Microsoft Puts Datacenter In a Barn

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."

Comments

How about at the Alaska pipeline?

[ron_ivi]

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.

Re:Washington state is CHEATING!

[hairyfeet]

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.

Re:Washington state is CHEATING!

[bennomatic]

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.