[LINK] Greening ICT

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Carl writes,

> "Data Centre in a 20ft Shipping Container" such as Sun's Project
> Blackbox (http://www.sun.com/products/sunmd/s20/index.jsp

Thanks Carl .. btw, Google were awarded a patent for this in 2007 ..

And, i still think little Aussie start-ups could make a mint from this.
Old, but good, containers are around a grand, filled with multiple core 
servers by one or two folks in backyard industries might be gold mines?

One Microsoft data-center consists of 220 containers in a US wharehouse.

Google's patent:
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?
Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%
2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,278,273.PN.&OS=PN/7,278,273&RS=PN/7,278,27
3

> need another container full of support gear such as a UPS and water  
> chillers (and the cooling tower on the roof) to support it.

Hmm .. how about floating data centres, using water for power and cooling?

Google were granted a patent for this six months ago ..

http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?
Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%
2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220080209234%
22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20080209234&RS=DN/20080209234


Google Planning Offshore Data Barges
September 6th, 2008 : Rich Miller 

In a startling new take on data center engineering, Google has filed a 
patent for a “water-based data center” that uses the ocean to provide 
power and cooling. The  patent also confirms Google’s development of a 
container-based data center, describing “crane-removable modules” to 
power the computing platforms.

The floating data centers would be located 3 to 7 miles from shore, in 50 
to 70 meters of water. If perfected, this approach could be used to build 
40 megawatt data centers that don’t require real estate or property taxes.

The Google design incoporates the Pelamis Wave Energy Converter units, 
which use the motion of ocean surface waves to create electricity and can 
be combined to form “wave farms.” The largest existing project uses seven 
Pelamis units to generate about 5 megawatts of power. Diagrams included 
with Google’s patent application indicate the company plans to combine 40 
or more Pelamis units to produce 40 megawatts of power.

The patent documents describe a cooling system based on sea-powered pumps 
and  seawater-to-freshwater heat exchangers.

Google previously was granted a patent for a portable data center inside 
a shipping container, which the company began developing in 2003, well 
before Sun Microsystems and other competitors began unveiling products 
based on the “data center in a box” concept. One of the inventors listed 
on the Google patent, William Whitted, later said the portable data 
center project had been discontinued.

The data centers may be employed with the computers inside standard 
shipping containers to make them more portable (e.g., capable of being 
hauled to the boat or by a truck). The data centers may be constructed 
modularly in areas having low costs, and may be transported to locations 
needing communications support relatively quickly. The data centers may 
be offloaded to areas where a more permanent presence is needed, and may 
also be connected to the motion-powered machines after such offloading, 
freeing the ship to deploy to another area. Also, data centers, when in 
the form of shipping containers, may be quickly traded out when 
technology changes. Modularization also makes maintenance simpler; 
hardware that is corroded or worn out from the harsh salt water 
environment can be easily replaced with fresh hardware by swapping 
containers

Google says the data center containers could be stacked two or more high, 
so that each data barge could hold “12 or more” containers.

The patent filing says the data centers would be located 3 to 7 miles 
offshore, which may signal that Google’s interest in undersea cables goes 
beyond connectivity between land-based data centers. While the floating 
data centers would include power and cooling, they would still require 
industrial strength connectivity. Earlier this year Google said it would 
partner with five other companies in building an undersea communications 
cable across the Pacific, which could provide high-speed connectivity to 
new Google data centers in Asia.

The offshore location also differentiates Google’s plans from those 
announced by IDS, which plans to build up to 50 data centers on de-
commissioned cargo ships moored at piers in major cities.

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/09/06/google-planning-
offshore-data-barges/

--

Cheers,
Stephen

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