Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Microsoft Puts Datacenter In a Barn

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the ei-ei-o dept.

aesoteric writes "Microsoft has announced that it will open a new datacenter in Washington State housed in a 'modern' barn-like structure that is 'virtually transparent to ambient outdoor conditions'. It was not the first time Microsoft had toyed with the idea of a datacenter without walls. In September 2008, it successfully ran a stack of HP servers in a tent for seven months, apparently with no failures."

147 comments

  1. Washington state is CHEATING! by pecosdave · · Score: 3, Funny

    I want them to replicate this experiment in Big Bend National Park in July.

    --
    The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
    1. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 2

      I think that's the idea, isn't it?

      When you get right down to it, all they're doing is getting free cooling from low ambient temperatures. It's hovering just above freezing there. The only thing they're keeping off is rain. I'm not sure what they're doing about the humidity -- maybe "not caring".

      --

      ---
      ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
    2. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by sconeu · · Score: 2

      I want them to do it in Death Valley National Monument in August.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    3. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by afidel · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yep, for them technology reduces the cost per compute unit fast enough that the fact that they wear out faster is inconsequential and losing any given node is meaningless so a slightly higher failure rate is completely acceptable. It's the same reason Google can run with SATA drives without RAID, they take care of those concerns at a higher level. For those of us using software without builtin failover we can't really do this. Though if VMWare FT comes a bit farther it might be possible soon (though I'd still want my storage in a conditioned space even if the hosts weren't).

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    4. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by sumdumass · · Score: 2

      It probably wouldn't matter. If you have enough airflow, you can pull enough heat away from the systems to avoid failure. It's not like the chips and stuff run below 100 degrees F under load much anyways.

      It they were liquid cooled, they probably could get away will a bit hotter ambient temps. What matters is the ability to pull excess heat away from the machines faster then it's created. In this situation you would be both heating and cooling the systems to maintain an average temp. As long as the outside air is below 140 f (60 C), most systems will do fine as long as enough volume moves across it. Cooler air need less volume and works more efficiently (sans getting it cooled in the first place) but it's really no different.

    5. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      When the temps in my hometown hit 128F back in 94 I was driving an 83 GMC truck. The orange needle that showed which position the automatic transmission was in more or less melted in half and pulled the needle all the way to the left.

      Even if the CPU can handle that I'm not sure how everything else involved in the chain would.

      --
      The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
    6. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Philip+K+Dickhead · · Score: 1

      Where's Mrs. O'Leary's cow, when you need her?

      --
      "Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
    7. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Pharmboy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That would makes sense, as it takes tons of heat to produce cold air, and simply using the existing cold air has a much lower carbon footprint (corporations don't really care, to them it means lower power bills). As for humidity, it should be lower inside the barn than outside, as the heat from the systems will still raise the temperature enough to drop the relative humidity to more reasonable levels. Probably still higher than optimal, but like you said, who cares if you are running cheap enough gear, you would replace it more often anyway.

      Reading Wikipedia seems to indicate that it is much drier there than eastern Washington anyway. You could likely balance the humidity with the temperature, ie: if you want lower humidity, you vent less and put up with higher temps within the barn. If it is anything like Spokane, then the main humidity is in the winter, when the air is holding less water to start with and allowing the temp to go up (vent less) will do no harm, while dramatically dropping the humidity. There aren't a lot of places this would work, but this area might just fine.

      --
      Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
    8. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 1

      I want them to do it on the surface of THE SUN.

      HAVE FUN COOLING THAT M$ BITCHES!!!1!eleven!

      --

      ---
      ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
    9. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 0

      If the RROD saga has taught us anything, MS doesn't care much about HW reliability.

      --

      ---
      ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
    10. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Pharmboy · · Score: 1

      I meant it is drier than western Washington, but I think you get the picture...

      --
      Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
    11. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I live an hour from this area in Washington and it is all arid desert. June, July and Auguest temperatures regularly exceed 100 degrees. Though not as hot as the Death Valley region, still pleanty warm.

    12. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by afidel · · Score: 1

      Yeah but real studies show with modern AC at some point you use more power spinning fans and on lost PSU efficiency than you save by raising the temperature.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    13. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by tqk · · Score: 1

      I want them to replicate this experiment in Big Bend National Park in July.

      Not that I give a rat's ass what MS does, but I'd like to know why everyone ignores the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuvik#Climate blatantly obvious choice.

      North Shore Alaska instead, if you're timid. Siberia for added spice?

      --
      "Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit ..." -- Pink Floyd.
    14. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Cid+Highwind · · Score: 1

      I respectfully submit that you're looking at the incident the wrong way. You melted a $0.50 part, but the truck kept going. Operating in temperatures outside the normal range caused no downtime, just like with these servers.

      --
      0 1 - just my two bits
    15. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I don't want Sarah Palin sitting on her porch watching my data center. Do you?

    16. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by ThePromenader · · Score: 1

      Yes, did microsoft test for the wall-less server installation's resistance to badly-aimed pepper shot?

      --

      No, no sig. Really.

      ThePromenader
    17. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      wow did you just compare a hundred dollar consumer device to their data center?

    18. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      Noooooo.... the "hundred dollar consumer device" was dependent upon servers that failed.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    19. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by DerekLyons · · Score: 1

      Reading Wikipedia seems to indicate that it is much drier there than eastern Washington anyway.

      The 'dry side' of Washington is also a great deal *hotter* than the 'wet side'.

    20. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by raodin · · Score: 1

      It is dipping well below freezing at night in Quincy right now, but this is the coldest part of the year. Central Washington isn't exactly cool in the summer months - the average highs for Quincy in July are in the mid-80s, and the record highs are pushing 110F.

