This means that any problem that can be understood and solved by computational means can now be attacked (assuming some organization is willing to fund this). It will be interesting to see what problems don't fit that category.
NSA plans massive, 65MW, $2bn data center in Utah • The Register:Among others, Goggle has recently located new data centers based on the availability of energy. Here's an even more interesting idea:
"The ultra-secretive National Security Agency plans to build a 1-million-square-foot data center in Utah as it seeks to decentralize its computing resources and tap regions with ample supplies of lower-cost electricity.
When completed, the facility will require at least 65 megawatts of power and cost $1.93bn, according to news reports. The 120-acre data center will be located in Utah's Camp Williams, which borders Salt Lake and Tooele counties. Two major power corridors already run through the spot, a major reason the NSA chose it.
The plans help demonstrate how power is emerging as one of the biggest costs in building and running today's data centers.
. . .
In 2006, the Baltimore Sun reported the agency's Fort Meade location maxed out the capacity of the Baltimore area power grid, preventing the installation of new supercomputers that had been planned."
Google makes waves and may have solved the data center conundrum | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com:
"Google is pondering a floating data center that could be powered and cooled by the ocean. These offshore data centers could sit 3 to 7 miles offshore and reside in about 50 to 70 meters of water.
The search giant filed for a patent in February. The patent outlines a concept that would not only be savvy engineering, but deliver great returns.
. . .
Google points out the painfully obvious for anyone in the data center business: “It can be expensive to build and locate data centers, and it is not always easy to find access to necessary (and inexpensive) electrical power, high-bandwidth data connections, and cooling water for such data centers.”
. . .
Google is talking about a self-contained unit (excluding bandwidth connections) that would sit offshore much like an oil rig.
. . .
As Miller points out Google’s idea uses the Pelamis Wave Energy Converter units to create a wave farm Google reckons that it can cobble together enough units to create about 40 megawatts of power. Seawater would cool these data centers."
3 comments:
Eldest brother:
It is interesting that power - especially for cooling - is now a limiting factor in data center design. There was an article in my most recent newsletter from APC (the UPS people) with emphasis on making cooling more efficient to save energy.
Google's idea has interest, but being offshore would open them up to other hazards. I know from my past work that a maritime environment can be very difficult on electronic equipment and mechanical hardware ... plus there's pirates out there!
Me:
Hey - glad to see you're up for a little typing.
I agree that placing sensitive equipment in a humid & corrosive maritime environment requires a considerable trade-off in other benefits. While seawater is cool, I would run it through a heat exchanger to keep it away from my expensive equipment - unfortunately incurring a significant loss in efficiency.
It would be interesting to see Google's approach to dealing with piracy. I suspect they would just locate their sites where piracy isn't likely, but rather than paying them off, I wonder what technology they could use to make piracy unprofitable?
Would GreenPeace object to periodic EMP blasts emanating from a Google maritime site? The biggest risk might be pirates seizing vessels bringing supplies & workers to/from the facilities.
Eldest brother:
. . .
I definitely agree that salt-water cooling would have to go through a heat exchanger to either a fresh water or a glycol mix cooling loop. That is pretty standard technology, can be very efficient, and is even done in a lot of geothermal units where the groundwater is mineral-laden or corrosive. The other hazard, though is the humid salt-laden atmosphere. You can't get away from it, and it is the deadly enemy of metal watercraft and electro-mechanical systems. All of the computer circuit boards must have conformal coating sealing, all connectors must be hard gold plated and water-sealed, all metal parts must be treated and painted to resist corrosion, and they may even have to use a lot more mil-spec components than usual.
In addition a maritime environment is a constant-vibration environment - from wind and wave action, operating machinery, power plants, propulsion systems and so on. (Yes, the Google Barges would have propulsion systems for station-keeping if nothing else.) Constant vibration produces material fatigue, breakage and higher failure rates than on land-based equipment. They also have to consider vulnerability of connections to the shore not only for data, but also for power or fuel, and other consumables. (Of course, high-speed ferries based on Dad's Ficat, Wavestrider or Sea Knife hulls could be used for some of that.)
The Google Barges would be large, immobile, high-value targets and therefore attractive nuisances, so they would have to consider something for anti-pirate technology. As long as they are within the 12-mile limit they would have to rely on the maritime police forces of the state they are closest to, the US Coast Guard, and/or a mix of non-lethal technology (directed sound rays, slime guns, anti-boarding nets and so on.) If they are outside the territorial limit, I'm not sure what laws would currently apply. Armed merchant ships were common in the age of sail, but obviously not so common now. However, EMP (electro-magnetic pulses) would be pretty much useless against the common variety of pirates. About the the only thing it would do is burn out their iPods and 2-way radios, but the boats (usually RHIBs with magneto-powered outboard motors) and automatic weapons (mechanical) would still work just fine.
Hmmm - I was thinking the EMP would kill the electronics for their motors - I wasn't thinking about outboard motors with simple magnetos.
One of Google proposals is to generate energy from the wave motion, so they probably see it as an advantage.
Google uses very minimalist servers - the toughening you describe for maritime use might play havoc with their pricing models, but they probably won't reach their intended life expectancy otherwise.
The "barges" might be constructed with thick, slick, & negative slope sides to deflect gunshots and provide no purchase for grappling hooks, but that might encourage the pirates to try RPGs & mortars.
Google might try installing remotely aimed high pressure pumps & hoses. Seawater could be use like fire-hoses in prisons to repel boarders, and possibly even to swamp small boats. These could eventually be connected to expert systems and operated by a very small security crew.
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