Re: Nerdalize: warm house, cheap datacenter

#18

Post by lostlogin »

lightblade wrote: post #16

Hmm, I don't think heating is a strong enough use case. What about as cloth dryer? Those things uses a lot of energy to produce heat and you need them even in hot summer. Especially in dense city apartments.

A water heater may be better - warming incoming water to save hot water cylinder bills or heat a pool if there is enough heat. Something that needs short bursts of heat would be harder to implement. I know someone who uses a waste water to raise the incoming water temperature 1-2 degrees C and it saves a measurable amount of money on power bills.

Re: Nerdalize: warm house, cheap datacenter

#19

Post by ISL »

dylandrop wrote: post #9

I think this is cool, but I don't think the homeowner should have to pay up front for this datacenter in their home. I would be much more convinced to adopt this if I didn't have to pay for something that could be potentially loud, not work well, etc. For one thing, it just seems a bit scammy -- "Hey, just pay us to be our facility"! Also I don't think what the homeowner gets back from this system should be hinged on…

Leasing the computation equipment is a sensible way to bootstrap the process. There's risk associated with siting a computer at someone's home; if the homeowner has some money invested in the computer, they're less likely to walk off with it, repurpose it, or accidentally damage it.

If there's a developed home heating/computation market, homeowners would be happy to invest in a compuheater.

Re: Nerdalize: warm house, cheap datacenter

#20

Post by ajcarpy2005 »

graeme wrote: post #12

How would this work during the warm months when heating is not needed?

Heat hot water for house and use forced air ventilation over cheap heat exchanger (vented to outside) for excess heat after that?

Also, could duct the heat into the clothes dryer maybe?

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