3 ms·
Cooling is a pretty big factor in the energy usage of datacenters, and there's a lot of room for creative use of technology there - or simply geographic advanta
by brazzy 7y ago
Cooling is a pretty big factor in the energy usage of datacenters, and there's a lot of room for creative use of technology there - or simply geographic advantages.
- adamt 7y agoIt's a lot smaller than you think these days with all the effort that has gone into it. Google reports an average PUE[1] of 1.11 over the past year, 1.09 over the past quarter, and the latest/best data centers are at 1.06 [2]. In simple terms this means that the total power overhead for cooling etc is just 6% of that to power the machines in them. Google (and others) have gone to great lengths using AI, and radical new ideas for cooling. Disclaimer: I work at Google, but not in Datacenters. All info public domain [1] Definition of PUE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_usage_effectiveness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_usage_effectiveness [2] Source: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/efficiency/ https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/efficiency/
- mirekrusin 7y agoYou can use steam from cooling to produce electricity just like nuclear plants do, right? :)
- comicjk 7y agoNo, because computer chips don't operate at 100°C (let alone 300°C like a nuclear reactor). Low-temperature heat flows contain little usable work. Typically the best option is to dump the spare heat into the nearest body of water, or into the air.