    21. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Mspangler · · Score: 2

      Since I live in Eastern WA, and visit Quincy now and again (the local Honda motorcycle dealer is there) I have to mention that the summer peak temperatures can reach 105 to 110 F. These usually only last a few hours. My criteria is that if it's 90 F by 9 AM it's going to be a hot day, probably over 100. By sundown it will be under 90, and an hour after that about 70. And it should be down to about 55 by morning.

      Humidity is about 15% at mid day, so a swamp cooler would work fine for cooling the hardware.

      Wintertime has freezing fogs, lows not usually below -10 F, usual highs around freezing. We are just finishing a cold snap where the days went from 5 to 20. It's 28 now, as it is warming up to snow.

      Local power is hydro, wind, the nuclear plant at Hanford, and some imported from the coal plant at Boardman, Oregon.

    22. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by hairyfeet · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Which is why I don't understand why some entrepreneur with a brain isn't buying up those old Titan II missile silos in north AR. Talk about the perfect data centers! You have an ambient temp of 55 degrees F in the lower levels, plenty of wind up top to pull away heat, simply add racks to the silo tubes with side venting at the top, a big fan blowing up at the bottom, and the chimney effect will take care of the rest. they also have plenty of fiber backbone run through that area thanks to AT&T and the US Military, so hooking into the backbone wouldn't be anything, cost of living is cheap, and no unions to worry about.

      While I think TFA is a good experiment, it seems like it would be cheaper in the long run to use structures already built with inherent cooling properties. There are missile silos being closed all over the place and having been in one the ambient temp in those lower levels stays pretty damned chilly. All one would have to do is use a big fan to pull it through grates set into the silo itself to have racks of servers that would stay nicely chilled for the cost of a large fan. Just seems stupid to let them rot or worse end up filled in when nobody buys 'em.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    23. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by M.+Baranczak · · Score: 1

      They can run it at night, when it's cooler.

    24. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Scarred+Intellect · · Score: 1

      I live 15 minutes from where this is happening. Summer will be interesting; it does get to be over 100F some days in the summer, with July usually averaging well over 90F.

      So Quincy, WA is only half-cheating.

    25. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I want them to do it on the surface of THE SUN.

      HAVE FUN COOLING THAT M$ BITCHES!!!1!eleven!

      sounds like a challange for dwarf fortress

      in the name of !!SCIENCE!!

    26. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by gnarfel · · Score: 1

      Like?

      --
      Local music(to upstate NY). http://gnarfel.com/ radio.
    27. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      Well, the needle didn't melt just because it was 128F (26.6C). You see, on an 80 degree day, a parked car can reach as high as 110F (43.3C) in just 20 minutes and go on to reach 130 degrees F (54.4C) not to long afterward. So the needle already should have survived 128 degrees on it own. This is also why you don't leave children or animals in parked cars.

      But if the air is moving through it, it doesn't get that hot. In fact, it stays about the same temp as the outside give or take. And if you perspire or are wet, it can be even cooler. So the key is air movement. You keep it moving and it won't get anywhere near as hot as an 83 GMC on a 128 degree day.

    28. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      Well, it was parked outside of a school in a area populated with little shits you didn't trust with anything. Not only was it parked directly in the sun, the truck was the dark blue/gray combo of the era and the windows were not cracked in the least. Since it was near a school cafeteria a cracked window would have meant a carton of chocolate milk dumped in your seat. Temps were probably in the 150ish range in the truck. My sisters walkman was physically warped by the heat.

      --
      The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
    29. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by clang_jangle · · Score: 2

      That was the Danger/Sidekick fiasco. "RROD" refers to the tendency of the xbox to fry itself to death. And it costs a tad more than one hundred dollars...

      --
      Caveat Utilitor
    30. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      It may be. I just knew there was a cost to cooling the air in addition to circulating it.

    31. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not just about raw humidity numbers though, it's condensing humidity that is the problem. A bunch of "hot" machines in a cold climate will produce much more condensation even though the air humidity is lower.

    32. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      Could have been hotter.

      I used one of those laser thermometer to check the temp of a seat in my car after I burned my ass through my pants sitting on it. It was only about 92 out but the seat itself was at 161F.

      To put hat into perspective, you can get about a third degree burn if exposed to water at 160 for 1 second and if exposed to air at 160, you can get a second degree burn in 60 seconds or less. Of course I had pants on so I wasn't exposed to anything that severe. But it left me with a reminder for a couple of days.

    33. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by RapmasterT · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think that's the idea, isn't it?

      When you get right down to it, all they're doing is getting free cooling from low ambient temperatures. It's hovering just above freezing there. The only thing they're keeping off is rain. I'm not sure what they're doing about the humidity -- maybe "not caring".

      Not caring is exactly what the point of the tent exercise was. Historically the datacenter industry has maintained baseline ideas like 70 percent humidity, 75 degrees temperature...ideas that haven't changed with server technology and durability improving.

      The point is if we spend "X" dollars maintaining a datacenter environment for a baseline of reliability. If we spend 75% of X and reliability isn't significantly impacted, then that's a win. But if we spend 10% of X, and the failure rate costs less than our original X cost, then that's a HUGE win.

      Nobody expects that you can run an open air datacenter without increasing system failure rates, but the current datacenter paradigm just isn't scalable with modern high density systems, so something has to give. If "tradition" is the only thing it costs us, then tents it is!

      As for Washington state being cheating...nothing is going to work everywhere. Hell, desert country is far better for datacenters than cooler climates. It's much cheaper to cool hot dry air, than it is to dehumidify wet air.

    34. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by bennomatic · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Well, it's QC, not AR, but apparently, someone did think what you're suggesting was a good idea. The way they've got the systems oriented and the venting, all the heat is pushed towards the middle, creating an updraft which vents out the top and sucks in outside air so that you've got a natural cold aisle on the outside of the ring of computer systems. Pretty sweet stuff.

      --
      The CB App. What's your 20?
    35. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by hack++slash · · Score: 1

      Build some in England, we've got more than enough cold, shitty weather here to cool datacenters.

