Outside air to cool server rooms?
I was reading this over at /. I've also heard of the idea of putting data centers in places like Canada and Alaska to take advantage of the outside air temp to cool thus saving tons of money on energy to cool.
So why not do this? I work at a major nonprofit organization. We just put a new server room in for our large linux blade server (along with all the other servers). Come to find out were maxing out the chilled water system in the building.
For some, longer than we wished, time of the year ... we have plenty of cold air right outside. Sometimes it's really ****ing cold, and dry. Why don't places do this? Take the outside air, dry it and blow it into server rooms or ??? other rooms that only need cooling?
Where'm I going wrong?
So why not do this? I work at a major nonprofit organization. We just put a new server room in for our large linux blade server (along with all the other servers). Come to find out were maxing out the chilled water system in the building.
For some, longer than we wished, time of the year ... we have plenty of cold air right outside. Sometimes it's really ****ing cold, and dry. Why don't places do this? Take the outside air, dry it and blow it into server rooms or ??? other rooms that only need cooling?
Where'm I going wrong?
Comments
Let me guess, you are NOT from Canada.
If you need more info, you can send a snail mail to this guy. He knows more about this region.
Santa Claus
North Pole, Canada
HOHOHO
Better hurry, he is about to get really busy!
Originally posted by fng
Actually what I propose would cause less waste heat going into the environment.
I do see your point. Let's say Santa is running a datacenter in North Pole. Will any elm runs this datacenter, not likely. Santa has to hire some dude. That costs $. This dude is working in some place that is full of snow and he is stuck in his house 24 hr/day, that will take serious $$$ to attract someone to work there.
OK, let's say we have a guy to run the datacenter. Now we need electricity. Building a line in remote locale will cost serious $$$ from material, maintenance, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY for the powerline.
OK, let's say we have a guy to run the datacenter and electricity. Now we need a data line. This will face the same problem as the electrical line listed above.
I really think that is non-feasible to setup a datacenter up north...
reg
Originally posted by reg
Who gets to go and shut down the data center when a big storm is coming (if it is out in the ocean)? We're talking serious overtime now.
reg
Just build it in a place where there's a used up rig and an extremely low probability of having a big storm. For example, the North Sea.
Originally posted by kmok1
I just recall that some company has a datacenter on some retired oil rig in the middle of the ocean. Cooled by ocean breeze. Even better, cool by ocean water!
If you take the time to watch SeaLab:2021 you would know that any idea like this would result in not only system failure but wacky, hilarious hijinks.
Originally posted by kmok1
I do see your point. Let's say Santa is running a datacenter in North Pole. Will any elm runs this datacenter, not likely. Santa has to hire some dude. That costs $. This dude is working in some place that is full of snow and he is stuck in his house 24 hr/day, that will take serious $$$ to attract someone to work there.
OK, let's say we have a guy to run the datacenter. Now we need electricity. Building a line in remote locale will cost serious $$$ from material, maintenance, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY for the powerline.
OK, let's say we have a guy to run the datacenter and electricity. Now we need a data line. This will face the same problem as the electrical line listed above.
I really think that is non-feasible to setup a datacenter up north...
You're sounding like an ass. There are plenty of cold places with fat internet pipes, abundant and cheap electricity, and smart geeks to run things. The guy who started (and runs) OpenBSD lives in Calgary - a plenty cold place with perfectly good infrastructure. Plenty of areas of Canada, Alaska, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Russia, etc, are both frigid and civilized.
Industries relocate nearer to resources if the economics favor it. That's why aluminum smelters, which use enough electricity to light a good-sized city, are found in the most god-forsaken parts of the world - next to giant, underutilized hydroelectric plants. As both power requirements and the cost of energy increase, someone might well eventually decide it makes sense to locate giant server farms somewhere cold.
It makes me wonder - do the architects/engineers who put together datacenters ever use the hardware room as a cogeneration plant to heat the rest of the building in winter? Suck cool air in from outside (the HVAC does that anyway), and run it over the hardware to both cool the computers and heat the air before shunting it to the main heaters.
reg
Originally posted by Towel
It makes me wonder - do the architects/engineers who put together datacenters ever use the hardware room as a cogeneration plant to heat the rest of the building in winter? Suck cool air in from outside (the HVAC does that anyway), and run it over the hardware to both cool the computers and heat the air before shunting it to the main heaters.
I used to work in a building in California that used a large, decorative lake as a cooling system. Water from the lake would be drawn into a basement HVAC system and frozen at night, when electric rates were lower, then thawed during the day to provide chilled water for the cooling system. The warmed water would then be sprayed back into the lake via aeration pipes, providing massive bird baths for ducks, swans, and migratory Canada geese. The building is 2.25 million square feet, so HVAC costs otherwise would have been astronomical.
but of course, like you mention, there are places like alaska/ canada/ etc which are cold all year 'round. definitely a good option for data centres.
the algorithm would be
intersect {
cheap, available, reliable, fast internet
cheap, available, reliable electricity
servers that are very easily shipped and administered remotely
}
&& exclude {
earthquake, extreme weather (eg. blizzards), terrorist hazards
}
and one would have a winning package there... utilising HVAC system that make the most of ambient conditions to optimise heat/ energy/ etc.
......It makes me wonder - do the architects/engineers who put together datacenters ever use the hardware room as a cogeneration plant to heat the rest of the building in winter? Suck cool air in from outside (the HVAC does that anyway), and run it over the hardware to both cool the computers and heat the air before shunting it to the main heaters.
yes, great idea. i think the current surge in oil prices has definitely started to make this a focus in the corporate world, now that the energy bills are starting to bite. cf. intels' performance-per-watt marketing angle which will be coming on strong for the next several years... at least until big Oil hits a huge reserve(s) to have one last hurrah... or cold fusion or somethin