Earlier quoted context omitted.
How often do you unplug RJ45s versus USB-C, though?
I'm not talking about unplugging. Normal use.
USB-C devices tend to be mobile. Flexing and disconnecting are much more common.
Data centers are transitioning from AC to DC
381–390 of 432 posts
Re: Data centers are transitioning from AC to DC
#382Earlier quoted context omitted.
How often do you unplug RJ45s versus USB-C, though?
I'm not talking about unplugging. Normal use.
And in normal use, how often do you handle or cycle an rj45 vs a usb?
Even when it's your job the usb are still handled and cycled way more often. You might handle 100 ethernet jacks today, but it won't be the same one 100 times. You plug it in and don't touch that one again for 5 years.
Re: Data centers are transitioning from AC to DC
#383800V to each rackmount unit, with hot plugging of rack units? That's scary. The usual setup at this voltage is that you throw a hulking big switch to cut the power, and that mechanically unlocks the cabinet. But that's not what these people have in mind. They want hot-plugging of individual rackmount units. GE has a paper about the power conversion design, but it doesn't mention the unit to rack electrical and mechan…
It's easy to make these 800V systems totally safe. You just have to combine this idea with the extremely sensible plan to put data centers in space and then there will be no worry about when "someone pulls out a rackmount unit" because there not be someone within hundreds of kilometers.
Re: Data centers are transitioning from AC to DC
#384Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've seen articles from the 1880s claiming oil will run out by 1890. 140 years latter... Yes we can run out of oil, but nobody really knows if or even when that will happen. Right now I'm guessing we won't run out because wind and solar is so much cheaper for most purposes everyone is shifting anyway - this will take decades to play out.
> Yes we can run out of oil, but nobody really knows if or even when that will happen. We can run out of cheap and accessible oil very, very fast if the shitshow in MENA continues to escalate. Qatar already lost 20% of their LNG capacity in a single strike. The US may have enough domestic oil production to sate its domestic demand, but the prices would still skyrocket even for them. Europe meanwhile, we're straight f…
What does "Europe running out of oil" mean to you? Gas at the pump for >10€/l, potentially with some rationing scheme? Do you honestly think that's gonna happen?
It is easy to get infected by the media narratives that are notoriously biased towards maximum drama, but I firmly believe that we are not gonna escalate into such a scenario.
There's always options; sorting priorities because of price, radical electrification of transport, or, at the extreme end, picking up coal hydration again (worked well enough to keep the Nazi war machine running for quite a while, with much worse access to crude).
For comparison: Copper prices did increase by 500% since 2000, but people barely even care, and that's how I would expect "shortages" to typically go.
Re: Data centers are transitioning from AC to DC
#385Earlier quoted context omitted.
An EV fast charger can do 1000V, so with a bit of logic that sounds doable.
EV chargers take a different approach. There is no power on the connector while you're plugging it in. It then locks in place before the contactor closes and power is delivered. Unplugging is the same, power is removed before the plug is unlocked for release.
Do the EV chargers not have an alternative disconnect sequence for when the two sides are forcibly mechanically separated? Either by accident, malicious intent, or mechanical failure of some component.
Re: Data centers are transitioning from AC to DC
#386Earlier quoted context omitted.
As long as you can control for fire, electrical safety seems like a temporary condition as robots and intelligent machines are cheaper and more available long term solution to hot swap blades in datacenter racks.
Dear downvoters: softbank has been optimizing their datacenters for robotic technicians since 2020. They are about to have fully human free datacenters by the end of this year. When you are designing long term goals with datacenters, as I explicitly mentioned talking about, you can't ignore automation.
> Dear downvoters: softbank has been optimizing their datacenters for robotic technicians since 2020.
> They are about to have fully human free datacenters by the end of this year.
What I'm hearing is that they've been trying to build a human-free datacenter for 6 years and they haven't done it yet. What's the betting that that "end of this year" schedule slips further?
Re: Data centers are transitioning from AC to DC
#387Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not to be _that_ guy, but it was technically -48V DC. Honestly, that was pretty surprising to me when I had to work with some telco equipment a couple of decades ago. To this day, I don't think I've encountered anything else that requires negative voltage relative to ground.
Is that something other than a labelling convention? Is ground actually connected to a earth stake?
> Is ground actually connected to a earth stake?
Yes, or something similar[1]:
A few of the more efficient grounding electrodes for buildings and structures are:
- Metal Underground Water Pipe
- Metal In-ground Support Structures
- Concrete-Encased Electrode (also known as “footer ground” or “Ufer ground”).
- Ground Ring
As mentioned this is particularly important for telecom and similar systems which have signal wires going literally through the ground.
[1]: https://www.nfpa.org/news-blogs-and-articles/blogs/2021/09/2...
Re: Data centers are transitioning from AC to DC
#388Earlier quoted context omitted.
What do you need +48V for?
We go -48 -> 48 -> 12 -> 3v3,1v8 etc etc. If you went 48 straight to POL voltages then you would have horrific converter performance.
I was just looking at these funny parts: https://www.vicorpower.com/products?productType=cfg&productK...
130A, 48V -> 1.2V @ 94% efficiency! Except:
- $100 ea.
- Fixed 1/40 voltage ratio, regulation done by upstream regulator.
- Look at the minimum specs for efficiency…
Re: Data centers are transitioning from AC to DC
#389Earlier quoted context omitted.
The lesser-known instance of this is RV power. When you're running off small batteries and solar, you want to make the best use of the watt-hours you have, and that means avoiding the DC-to-AC-to-DC loop wherever possible. So you run 12V (or in newer models, higher voltage) versions of everything, upconverting as necessary.
I am really skeptical that 12VDC power distribution in RVs actually saves power compared to a high-quality (hah!) higher voltage AC or DC system. 12V is absurdly low and you can’t easily lose quite a few percent in resistive losses even with fairly large cables, and those large cables are quite unpleasant to work with and rather dangerous.
The vast majority of what you're running from RV DC are things like lights, fans, phone chargers, and other cigarette-plug-adapter type devices. My RV has a 12V DC fridge. For anything more - particularly air conditioning - you need AC for sure.
My inverter-charger is connected to my batteries with 4/0 cable. That wasn't fun to run.
Re: Data centers are transitioning from AC to DC
#390Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you're being downvoted for speaking of a complex future possibility ("robots and intelligent machines ... solution") as if it was a proven commodity. There will be many twists and turns in the path to the possible reliability, scalability, and cost effectiveness of robots and intelligent machines.
It is a proven commodity already. Just not in our behind-the-curve country. Look at NTT Data or SoftBank. https://www.softbank.jp/en/sbnews/entry/20250917_01
Appreciate your effort to provide reference info. Near the end it says "part of SoftBank’s efforts to implement robotic automation at [one] Data Center scheduled to start operating [no later than April 1 2027]".
They literally speak of preparing for a future that does not yet exist. I am optimistic it will exist, but that's not the same thing as it already happening and having a track record of reliability and profitability. I could find no mention of robots actually doing anything at that link. The article is about prepping servers, not specifically about robotics, in the same sense that planning hoses for gas pumps at gas stations is not about building cars.