      --
      To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
    36. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by ldobehardcore · · Score: 3, Informative

      Completely True.

      I live in the Seattle area, and have a sump pump and dehumidifier in the basement. The dehumidifier has to run year round, and uses twice the energy in a day that the air conditioning uses in 5 days. Granted, the dehumidifier is about 25 years old, and the air conditioning is only 4 years old. But they have about the same volume of air to modify the composition of.

      Western Washington is a really beautiful part of the country. But I have to admit, it's the least friendly place to any size of businesses. High sales tax (up to 9.6% depending on county/city) high cost of living etc. But I gotta say I love it here.

      --
      Hectice, baby, Mercator says hello to you
    37. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Miamicanes · · Score: 1

      IMHO, Esperanza (Argentine Antarctica) is just about the most wet-dream-ideal place you could possibly build a datacenter, if you're willing to sink lots of capital into an investment with a 10-20 year payoff horizon. Let's see:

      * Fiber-accessibility: not sure whether there's fiber there today (there probably IS), but the area's not glaciated, and the surrounding ocean isn't frozen (lots of icebergs, but the water itself remains liquid year-round), so laying fiber from Esperanza to Tierra del Fuego (or even along the continental shelf all the way to Miami) wouldn't be any big deal if there were actually a reason to do it.

      * Climate: 13 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter, 32 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer. Relatively arid & dry year-round. As a practical matter, a winter day in northern Antarctica is nicer than a winter day in Seattle or London. It's just about the perfect climate for servers... cold enough to keep them cool & comfy, but not so bitterly cold that waste heat from the servers can't warm a well-insulated building enough to keep it comfortable for the humans who work there. It's far enough north to always have a few hours of real daylight, and has really, REALLY long days for most of the year... basically 24 hours in the summer.

      * Population: OK, it's not a big city (or even a small town) by any means... but it has one big advantage (for aspiring corporations) over comparable settlements run by the United States, Britain, and other countries: Argentina considers it to be a normal city sitting on land that's just another part of Argentina, as opposed to a holy, sacred (if chilly) ecological garden of eden that's off-limits to commercial development (it is, in fact, in Antarctica). I'm sure that if Microsoft showed up with a few billion dollars and a Chinese construction company or two, Argentina would eagerly welcome them with open arms.

      * Government: not the United States. Once upon a time, that would have been a major drawback. Now, it's almost a selling point.

      * Accessibility: in case you overlooked it, no glaciers, so it's accessible by boat (and probably plane) year-round. Overnight air shipment is a logistical possibility.

      The only thing it needs is cheap electricity... and in this case, the fact that it's not America might come in handy, because it potentially means fewer insurmountable regulatory obstacles to building a small nuclear power plant (getting permission to do it in the US, or on de-facto US territory in Antarctica, would be politically impossible).

    38. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Cylix · · Score: 2

      The problem is the obvious portion of the equation is by far the smallest factor in the issues that face free air cooling. I'm not talking about tent data centers and good luck getting PCI compliance on that rig.

      In thinking outside the norms and in part the concept behind tent farms is also regarding ambient temperature. No longer chasing the perfect balance, but rather just pushing the limits.

      It turns out you really have to design this type of thing from the ground up in order for everything to really work just right. Of course attempting to remove the constraints from one portion means you have to model everything just like that. That means servers which were designed to operate in that type of environment. Otherwise, little things like fans now running in their highest mode of operation all the time. Still, that power savings being eaten up isn't really even one of the biggest challenges. There is lots more equipment in the data center which doesn't play nice when the thermal conditions leap outside of what the vendor expected to see.

      So sure people are working very diligently at making things different and trying to save a buck. However, it's a little more complex type of stew then it would appear.

      --
      "You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." -- Yogi Berra
    39. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Eivind · · Score: 1

      humidity is a non-problem in a strongly heated space. Because relative humidity drops rapidly with increasing temperature.

      If you take in cool-and-wet air into a datacenter, the air ends up as warm-and-dry. The air still contains the same amount of water offcourse, but the *relative* humidity is much lower because the saturation-point of water-vapor in air rises rapidly with temperature.

    40. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by drinkypoo · · Score: 0

      Even if the CPU can handle that I'm not sure how everything else involved in the chain would.

      Your GMC had a shitty plastic part. The shitty plastic part in the column region in Fords of the era causes them to drop out of Park and into Reverse, so it could be a lot worse.

      There are lots of plastics or plastic-like materials that will hold up at temperatures you might find truly ridiculous. For example you can get translucent PTFE tubing with thin walls that will let you see bubbles and get an idea of color that will handle over 500 degrees Fahrenheit. You can pare the plastic content of a server down to almost nothing if you use good old reliable stamped metal parts, with only the occasional sticker or isolation sheet to prevent grounding/shorts where PCBs are located. These could all be switched for PTFE or another material and the surroundings of the PCBs could survive temperatures hot enough to bake the PCBs themselves.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    41. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by blincoln · · Score: 1

      ideas that haven't changed with server technology and durability improving.

      Servers are less durable now than they were a decade ago. They're made more cheaply, and they have tin whiskers to contend with. Obviously they are better in most ways than their predecessors, but longevity isn't one of those ways. Before I moved on from server engineering, I had retired a couple of NT4-era Pentium II-based systems that were still chugging away after over a decade of essentially 24/7 operation. Meanwhile, anything based on the P3 or later was virtually guaranteed to fail not long after the five-year mark, probably because that's around the time that manufacturers started seriously embracing RoHS.

      This tent concept is a terrible idea, but I've come to expect terrible ideas from every part of the modern Microsoft except their games division.

