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Google will have some of the same issues as that "other startup",
and lots that are different. A floating oil platform
(to me) works better than a ship based datacenter.

_IF_ Google was to do a floating datacenter, I'd love to see
them take one of the old nuke flat-tops, and use that...
The big E as a datacenter would be killer, better than a pile of scrap.
http://www.defensetech.org/archives/003578.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_(CVN-65)
http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/CV64.htm

EACH of the A2W power plants can deliver over 26,000 kw
(over 200,000 kw total) , and if you combine the reactor
hot water output, with an amonia based cooling system,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein_refrigerator
http://www.nh3tech.org/absorption.html
can give low cost cooling.

Here is a letter that I sent to one of the VARS for the "other startup",
strangely enough, I never got an answer back. Perhaps it just got spam filtered out.

The questions remain unanswered....

*********** Mon Feb 4 11:23:17 2008
Received: from [****************.yahoo.com via HTTP; Mon, 04 Feb 2008 11:23:17 PST
Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2008 11:23:17 -0800 (PST)
**********************
Subject: Floating Data Centers?!?
To: ken@teamsilverback.com
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Content-Length: 8789

I saw your article about floating datacenters, and since you asked for
input, I thought I would chime in. Let me start off by saying I like the idea,
I know that there is great room for delivering a good product, at a good price point.

Now before I put my racks in a floating data center, here are some of my
concerns and references to real world issues. (I have a lot more, but
that depends on the ship and configuration.),

1) ""using sea water for their chill water"". Having seawater around is
a good heat sink, and since the ships are at dock most of the time, a long
pipe can be run to the cooler water zones to draw in water that is
close to freezing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_lake_water_cooling
Using colder sea water (after a standard air heat exchanger) can result in
good economies, if the heat exchangers can stand up to the corrosive environment.

2) ""All generators will have access to the ships fuel storage during disaster scenarios, which
allows them to operate for nearly a month without the need to refuel.""
Traditional fuel for gen sets and large ship engines are very different. An
onboard gen set is like a modern rail road locomotive engine
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:3000hp_curve_ver2.jpg ), and it runs on diesel,
a main power plant for a ship (also a diesel) traditionally runs on Heavy Fuel Oil
(HFO). Without modifications to either the main power plant, or the gen sets, both
engines can not share the same fuel source. Please note the differences between #2
(the traditional fuel for ship board gen sets) , and #6 (Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO), AKA
Bunker C, the traditional fuel for ships manufactured in the 1980's). #6 is almost
a jelly at cold temperatures, and must be heated (to around 100c ) for efficient
movement, and burning. The main engine on a large cargo vessel is also much more
efficient (up to %50) in its use of fuel, making them more economical than the
smaller generators. Gen sets use a small amount of diesel per day, (compared
to the main engine) a 3100 kw gen set will use 4253 gallons of fuel per day
(http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/living_and_working/diaries/rrs_james

Putting them away from population centers wastes a lot of energy in the transmission lines and also gives people a false sense of security where they won't press for answers or safety. The Enrico Fermi reactor that melted would have contaminated the whole northeast corridor. Too many don't realize that and think setting them 50 or 100 miles away makes them safe. It doesn't.

This made me think of another point. Any such plant like this creates about 2 units of heat for every unit of electricity.

While you can't get this up to 100% obviously, you can collocate various industries that need heat - such as ethanol plants*. Heck, run steam pipes to various buildings to provide heat. Ammonia refrigeration using heat is a known technology, so it can even provide AC.

Even if you end up selling the heat ridiculously cheap prices - it's currently going up the evaporation cooling tower. Just like how a number of pollution products collected by scrubbers are actually valuable materials.

An ethanol plant getting cheap heat from a nuclear plant for it's processes would help lower the cost of the nuclear power(more money to pay off the building loan quicker) as well as lower the cost for the ethanol(cheaper to produce).

You're getting up to, at minimum, a large town to provide all the workers in the two(or more) plants, as well as all the support workers for them. People like doctors, teachers, waiters, accountants, police, etc...

*Many of which are currently coal or gas fired.

Heat source management
Do not put large transformers in HVAC space.
Encourage the use of dc power supplies. (12 24 48 72)
http://www.mini-box.com/s.nl/sc.8/category.13/it.A /id.300/.f efficiency %95
http://www.mini-box.com/s.nl/sc.8/category.13/it.A /id.417/.f efficiency %97

this is only %70 at full load http://www.powerstream.com/DC-PC-48V.htm other units can be %30-%75 see http://www.tomshardware.com/2004/01/22/getting_the _right_power/page3.html and http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/07/11/how_thg_tes ts_power_supplies/page3.html for more info.

