4 ms·

Why not put them in... space? Lots of energy (direct sun) and cold temperatures up there. I guess space debris could be an issue.

thaumasiotes 6y ago
As I understand it, the temperature is cold in space, but it's still difficult to transfer heat from yourself to the environment (because there's nothing in the environment to absorb the energy). You don't want low temperatures for their own sake; you want them to facilitate heat loss.
thomond 6y ago
Connectivity is an important factor for Data Centres needless to say, how would that work in space?
CydeWeys 6y ago
Contrary to popular belief, space in the vicinity of Earth's orbit is not cold. Indeed, it's very hot. You get the full unfiltered force of sunlight (hotter than noon on the equator), and you don't have any material available nearby like air or water to convect the heat away. Cooling is actually a huge problem in orbit, way harder than on Earth where you can just use fans.
malwrar 6y ago
Besides the obstacle of it being difficult to cool objects in space (you need atmosphere to do convection cooling, i.e. heatsinks), you need to somehow actually get everything in space. It costs a lot of money to get heavy things into orbit, whereas it costs nothing to sink those same objects in the water which naturally has better thermal conductivity to boot. As another bonus, you can get at it much easier if you need to perform maintenance by e.g. attaching pods to a crane rig and simply raising it.
tehbeard 6y ago
Yeah, temperature is a little more complicated than that in space... You're only option of removing heat is radiating it away (no atmosphere/fluid to conduct/convect to). You're also roasting on one half of the orbit, freezing on the other side. If you look at the ISS they have HUGE radiators for what's little more than a small outpost. Solar's only good for half-ish of the orbit, you'll be reliant on batteries for the darkside (more mass, limited lifespan) Not to mention the dV costs of orbit.

thaumasiotes 6y ago

As I understand it, the temperature is cold in space, but it's still difficult to transfer heat from yourself to the environment (because there's nothing in the environment to absorb the energy). You don't want low temperatures for their own sake; you want them to facilitate heat loss.

thomond 6y ago

Connectivity is an important factor for Data Centres needless to say, how would that work in space?

CydeWeys 6y ago

Contrary to popular belief, space in the vicinity of Earth's orbit is not cold. Indeed, it's very hot. You get the full unfiltered force of sunlight (hotter than noon on the equator), and you don't have any material available nearby like air or water to convect the heat away. Cooling is actually a huge problem in orbit, way harder than on Earth where you can just use fans.

malwrar 6y ago

Besides the obstacle of it being difficult to cool objects in space (you need atmosphere to do convection cooling, i.e. heatsinks), you need to somehow actually get everything in space. It costs a lot of money to get heavy things into orbit, whereas it costs nothing to sink those same objects in the water which naturally has better thermal conductivity to boot. As another bonus, you can get at it much easier if you need to perform maintenance by e.g. attaching pods to a crane rig and simply raising it.

tehbeard 6y ago

Yeah, temperature is a little more complicated than that in space... You're only option of removing heat is radiating it away (no atmosphere/fluid to conduct/convect to). You're also roasting on one half of the orbit, freezing on the other side. If you look at the ISS they have HUGE radiators for what's little more than a small outpost. Solar's only good for half-ish of the orbit, you'll be reliant on batteries for the darkside (more mass, limited lifespan) Not to mention the dV costs of orbit.