      --
      "...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
    42. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by ThePromenader · · Score: 1

      While we're on that idea, I can tell you that Paris has around ~300km of abandoned tunnels under it - bedrock inspection tunnels (dating from a time where Paris was expanding over the very ground they were extracting its building stone from). There would be a humidity problem under the areas of the city (near the water table), but with that fixed, the temperature is a constant 14 and the possibilities of air/cable distribution are endless (certain regions have been, in the past, transformed into bomb shelters and generator rooms, and the hallways have been used by the PTT (French utility company) for phone lines since the 1920's).

      --

      No, no sig. Really.

      ThePromenader
    43. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by leuk_he · · Score: 1

      The temperature is not constant anymore if you add a lot of heath generating servers to the environment. At that moment you have to add warmth exchange equipment. In the Washington silo example someone thought of this, that part is missing from your tunnels.

      One more thing: who owns those tunnels?

    44. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Pharmboy · · Score: 1

      I thought that hot things in cold climates didn't produce condensation, it was cold things in hot climates that did. Like your glass of ice tea, or the AC coils in your HVAC system. By definition, a hotter item will increase the ambient temperature directly around itself, which automatically lowers the humidity (dew point) which makes condensation impossible.

      --
      Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
    45. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      A bunch of "hot" machines in a cold climate will produce much more condensation
      You seem to have your understanding backwards.

      As you heat air it's water carrying capacity rises and it's relative humidity falls. So pumping cold outside air into your DC should not cause condensation problems in the DC (if people have been breathing in the DC you may get condensation when you release the air back into the atmosphere but you probablly don't care about that).

      Condensation is mainly a problem when you have a cold object and a hot environment. As you cool the air it's water carrying capacity falls and depending on how humid the air was to start with some of the water may condense out. A DC in a cold environment would almost certainly want aclimitisation rooms so the temperature of equipment brought in from outside could be raised in a controlled manner.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    46. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Critical+Facilities · · Score: 1

      Historically the datacenter industry has maintained baseline ideas like 70 percent humidity, 75 degrees temperature...ideas that haven't changed with server technology and durability improving.

      Respectfully, I must disagree. Typical Data Centers usually shoot for closer to 45% or 50% RH, not 70% as you suggest.

    47. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Critical+Facilities · · Score: 1

      humidity is a non-problem in a strongly heated space

      That's not necessarily true. While your point makes sense in environment where there is adequate moisture in the air, the challenge is often keeping the humidity high enough. You'd be surprised how much humidifiers have to work in a Data Center to keep moisture in the air during colder times of the year. Air that is too dry is going to be just as harmful, if not more harmful to sensitive electronics than overly humid air.

    48. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As for humidity, it should be lower inside the barn than outside, as the heat from the systems will still raise the temperature enough to drop the relative humidity to more reasonable levels.

      Hotter temps allow the air to hold MORE water.

    49. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Pharmboy · · Score: 1

      Exactly. That is why the humidity isn't such a problem the hotter it gets. Just because hotter air can hold more water, that doesn't magically make water appear. Instead the relative humidity goes down, reducing any possibility of condensation. Read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_humidity for more info. If that still doesn't make sense, you will just have to trust the grown ups on this one.

      --
      Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
    50. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      My bad...

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    51. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by hairyfeet · · Score: 1

      As your link shows this is why I think using the silos is so bloody brilliant. Thanks to the SALT treaties we have literally thousands of these old missile silos lying abandoned across the country, most will be sold for dirt cheap (I actually helped my dad wire one for a guy that turned one into a house, only cost him 30k for the fully outfitted silo) or even wasted by being filled in if nobody buys them. The biggest expense for an underground facility is ALWAYS the massive digging effort, and this is already done for you so all you really have to do is bring in the gear.

      So it really does seem like a no brainer to me. Like in your link one simply puts metal grates across the silo at the different levels, there is already a pretty big and elaborate infrastructure built in for the workers (kitchen, sleeping quarters, etc) and the lower levels on those silos stay pretty damned cool, I can tell you that from experience. Then you add in the fact the insurance would be INCREDIBLY cheap (after all, who is gonna be able to blast into one of those mothers?) and with the economy being down the amount of breaks the local government hands out would be sweet, it just seems like an easy deal. Hell you could probably even get decent tax breaks for being green by using natural cooling methods. Seems like a win/win to me and if I could get a hold of the startup capital I'd jump on it in a heartbeat. Seems like a license to print money where I'm sitting, because with the lower operational costs one could undercut the competition and STILL make a healthy profit!

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    52. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by RapmasterT · · Score: 1

      Historically the datacenter industry has maintained baseline ideas like 70 percent humidity, 75 degrees temperature...ideas that haven't changed with server technology and durability improving.

      Respectfully, I must disagree. Typical Data Centers usually shoot for closer to 45% or 50% RH, not 70% as you suggest.

      hah, that's funny. I started thinking about humidity and rattled off my cigar humidor setpoint, rather than the DC one. I think "respectfully" is the wrong answer to the suggestion of running a DC at 70% humidity, it should be more like "WTF?".

    53. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by Critical+Facilities · · Score: 1

      *whew* You had me wondering where the 70% came from. Still, I didn't want to be one of those guys who just immediately goes to "you're a total moron, WTF?". Usually, I have to have someone start in with me before I fly off the handle (usually....not always...but usually).

    54. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by cynyr · · Score: 1

      desiccant heat wheel heat exchanger, followed by a mechanical cooling solution, and then the dehumidifier in the basement, should save you some energy. As you are getting some "free" pre-cooling/dehumidification whenever you bring in fresh outside air.

      something like the one sold by rotosource, but you'd have to find a residential supplier.

      --
      All of the above was encrypted with a Quad ROT-13 method. Unauthorized decryption is in violation of the DMCA.
    55. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by cynyr · · Score: 1

      How do you get power in a "city" that has 13 buildings? I would think that iceland would be better, a bit warmer granted, but lots and lots of cheep power.

