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Is a Wireless Data Center Possible?
Nerval's Lobster writes "A team of researchers from Microsoft and Cornell University has concluded that, in some cases, a totally wireless data center makes logistical sense. In a new paper, a team of researchers from Cornell and Microsoft concluded that a data-center operator could replace hundreds of feet of cable with 60-GHz wireless connections—assuming that the servers themselves are redesigned in cylindrical racks, shaped like prisms, with blade servers addressing both intra- and inter-rack connections. The so-called 'Cayley' data centers, so named because of the network connectivity subgraphs are modeled using Cayley graphs, could be cheaper than traditional wired data centers if the cost of a 60-GHz transceiver drops under $90 apiece, and would likely consume about one-tenth to one-twelfth the power of a wired data center."
Let's just set up some servers in a room, blast 'em with every form of radiation known to man, and see what happens! Sounds like a fun weekend project.
It's M$, so the extra power savings comes from the servers running on pure EVIL......
until the wackadoodles who claim they get headaches from radio signals find out they're living next to a place which runs such an environment.
I can't wait to see the signs they use to protest as they stand outside in the blazing sun:
Stop killing us with radio waves!
Radio waves kill!
Save a life. Turn off your radio.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
They obviously mean computing power. Because the networking is so bad that all processes are blocked on I/O most of the time. :-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
I'll be honest here. We're just kind of throwing science at the wall and seeing what sticks.
"Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
1999 called...
Oh my god! Did you warn them?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
Those guys at Best Buy ripped me off. They said it was a wireless router but I still need to plug it in! WTF?!?!?!
Best Buy didn't make it clear that there were wires involved? What is the name of the sales associate who failed to offer you a Monster power cable for your router? He must be fired!
...the Matrix has you.
Hopefully they will also pass out those cancer detecting bras to all of the staff members as well.
The overall amount of radiating energy involved would make a datacenter technician ... medium well.
Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
It'll be cool when somebody microwaves a burrito in the lunch room and random servers drop connection. 3.. 2.. 1.. ding! Hm, server connections are back.
Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise - William Shakespeare