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.

Comments

"growing focus on data centers' water use"

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

>> growing focus on data centers' water use amid California's drought

Um...what? Don't they just chill the water, let the data center warm it and then reuse it?

Why not check to see what California agriculture's doing with it's majority share of the water first?

Re:"growing focus on data centers' water use"

[gstoddart]

So, I'm no rocket surgeon ... but even I can imagine a closed system.

You know, it evaporates, but it's still inside some kind of vessel. Then it condenses, and you magically have water again. The water can then be evaporated again. Bonus points if you can exchange some of the heat with a separate loop of water without mixing them. Or maybe some kind of thing to increase the surface area and cool it. I'm calling it a radiator.

It's a new idea I just made up. Brand new and everything.

you just told us that they are evaporating the water, so it would end up in the atmosphere

Go the remedial section, look at several examples of closed systems and recirculation.

A hockey arena, your kitchen, your car AC (or it's engine cooling system), a nuclear submarine .. these are all applications which exist right now which allow the equivalent to happen. All without dumping it straight into the atmosphere.

Seriously ... WTF? Do you think magic happens inside of an air conditioner or a fridge?

I can't speak to how well it works or what the limitations are ... but I can say that what you describe is, in fact, a solved problem.

Unless of course you're imagining the streampunk data center, in which case venting the steam is just part of the awesome. But somehow, I don't think you meant that.

Modulating local water temps?

[ah.clem]

Is anyone considering the local effects of warming the water in the harbors these centers will be docked in? It seems to me, given the current toxic algal bloom off the west coast of the US at the moment, we might be just a bit concerned, right?

Re:Modulating local water temps?

[1sockchuck]

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.

Totally different meaning of Software Piracy

[gurps_npc]

I can see it now, actual pirates stealing full boatloads of servers.

Why not just pump in sea water?

[HockeyPuck]

Is it really cheaper to build a barge than it is to circulate sea water to a land based facility?