      We are not talking a gas powered generator here, 24/7/365 uninteruptable power in the 100's of kWatts scale...

      --
      All of the above was encrypted with a Quad ROT-13 method. Unauthorized decryption is in violation of the DMCA.
    56. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by cynyr · · Score: 1

      evaporative coolers, as show in the video linked in the comments will get the temps 75-90% the way to the dew point. Arid desert, has a dew point of what? 70F? I'd bet an evap cooler can get to 75-80 degrees leaving air temp with no problems there.

      --
      All of the above was encrypted with a Quad ROT-13 method. Unauthorized decryption is in violation of the DMCA.
    57. Re:Washington state is CHEATING! by cynyr · · Score: 1

      Evaporative coolers AKA "Swamp coolers". They would doubly good in places where to need to raise the humidity anyways.

      --
      All of the above was encrypted with a Quad ROT-13 method. Unauthorized decryption is in violation of the DMCA.
  2. interns by jnpcl · · Score: 0

    I feel bad for the interns that have to shovel THAT barn..

    1. Re:interns by flaming+error · · Score: 5, Funny

      At least it's a stable job.

    2. Re:interns by mark72005 · · Score: 1

      But they'll be working like mules!

    3. Re:interns by rubycodez · · Score: 2

      Billie, git yo-self behind th' barn 'n' cut a switch, you bin a baaaad boy!

  3. Mike Rowe by __aatirs3925 · · Score: 2

    Another dirty job episode coming up?

    1. Re:Mike Rowe by Mitchell314 · · Score: 2

      Working in a barn or working with Windows? *bing badda bang*

      --
      I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
    2. Re:Mike Rowe by aliquis · · Score: 1

      Working in a barn or working with Windows? *bing badda bang*

      And who will handle all the dung?
      "Where did that foul smell came from?"

      So on so on .. :D

    3. Re:Mike Rowe by ThePromenader · · Score: 1

      On that thought, do barns have windows?

      Those that do, very few, in my experience... best keep it that way. Linux will run on almost everything...

      Got a barn and a Debian distro CD? Farmer, meet Dell.

      --

      No, no sig. Really.

      ThePromenader
  4. I suspect... by Palestrina · · Score: 2

    I suspect that walls are useful not only for controlling the ambient data center physical conditions, but also for keeping criminals out. Forget about MTTF. What is the Mean Time to being Stolen by High School Kids for a "data center in a tent"?

    1. Re:I suspect... by cappp · · Score: 1

      Same as the mean time for most things involving teenagers - about 3 minutes unless they're reciting baseball stats.

    2. Re:I suspect... by Bucky24 · · Score: 2

      That was last generation... This generation's teens are more likely to be reciting WoW stats.

      --
      All the world's a CPU, and all the men and women merely AI agents
    3. Re:I suspect... by c0lo · · Score: 1

      I suspect that walls are useful not only for controlling the ambient data center physical conditions, but also for keeping criminals out. Forget about MTTF. What is the Mean Time to being Stolen by High School Kids for a "data center in a tent"?

      What is the Mean Time for Bug/Rat Infestation?

      --
      Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
    4. Re:I suspect... by aliquis · · Score: 1

      Same as the mean time for most things involving teenagers - about 3 minutes

      Being a /. member I'm not aware: What are the average reference time for a normal procedure data dump involving human sex terminal linkage?

    5. Re:I suspect... by Lord_Byron · · Score: 1

      They're running Microsoft OSes. They come with the bugs built in!

    6. Re:I suspect... by PPH · · Score: 2

      Forget cow tipping. Now its server racks.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    7. Re:I suspect... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You must be new here.

    8. Re:I suspect... by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      isn't that what chain link fencing and razor wire are for?

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
  5. no failures? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    In September 2008, it successfully ran a stack of HP servers in a tent for seven months, apparently with no failures.

    So they weren't actually running microsoft software on those servers?

    1. Re:no failures? by aliquis · · Score: 1

      In September 2008, it successfully ran a stack of HP servers in a tent for seven months, apparently with no failures.

      So they weren't actually running microsoft software on those servers?

      I put my IRC server in a window once.

      It failed. Maybe it was because I where running NetBSD (or possibly OpenBSD, don't remember?)

      (Long story, changed location, more machines running, 27+ degrees C room temperature => crashing server multiple times / week => open window with server just inside => crashing once more =P)

      Was late autumn though, guess desktop PCs don't like moisture and zero degree conditions.

    2. Re:no failures? by socz · · Score: 1

      GhettoBSD can take care of those problems for you! Take a look at our home page...

      --
      My abilities are only limited by my imagination
    3. Re:no failures? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Couldn't have been Linux because it was outside.

    4. Re:no failures? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well they were running microsoft but they weren't running any apps and the machines were not hooked to the network. Just a rack running outside.

    5. Re:no failures? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      or manufacturing the tents! /rimshot
      something something ... firewalls in a tent... .something /lol

  6. 7 months in sep 08? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    "In September 2008, it successfully ran a stack of HP servers in a tent for seven months, apparently with no failures."

    Truly, it was an impressive feat of time dilation.

    1. Re:7 months in sep 08? by Mitchell314 · · Score: 1

      Or it was September for a long damn time.

      --
      I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
    2. Re:7 months in sep 08? by The_mad_linguist · · Score: 1

      They just installed AOL on the servers. Eternal September, man.

    3. Re:7 months in sep 08? by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 1

      Or it was September for a long damn time.

      Would've been possible if they ran the test in '93.

      --
      Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
    4. Re:7 months in sep 08? by ThePromenader · · Score: 1

      ...and eternal 1992!

      --

      No, no sig. Really.

      ThePromenader
  7. big deal by larry+bagina · · Score: 1

    the interesting MS news of the day: confirming earlier rumors, there will be an ARM version of Windows. And Office. Should go nice with the new NVIDEA ARM processors targeted towards desktops, servers, and high performance supercomputer clusters. (Just kidding, I'll buy one and run Linux).

