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Startup Builds Prototype For Floating Data Center
1sockchuck writes: California startup Nautilus Data Technologies has developed a floating data center that it says can dramatically slash the cost of cooling servers. The company's data barge is being tested near San Francisco, and represents the latest chapter in a long-running effort to develop a water-based data center. Google kicked things off with a 2008 patent for a sea-going data center that would be powered and cooled by waves, conjuring visions of offshore data havens. Google never built it, but IDS soon launched its own effort to convert old Navy vessels into "data ships" before going bankrupt. Nautilus is using barges moored at piers, which allows it to use bay water in its cooling system,eliminating the need for CRAC units and chillers. The company says its offering may benefit from the growing focus on data centers' water use amid California's drought.
Yep. I used to work for a cruise line in IT. Each cruise ship is basically a floating data center because of all the things the computers are involved with. The infrastructure folks would say that it was the most hellish environment imaginable for servers and often kept multiple extras for any hardware on ship for when something failed.
In a recent test, Nautilus says the water being returned to the bay was was just 4 degrees warmer than the intake temperature. Their design goal is to minimize the temperature differential to avoid any environmental impact. Having said that, the proof-of-concept test was with 5 racks of gear, rather than an 8 megawatt data center. They believe the design works, but it hasn't yet been tested at scale.