Cooling
Take a look at heat pumps for local heat dumps.
Do not run your ac on UPS

Peak shaving
Run your generators during peak loads
Use the heat from your gen set to cool the datacenter (continuous-cycle absorption cooling) http://www.nh3tech.org/absorption.html
Use solar / wind to recharge the battery bank.

smart non data center power use
turn off elevators/automatic doors during peak usage
use efficient low level/low power (led) lighting.

Have your users pay a heat tax per 100wt

Look not only at the cost upfront but the total cost over the life of the data center. There are a whole bunch more, but it depends on your needs/design/issues.

IcyBall systems:
http://www.ggw.org/~cac/IcyBall/HomeBuilt/HomeBuil t.html

Ammonia Absorbtion (commonly refered to as propane refrigeration, but propane is only used to supply heat, the heat could be supplied from another source.)
http://www.nh3tech.org/absorption.html

Actually, I believe that was supposed to be based on ammonia absorption.

I have friends who have run these things for years and they are trouble free. The main problem with them is that their thermodynamic efficiency is poor, so they end up producing a great deal more heat than cold. Therefore the fuel costs are higher than the electricity costs would be for the more common phase-change process used in ordinary everyday appliances.

There is nothing special about propane as a heat source. Kerosene is also used though other fuels are plausible. The caloric output of the heat source has to be fairly steady, which makes a wood-fired system more problematic, but still more plausible than a vortex system.

In reality a phase-change compressor driven by bicycle pedals would be more practical, if human-powered refrigeration is the goal. The technology is established and the efficiency has the benefit of decades of development.

Ammonia based gas absorption refrigeration works well with heat source, such as kerosene or propane. I often thought about ways to focus solar radiation to do the trick, as well.

There was even a pretty cool movie made based on it.

The ammonia-absorption cycle has been used for nearly 100 years in refrigerators powered by heat.

I think the downside is that leaking ammonia is capable of catching fire. That, and ammonia is used to make everything from fertilizer to explosives to crystal meth. Widespread knowledge of its versatility is discouraged.

Here's one you can make yourself.

First. So sorry, I don't drink or do drugs. At all, of any type...

Second. You say "It all makes our lives much much easier".
Yes, too much easier. That's why people are fat slobs. People are soft. Look at the power blackout. People had NO CLUE how to deal with it. Everyone in a big panic, no air conditioning, no cold beer, no MTV... Boo hoo...

People have lived in cold climates for tens of thousands of years, I hate to tell you. And they did it without electricity. Unless you can show me that the Vikings came from the equator and lived in air conditioning, you should rethink your statement.

Medicine?? Ah, most of these man made chemicals imitate compounds that occur in nature. The drug companies make HUGE $$$ selling you these chemicals that string you along.

They don't CURE people, they TREAT the symptoms.
If they were to CURE you they would lose any future business. It's in their best financial interest to NOT CURE people.

About 20 something years ago I was remodeling a house and my dad was helping me. In the Kitchen where the fridge went, I pulled a wall board away and found a gas pipe capped off. I asked my dad why in the hell was there a gas line in the refrigerator area. He told me that when he was a kid they ran on Ammonia and natural gas.
A pilot light heated the Ammonia to cool the fridge. http://www.nh3tech.org/absorption.html

My dad told me that the refrigerators were excellent, they had no moving parts, they were silent, very energy effcient and never broke down.

Well, considering these things, they figured out that they would only sell one per family, and that a couple could leave the refrigerator to their kids and so on. The market would be limited. So, they invented the Freon based refrigerator and touted it as much better and imporved. Yes, improved, in that the refrigeration companies would now sell an average of 4-6 refrigerators per family over the lifetime of that family and the chance of it lasting long enough to pass on, forget it.

The Freon refrigerators break down often and have limited life spans, on purpose. They used to make money selling parts and servicing them, now they just make you throw it away and buy a whole new one. I mean, why sell you a $25 part when they can sell you a whole new $800 refrigerator??

It's the same way with "medicine". They don't cure people, they treat people so that they can milk them into utter oblivion, even beyond the grave.

My uncle was dying of cancer and they knew it but they opened him up anyway. The cancer took off like wildfire after that and they had him in the hospital for the last two months of his life, draining his life savings away. Just about the time they got his accounts down to a level below poverty he took the dirt nap.

Even after he was dead the hospital and doctor bills flooded in. My cousin will be paying those bastards off for years now. So in the grave they continue to pick your pockets.

They prolong your life so they can milk you.
Once you are milked, you'll find out just how short life is..
Just like "justice", how much "justice" the rich can buy versus how much the poor can buy..