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  8. The Barn Door? by trashpickinman · · Score: 2

    So after a data breach occurs, will they be shutting the barn door after the data is out?

    1. Re:The Barn Door? by ThePromenader · · Score: 1

      Yep, as usual. They used to call that a 'service pack'. Wonder what they'll call it now?

      --

      No, no sig. Really.

      ThePromenader
  9. The myth of cooling by Shoten · · Score: 3, Informative

    In our datacenters (I work for a major IT company) we've actually done some research on running data centers at higher temperatures overall. The funny thing that came out of this...in the attempt to figure out where the magical "65 degrees" requirement came from, we had to do a lot of digging. It turns out that the requirement came from old APC UPS systems, which mandated that environmental temperature. We're discovering that data centers can be run WAY warmer than that with no ill effect, provided you still have good airflow.

    --

    For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
    1. Re:The myth of cooling by BBTaeKwonDo · · Score: 2

      That sounds a little dodgy. APC introduced its first UPS in 1984 (from http://www.apc.com/corporate/history.cfm ). I think data centers were kept at lower temperatures well before 1984. I think it's more likely that APC specified a given volt-amp performance at 65 degrees because that's the temperature data centers were usually kept at anyway.

    2. Re:The myth of cooling by afidel · · Score: 1

      Old IBM mainframes also needed to cooled fairly aggressively.

      We keep ours at a cold side target of 72, we could go higher but having a bit of a buffer before things go tits up if both AC systems short cycle during a power outage is a good thing IMHO, especially since off hours our response time can be over an hour from first page to someone being onsite.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    3. Re:The myth of cooling by Pezbian · · Score: 1

      I run my ten node cluster in a tuffshed out back. Ambient temp reached 109F when the AC unit failed while I was away with the family and I came back expecting the worst... no. CPU temps 122F +-2F. I'm sure it's because the low-wattage CPUs and hefty copper heatsinks (built for passive flow, but I added fans) proved to be a killer combo.

      2011 will see a swamp cooler replacing the AC unit. Where I live, we don't try to get rid of humidity. We try to add it!

      --
      In a world of the blind, the one-eyed man is king--and the two-eyed man is a heretic.
    4. Re:The myth of cooling by Animats · · Score: 1

      We're discovering that data centers can be run WAY warmer than that with no ill effect, provided you still have good airflow.

      Not really. You're using up the lifespan of the semiconductors faster. You need to look at the cumulative effect of temperature on semiconductor electromigration. This is a real issue, because current high-density ICs don't have a big safety margin in this area. There's a straightforward relationship, Black's equation from which this can be computed. Notice that mean time to failure declines exponentially with junction temperature, measured from absolute zero.

      Also note that you will get transient failures before you get total failures.

    5. Re:The myth of cooling by Serious+Callers+Only · · Score: 1

      Not really. You're using up the lifespan of the semiconductors faster.

      And if your equipment is cheaper to replace than paying for air-conditioning, it's still worth running them hot.

    6. Re:The myth of cooling by Vectormatic · · Score: 1

      Not really. You're using up the lifespan of the semiconductors faster.

      And if your equipment is cheaper to replace than paying for air-conditioning, it's still worth running them hot.

      You also need to take to cost of recovering from those more frequent failures into account, transient failures might corrupt data, even without you noticing

      --
      People, what a bunch of bastards
  10. worked on computers in a hangar once. by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 2

    Cut my "hacker's teeth" on some computers that were located in a WW II era bomber-plant hangar. (Built mostly of wood because the steel was being used for war machines.)

    Place had issues with mice and rats getting under the raised floor and chewing on the cabling.

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
    1. Re:worked on computers in a hangar once. by hondo77 · · Score: 1

      I'm sure the barn will have cats to take care of that.

      --
      I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.
    2. Re:worked on computers in a hangar once. by blair1q · · Score: 1

      At least 5.

    3. Re:worked on computers in a hangar once. by oobayly · · Score: 1

      Oh come on. Nowadays they really should be using six of them.

    4. Re:worked on computers in a hangar once. by dbIII · · Score: 1

      At least 5

      Not enough. With around 2.7 times that you can easily cover 150 metres from the main switch. That's the answer for a remote datacentre built from natural logs.

    5. Re:worked on computers in a hangar once. by operagost · · Score: 1

      Beocat cluster?

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    6. Re:worked on computers in a hangar once. by blair1q · · Score: 1

      You're right. They're high in fiber and you can't really get enough.

  11. what is the point by weeb0 · · Score: 0

    Ok, what is great about putting server in a tent for 7 month. Is it the fact the server were almost outside or that multiple windows machine worked for complete 7 months ? i'm sure they will patent this and will pursue everybody using their laptop outside...

  12. Exotic datacenter == CIO hobby? by sootman · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So we've had datacenters in shipping containers, and floating at sea, and now in a barn. Is this just large-scale case-modding for CIO's at rich companies? :-)

    --
    Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
    1. Re:Exotic datacenter == CIO hobby? by PatPending · · Score: 1
      Ah, but one must also recall Data Center In A Cave, which makes quite a bit of sense here:

      "Plenty of cities have submitted bids for the Google Fiber project, with most of their bids being centered around the attributes that could describe many communities. Yet one small midwestern town, with much less fanfare than the metropolitan bids, provided an unusual proposition for Google in their likely quixotic nomination. Quincy, IL, has an extensive series of underground caverns that could provide year-round temperature control, dedicated hydroelectric power, and security in the case of a terrorist attack."

      --
      What one fool can do, another can. (Ancient Simian Proverb)
    2. Re:Exotic datacenter == CIO hobby? by blair1q · · Score: 2

      Cash registers are computers.

      Look at where those live.

