4 ms·
> [...] surpass 1 gigawatt of overall data center capacity. > [...] with only about half the capacity, at 559 megawatts (MWs) of inventory. I didn't know that
by _nalply 2y ago
> [...] surpass 1 gigawatt of overall data center capacity.
> [...] with only about half the capacity, at 559 megawatts (MWs) of inventory.
I didn't know that the physical unit for the rate of energy transfer, or more simple just power, is also an unit for computing power. After all it's the same word, right?
</s>
- Fornax96 2y agoEnergy consumption is directly correlated to heat production. The capacity of a datacenter is basically its capacity to keep servers cool. That's why datacenter capacity is measured in watts.
- jwiz 2y agoTell me you don't datacenter without telling me you don't datacenter.
- _nalply 2y agoYeah, I am just a programmer. TIL that datacenter capacity uses the unit Watt. I didn't believe it first, thought, again these journalists being confused about units. Not the first time.
- jwiz 2y agoWait until you hear about the units they use for cooling.
- _nalply 2y agoBTU? Or Watt, too?
- jwiz 2y agoNowadays, it's true they usually use watts. But not too long ago (and still very common in office-building server rooms) they use "tons of refrigeration", which takes its name from the amount of power it takes to phase change a ton of water in 1 day. It is 12k BTU/h.
- positr0n 2y agoIt was funny to me too talking to execs in the datacenter space for the first time and hearing them talk about computer in MW terms. "Last quarter the team brought up X MWs in Y Chicago, good job everyone."