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Shortage of Electricity Drives Data Center Talks

Posted by Zonk on from the let's-get-cold-fusion-licked dept.

Engineer-Poet writes "Per the San Jose Mercury News, competitors such as Google and Yahoo are meeting to discuss the issue of electricity in Silicon Valley. How much of the USA's 4038 billion kWh/year goes into data centers? Enough to make a difference. Data centers are moving out of California to spread the load and avoid a single-point-of-failure scenario. This is a serious matter; as Andrew Karsner (assistant secretary of energy efficiency and renewable energy for the Department of Energy) asked, 'What happens to national productivity when Google goes down for 72 hours?' I'm sure nobody wants to know." From the article: "Concern about electricity pricing and volatility has led Microsoft to talk with its network manufacturers about building more efficient servers. IBM and Hewlett-Packard -- which both build data centers -- want to improve efficiency at the facilities. AMD promotes changing the design of data centers to increase airflow to keep the supercomputers cool."

4 of 194 comments (clear)

  1. Iceland needs a really big pipe.... by simm1701 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Given the abundance of geothermal power in iceland (hence why aluminium ore is transported there for refinement) perhaps a few trucks of fibre need to be put in place - Reykjavik becoming the next big hub for data centers... Lots of power on tap, lots of cooling easily available (ie its bloody freezing there), and the good old days of meetings in hot tubs could come back too - though obviously thermal springs rather than hot tubs....

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  2. Moving makes sense by hcdejong · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Google had the right idea when they located their datacenter in Oregon, in a colder climate so they don't need as much air con power, and right next to a big hydro power plant.
    What's the point of locating your datacenter in an area with high ground prices, a history of electric power supply problems and a hot climate?

  3. Re:Data Center Congregation by Dun+Malg · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How about taking some of those new 40% efficiency solar panels and moving some data centers down to the S.W. for a start? A large portion of the power usage goes towards keeping the machines cool. Moving the data centers to a hotter climate to take advantage of the extra sunlight via solar cells is essentially a wash, as the added generatoion capacity is easily eaten up by the additional cooling needs. Actually, it's a net loss, as solar power systems aren't free...
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  4. Sure they do by brunes69 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You gotta remmeber that, when a blackout hits a huge swath of area, it also brings down the *client machines* in that area as well, so your backup centre doesn't necessairily have to handle your entire peak load.

    Google only needs one of two redundant data centers (one in the East, one in the West, one Mid-Central) to basically ensure they can whether any power loss scenario. If they had 3 such separate centers (which I have no doubt they already have), the only way they're going to be totally off line is if the whole national grid goes down - in which case Google should be the least of your worries if you're a lawmaker.