      If these things can survive in a bar on the beach in a popular port-of-call for the Navy, they never did need walls.

    3. Re:Exotic datacenter == CIO hobby? by afidel · · Score: 1

      Shipping containers are interesting in all sorts of cases like putting up a datacenter quickly in a warehouse in an industrial park anywhere in the world. The military also loves them because they can easily be transported by sea or cargo lifter.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    4. Re:Exotic datacenter == CIO hobby? by Alex+Belits · · Score: 1

      Shipping containers are interesting in all sorts of cases like putting up a datacenter quickly in a warehouse in an industrial park anywhere in the world.

      Shipping containers are useful for placing data center equipment where it otherwise does not belong, however it's foolish to think that they are actually efficient at anything. They have to contain built-in fans and air conditioners, so density and efficiency are lower than the same floor filled with racks. They need access to the airflow -- you can't just stack them or place next to each other. They need an outside electric panel. For a data center you still need giant UPSes and/or generators. And replacing equipment when you have to pull it from a container and carry it along rows of containers, is much more labor-intensive operation than it would be in a normal data center.

      If you want to permanently convert a large warehouse into the data center, filling it with containers is probably the worst thing you can do. Making a steel frame with raised floors, conduits and air ducts attached to it, is cheap and consists of typical operations done in any industrial construction. Warehouse likely has enough space for construction equipment, so construction itself will likely take less time than building everything you need to power the insane amount of equipment you will stuff in that space.

      And, of course, the cost of a large warehouse modified that way is a tiny part of the cost of operating a datacenter after it is built, so both the idea of using containers, and this "barn" are pure stupidity for a large, permanent installation.

      The military also loves them because they can easily be transported by sea or cargo lifter.

      Military would love anything if it is expensive enough, however I can see some legitimate uses for those things there.

      --
      Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
  13. Moooo! Your server is online. by countSudoku() · · Score: 1

    A server farm in a barn. About damn time! Now we just need a cloud in the air, and power through water, perhaps some storage in manure, and the future will be the past!

    --
    This is the NSA, we're gonna geet U h@x0r5! Also, what is a h@x0r5?
    1. Re:Moooo! Your server is online. by Caerdwyn · · Score: 1

      ...perhaps some storage in manure...

      Yeah, I remember 7200.8 Seagate drives too...

      --
      Everybody gets what the majority deserves.
    2. Re:Moooo! Your server is online. by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 1

      A server farm in a barn. About damn time! Now we just need a cloud in the air, and power through water, perhaps some storage in manure, and the future will be the past!

      The future-in-the-past is now!

      --
      Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
  14. Tis a fine barn by definate · · Score: 1

    'Tis a fine Barn, English, but surely 'tis no datacenter.

    Simpsons Amish

    --
    This is my footer. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
  15. Got yer problem... by Caerdwyn · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yer SQL server crashin'? Lemme have a look at 'er...

    Ah! Found it right here... possums! Ya gots possums livin' in yer SNA-box-thingie. Heh... SNA... that always did sound dirty. ANyways, lemme get my plinkin' rifle and my coon dog Skeeter, we'll git yer back up and runnin'!

    Seein' as I'll be in there anyways, y'all want a RAM upgrade?

    --
    Everybody gets what the majority deserves.
  16. Sorry, I couldn't resist by lavagolemking · · Score: 1

    And that, folks, is why they call it a server farm.

  17. Cold air is a revolutionary idea at MS? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wow, these guys are on to something... find a place with cheap power and free cold air.. locate servers there.

    I really, really must get my Ph.D as I *never* would have though of THAT.

  18. No walls? by dangitman · · Score: 1

    It was not the first time Microsoft had toyed with the idea of a datacenter without walls.

    I think they might be taking the "Windows everywhere" philosophy a little bit too seriously.

    --
    ... and then they built the supercollider.
    1. Re:No walls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "No walls" also seems to be the philosophy of their security team...

  19. Its been said many times .... by PPH · · Score: 1

    .... Windows is a pig!

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  20. So by virtually they mean not. by blair1q · · Score: 1

    I highly doubt they're going to let the rain get in.

    Otherwise, with an ambient temperature under 100F year-round, their gear should run fine.

    Until the birds start nesting in it...

    1. Re:So by virtually they mean not. by treeves · · Score: 1

      I wonder about insects, pollen, and dust. Quincy WA is out in the central, agricultural part of the state.
        Seems like those might have an adverse effect on servers.
      Oh, and it can get over 100F there. I'm sure Microsoft knows all of this but I wonder how they will cope with it.

      --
      ...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
    2. Re:So by virtually they mean not. by GaryOlson · · Score: 1

      The cockroaches can survive anything; I don't think the equipment can survive the cockroaches.

      --
      Every mans' island needs an ocean; choose your ocean carefully.
    3. Re:So by virtually they mean not. by Feinu · · Score: 1

      Until the birds start nesting in it...

      The picture in TFA is rather small, but by the looks of it, the barn is simply a tent on a fixed frame. The article makes it sound like they have a zipper or something to keep birds and insects out:

      And, like any good barn, the protective shell serves to keep out critters and tumbleweeds.

  21. How about at the Alaska pipeline? by ron_ivi · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I seem to recall a business plan back in the late 1990's to do something similar adjacent to the alaska pipeline; complete with a refinery.

    The argument was that it would have

    * Free airconditioning with the clean dry cold alaska air.
    * Unparalleled physical security - with miles of visibility in all directions.
    * A well-protected network (if they could run their lines along the well-defended pipeline)
    * Unlimited backup-generator fuel (tapped directly into the pipeline)

    I seem to recall they raised funds. Wonder what happened to them.

    1. Re:How about at the Alaska pipeline? by bertok · · Score: 0

      I seem to recall a business plan back in the late 1990's to do something similar adjacent to the alaska pipeline; complete with a refinery.

