How Do You Cool a Data Center? | The B1M | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

The architecture, engineering, and construction industries are exploring new design concepts and alternative locations for data centers to increase efficiency and reduce environmental impact.

Key Insights

• 🥵 Data centers are essential for supporting online services but require significant resources in terms of energy consumption and heat management.
• 🤣 Innovative approaches, such as using Arctic air and fans for cooling or locating data centers on the ocean floor, can increase efficiency and reduce environmental impact.
• 😒 The use of clean and renewable energy sources is becoming a priority for technology giants like Facebook and Microsoft.
• 🤣 Locating data centers in remote locations or on the ocean floor can also reduce latency and improve the speed of data transmission.
• 👷 Collaboration between the architecture, engineering, and construction industries is crucial for developing sustainable solutions for data centers.
• 😒 The decline of certain industries, like steel and paper, in northern Sweden has led to a surplus of power and an opportunity to use renewable energy sources for data centers.
• 🍉 Microsoft's Project Natick is exploring the long-term feasibility of underwater data centers, with a goal of 20-year deployments.

Transcript

Oh when we access today's online world it's easy to assume that all of our liking sharing uploading downloading purchasing and streaming is happening in the ether in some kind of virtual environment or cloud that exists in the air around us in fact those actions are supported by fast physical support infrastructures huge built assets are delivered ... Read More

Questions & Answers

Q: How has the growth of the internet impacted data center construction?

The increasing internet usage and data generation have led to the construction of data centers to support the demand for online services and storage.

Q: What are the challenges associated with data centers?

Data centers require significant energy to power and cool the servers, and they generate a large amount of heat, which can be costly to manage and harmful to the environment.

Q: How is Facebook innovating in their data center design?

Facebook's data center in northern Sweden takes advantage of the Arctic location to use surrounding cold air and fans for cooling, aiming to reduce energy consumption and rely more on clean and renewable energy sources.

Q: What is Microsoft's approach to sustainable data centers?

Microsoft is testing the concept of locating data centers on the ocean floor, using cold ocean water for cooling and exploring the use of tidal power for electricity generation. They aim to develop a scalable and sustainable solution.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Internet usage and data generation have led to the construction of data centers, which require significant energy and generate heat.

• Facebook's data center in northern Sweden uses Arctic air and fans for cooling, aiming to run on 50% clean and renewable energy by 2018.

• Microsoft is testing the feasibility of locating data centers on the ocean floor, using cold ocean water for cooling and exploring tidal power generation.