      ...

      I seem to recall they raised funds. Wonder what happened to them.

      They probably 'discovered' well into the planning process that while it is possible to buy bandwidth, no amount of money can reduce network latency.

      Delays would be ~10 ms minimum to California, and probably a lot higher due to switching delays and the lower speed of light in fibre optics. In practice, I'd expect 20ms or more, and 50ms or more to the east coast. That's too high for many applications.

      Also, highly skilled technical workers aren't likely to accept a job opportunity in the middle of nowhere unless they're a paid a premium. In other words, staffing costs would be high, and some specialist roles may be impossible to fill.

      Due to security concerns, many customers expect to have locked cages for their equipment and perform all installation and maintenance with their own staff. Can you imagine their costs if every time they had to replace a disk they'd have to fly an engineer out to the middle of the Alaskan tundra?

    2. Re:How about at the Alaska pipeline? by gnarfel · · Score: 2

      Well I would assume that would be an obvious constraint (if not completely documented in your contract) when signing with such a company.

      I hate it when people take an interesting idea and point out the few edge cases where it won't work. It's obviously not a conventional datacenter, and I would likely think that the bean counters would have figured in the cost of the premium salaries and determined if the ratio of what they're saving on cooling costs would work, well before the plan even got put into motion.

      --
      Local music(to upstate NY). http://gnarfel.com/ radio.
  22. Also opening a Microsoft store at U Village by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    just down the street.

    Hmm, I wouldn't call the Mall a barn but ... ya think?

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  23. I put bread in a toaster by wesleyjconnor · · Score: 1

    More news at 6

    --
    http://www.awfullybigmoustache.com
  24. Vitually Transparent? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does that mean the rain get's through?

    Oh, what about the heat. The 110 degree F and high humidity won't be any problem at all.

    Nosirreebob!

    Fukin' City Slicker Fools.

  25. How could you tell? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Given how badly integrated HP Sitescope monitoring is, the difficulty of managing and installing the Proliant Service Packs, and the likelihood of the deluge of error messages from Sitescope everytime you inhale, how likely is it that they never recorded the failures of half the servers or lost it in the spam filtering? Or even dropped the alerts on the floor with MS Exchange failures?

  26. This is all well and good.... by Hasai · · Score: 1

    ....Until mice get into your wiring.....

    --

    Regards;

    Hasai

  27. What is the first thing you notice. by codepunk · · Score: 1

    What is the first thing you notice when stepping into a barn?

    That's right, the smell of shit!

    --


    Got Code?
  28. Datacenter mania !! by martiniturbide · · Score: 1

    Is it my idea or there is a DataCenter building mania for big corporations? thank god that "the cloud" is not much of a hype like the Y2K bug. I'm sure there are lot of studies from consultancy services companies saying that there is a lot of money to dig out on that area. My advice, be sure to have the customers before building the DataCenter ;)

  29. And so did Yahoo! by kriston · · Score: 1

    And so did Yahoo!
    Microsoft and Google aren't the only people playing this music.

    http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2009/06/30/yahoos-fresh-air-computing-coop/

    http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9186618/Yahoo_opens_chicken_coop_green_data_center?source=rss_news

    --

    Kriston

  30. Dust, air filtering? by Theovon · · Score: 1

    The thing I've always wondered, something I've never seen mentioned, is how they deal with dust. Ok, so the walls keep out the large chunks, but what do they do to keep from drawing small particulate matter into their servers? I assume that they have filters on the intake vents, but they'd have to he more substantial than the ones used in facilities with traditional air conditioning, which would be a somewhat more closed environment, where the hot air circulates through the cooling system on its way back into the servers.

    1. Re:Dust, air filtering? by GodfatherofSoul · · Score: 1

      Don't quote me on this, but I've read that air quality is typically worse in a house since it's such a closed environment. Dust comes in, settles, but can't get out.

      --
      I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
  31. What no server farm jokes? by JaBob · · Score: 1

    Seriously guys... The first thing that my head pictured was a lonely little program being forced to do manual labor - mending fences, tending to the Gnu Hurd, taking old Gateway 2000 PCs out to pasture, then having to shovel some Win ME...

    1. Re:What no server farm jokes? by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      Seriously guys... The first thing that my head pictured was a lonely little program being forced to do manual labor - mending fences, tending to the Gnu Hurd, taking old Gateway 2000 PCs out to pasture, then having to shovel some Win ME...

      You know, for a program, that probably beats being assigned to games... CLU probably won't even notice unless some chore was skipped.

  32. Photos - The "barn" and container assembly by 1sockchuck · · Score: 3, Informative

    Data Center Knowledge has a photo feature with a bunch of images of the facility in Quincy and the container modules being assembled. You can see all the servers they pack into them.

  33. The idea is not new by kthreadd · · Score: 1

    Sun did some experimentation with self cooling datacenters a few years ago.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaEsFDjalvw

  34. Datacentre without walls by gringer · · Score: 1

    Who needs windows in a datacentre without walls?

    --
    Ask me about repetitive DNA
  35. this is what happens when by nopainogain · · Score: 1

    this is what happens when "having more money than you can spend" extends to IT hardware.. example--"ok bill, we threw a jetski up a ramp and through a picture window, we destroyed some racecars, now lets dump money into careless risk with IT hardware"

  36. Eternal September? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "In September 2008, it successfully ran a stack of HP servers in a tent for seven months"

    Dunno about you but _my_ September 2008 was only one month long!

  37. ...WHY? by adampub · · Score: 1

    If it's a barn-like structure, then, why does it need windows? But, no seriously. Microsoft, keep your future where your future belongs.

  38. Finally... by Avatar8 · · Score: 1

    the scene matches all the manure Micro$oft has been shoveling on us all these years.

  39. Troll? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    The above is 100% true. Bite my hairy fleshy ass.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"